RTI International

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RTI International is a large, North Carolina-based, non-profit research corporation. According to its 2004 annual report, RTI's largest source of income is U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) contracts. More than one-third of its $509.5 million in 2004 income came from USAID. [1]

In addition to its main office in North Carolina's Research Triange, RTI has eight U.S. regional offices, five international offices (in the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Britain, South Africa and El Salvador), and one international subsidiary, RTI Polska LLC in Warsaw. [2] RTI's "worldwide staff of more than 2,500 individuals" is divided into four research teams - Social and Statistical Sciences, Science and Engineering, International Development, and RTI Health Solutions - and administrative support. [3]

Research

As RTI's 2004 annual report illustrates, its research is remarkably wide-ranging. The report includes sections describing its work: [4]

  • "helping China prepare for the 2008 Olympics"
  • "bringing local governance to Iraq"
  • "rebuilding South Africa's education system"
  • "addressing HIV/AIDS among high-risk populations," including sex workers and homeless people
  • "developing a new [male] contraceptive"
  • "ensuring a future for nature-based research," by identifying "life-saving drugs from natural sources"
  • "focusing on clean fuel and U.S. energy independence," including biomass, hydrogen fuel, and reduced-sulfur coal, diesel and gasoline
  • "preserving our homeland security," by managing PREDICT (Protected Repository for the Defense of Infrastructure Against Cyber Threats), a "secure data repository intended to support the development of research and products that will protect our nation’s cyber infrastructure," for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

International Work

In testimony before the U.S. Congress, the Senior Vice-President of RTI's International Development Group, Dr. Ron Johnson, enumerated "four key components that contribute to stable conditions under which a democratic society can develop and flourish." These include "freedom for a society to select its own leaders in an open, democratic process; security that prevents outside agents from dispensing violence and supporting insurgence; societies investing in their own people, in education and health and social programs; and finally, a system of governance in which the populous can observe and hold their leaders accountable." Often they are furthered by "shifting from central authority to local control ... the delivery of everyday government services," said Dr. Johnson (Federal News Service, May 4, 2005).

Iraq

From 2003 to 2004, RTI won an up to $167 million contract to "foster democratic local government in Iraq"; it spent some $156 million. In 2003, RTI set up local "elections" in Iraq whereby selected individuals were invited to choose from candidates (nominated by anyone in the community) to be on city councils. However, everyone - nominees and voters - were vetted by the occupation authority. Pratap Chatterjee wrote that the goal of these "elections / selections" was "to create a new five-tier council system, which would not reject the American overseers. These neighborhood councils would select district councils, which in turn would select county councils, which would select a provincial council, which, finally, would select a governor." [5]

In April 2004, RTI won a one-year extension on its USAID contract, "worth up to $154 million." A North Carolina paper reported that RTI was "helping provincial, town and neighborhood councils learn to govern democratically" and also "helping workers learn how to provide services such as water and sewer and garbage collection." In Iraq, RTI works with "more than 300 local councils and all 18 provincial governments," with its staff of "about 2,200 Iraqis and 220 foreign workers." [6]

Contrary to RTI's and USAID's sunny estimates of RTI's "local democracy" work in Iraq, Pratap Chatterjee reported, "Three former RTI employees who worked on the project told CorpWatch that the company spent 90 percent of the money on expensive expatriate staff, gave out lots of advice and held lots of meetings, but did little to provide support for local community organizations or councils." [7]

A former RTI employee, Iraqi-American Jabir Algarawi, told CorpWatch that "the only project he was able to finish was the creation of a women's organization, for which RTI allocated $90,000 in spending money. 'We spent more than that on entertainment for our staff alone, bringing in satellite television,' he said. 'Many of the expatriate staff individually earned twice or three times as much money as the annual budget of this organization. ... Some of my colleagues never left the compound; they spent all their time filling out forms for the United States government. It seemed like our main objective was satisfy our funders not to help people in Iraq. ... Those of us who did go outside, were told we could not go anywhere without our four Australian bodyguards, but that made the local people afraid of us. Many people said we were CIA and especially since we were not supposed to speak to the media, this did nothing to dispel the rumors.'" [8]

Another former RTI employee in Najaf, Iraq, Jim Beaulieu, told CorpWatch that the problem lay more "with the American occupation authorities in Baghdad, who had given the governor and the governing council 'no money, no authority over anything other than their own offices, and no support staff. They were just a shell. They were trying hard to do things, but how can you do anything without money or authority?'" [9]

According to U.S. Congressman David Price (Dem.-N.C.), RTI is also "implementing a training and management program for 150 model health care centers in Iraq" (US Fed News, August 25, 2005).

Indonesia

RTI heads the "Managing Basic Education" program for USAID, part of the agency's $157 million "Indonesia Education Initiative." [10] [11]

RTI's Dr. Ron Johnson described the company's Indonesia work to Congress: (Federal News Service, May 4, 2005)

Indonesia is an excellent example where U.S. government programs have prominently assisted decentralization of authority. While prosperous and growing a decade ago, large segments of society were left out of both the political process and the rising prosperity. Less than a decade after the economic collapse and the overthrow of the Suharto regime, Indonesia has made significant reforms and remarkable progress doing significant measure to a number of U.S.- supported programs to decentralize government.
Indonesia has held successive elections for national office with virtually no violence. This year, for the first time in its history, all Indonesian local officials, executive and legislative, will have been legitimately elected. These programs in Indonesia, many conducted by RTI International, have focused on shifting authority from central to provincial and municipal governments. Currently critical work is underway by RTI and other partners to strengthen local government in Aceh Province to enable it to cope with the overwhelming governmental responsibilities in the wake of the tsunami.

Pakistan

RTI is "establishing a small LRC Library at the Ministry of Education Curriculum Wing to promote awareness about Education Sector Reform Assistance (Esra) in Pakistan," according to the Business Reporter (September 17, 2005).

RTI is also "assisting the government of Pakistan to provide for greater local management of the education system without sacrificing national standards for curriculum and quality," said RTI's Dr. Ron Johnson (Federal News Service, May 4, 2005).

El Salvador

RTI conducted an environmental-impact study for "a sanitary landfill in El Izcatal district" slated "to receive the waste of 19 municipalities located in the country's central area," reported Business News Americas (July 20, 2005).

Clients

RTI's website includes a long list of private sector, non-profit, U.S. government and international clients, including: [12]

Contact Info

Main Office:
RTI International
3040 Cornwallis Road
Post Office Box 12194
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2194

Website: http://www.rti.org

SourceWatch Resources

External Links

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