Job requires applicant to have strong death wish

Times are tough, so why not work abroad? Like maybe you could go to work in the business of democracy-building, maybe for the international arm of the GOP, the International Republican Institute. In lovely Sudan:

Job Title Resident Country Director

Employer The International Republican Institute

Posted 04/10/09

Job Description

A nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, the International Republican Institute (IRI) advances freedom and democracy worldwide. IRI is active in more than 65 countries with offices in 44 countries. IRI is currently recruiting for a Resident Country Director (RCD) to be based in Sudan. The RCD is responsible for designing and implementing a strategy for IRIs program in the Sudan developing: long range and annual plans for the country program, identifying key players and partners in IR programs, strategies for political party capacity-building, coalition building, election-monitoring, and voter education activities and overseas individual project implementation. The RCD assists in developing program proposals and budgets and negotiating funding proposals with UGS and other funding sources.

via Resident Country Director.

This job was posted to a list I’m on, and it was kind of interesting to think about the sort of character who would want to sign up for this Mission Impossible. G-d bless them if they do, and the same to anyone who tried before this job opened up.

After all, Sudan is a place where most non-governmental aid organizations were banished recently in the aftermath of the International Criminal Court’s indictment of President Bashir for war crimes related to the genocide in Darfur. While the GOP is officially opposed to the ICC as an institution, it was Colin Powell during the Bush administration who first publicly declared Sudan’s actions genocidal. That can’t be remembered fondly. And while the IRI appears to mostly be working with Sudan’s Christian and Animist south, it must not be the most fun time to contemplate starting out there, what with the kidnappings of workers associated with foreign aid groups and all.

But if you’re ready for the hardest job ever – promoting democracy as an affiliate of a political party that did a lot to spoil America’s foreign reputation alongside a government that’s committed genocide against its own people – well, good luck.

On the other hand, maybe those negotiations to get aid groups back into the country soon will break down, and you won’t have to stay long.