ANERA MOURNS DEATH OF ROBERT CROTHERS

December 3, 2010, Washington, DC -- ANERA announces with great sadness that former Country Director for the West Bank and Gaza Robert Crothers died in London, England this morning at the age of 65.


For nearly two years, from 2008 to 2010, Mr. Crothers supervised a staff of 60 and oversaw ANERA's multi-million dollar programs delivering water and sanitation systems to communities, donated medicines to health care providers, new and renovated schools to students, and much more. He was particularly proud of his efforts toward starting up ANERA's Early Childhood Education initiative, which is aimed at transforming the preschool environment of the West Bank.


Before coming to ANERA, for 16 years, Mr. Crothers worked in treasury and economics for the Province of Ontario, Canada. That was followed by 20 years in east and west Africa, central and southeast Asia, and the Pacific islands with various aid agencies. For five years he worked at UNDP in Palestine, based in Ramallah and with offices in Bethlehem, Hebron, Nablus and Gaza.


"Robert created new expectations of excellence and hard work that are worthy of imitation," says ANERA's President Bill Corcoran. "He devoted long hours of work to ANERA and the projects of the West Bank and Gaza because he loved the Palestinian people so deeply. We are very grateful to him for his service to Palestinian families."


Mr. Crothers left ANERA in the spring of 2010 to spend more time with his family and to more aggressively treat his cancer. He is survived by his wife Eileen and his son Robert, who both live in London.

 

ABOUT ANERA:

For more than 40 years, ANERA has been a leading provider of development, health, education and employment programs to Palestinian communities and impoverished families throughout the Middle East.  In FY 2009, the relief and development agency delivered more than $50 million of programs to the people of the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon and Jordan