The DCEO activity mitigates instability by promoting inclusive community development, generating employment opportunities, and promoting business entrepreneurship. 1. Please tell us a little bit about the work you do as a grant officer for the Chemonics-implemented DCEO project in Iraq. In my role as a grant officer, I am strongly involved in all phases of…
USAID has made great strides in improving student learning outcomes in East Africa, particularly in primary school student reading skills. However, much work remains to be done, especially considering learning disruptions due to COVID-19. With the need to re-engage learners, it is critical to focus on early-grade reading for continued retention, success in future grades,…
Lagos, Nigeria is a densely populated city with rapidly growing urban and peri-urban areas and over 200 informal settlements that pose unique challenges for water supply access. These challenges are exacerbated by poor performance of existing water utilities, inadequate public financing, insufficient water infrastructure, and lack of revenue generation. The lack of access to safe…
Growth prospects for the Philippines’ digital economy are promising; the internet economy grew by 32% from 2015 to 2019 and 93% from 2020 to 2021. However, the Philippines is falling behind regional peers in digital adoption. Longstanding distrust in digital transactions and limited digital infrastructure contributing to unequal access to services delivered via the internet…
We live in an increasingly urban world with infrastructure and essential services struggling to keep pace. From the current level of 56% in 2020, the United Nations (UN) projects that 68% of the world’s population will be urban by 2050. Many of the world’s fastest growing populations over this period are projected to be rapidly…
The Liberian education system is recovering after decades of civil instability. The longstanding effects of two civil wars, exacerbated by school closures during the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak, left Liberia with a fragile education system and even weaker information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure. Although information is more accessible than ever, students and faculty at Liberia’s…
This case study is one in a series highlighting Chemonics’ experiences and lessons learned with thinking and working politically and applied political economy analysis (APEA). Drawing on the Chemonics-implemented USAID/Guatemala Biodiversity Project, this case study highlights the process, findings, and tools of the project’s baseline APEA (and second APEA iteration) and how these APEAs oriented…
While most development projects use some form of remote management — U.S.-based home offices oversee project offices, main offices in capitals oversee satellite offices, and teams are distributed across multiple countries (e.g., FEWS NET) — the COVID-19 pandemic presents uncharted territories for many in the global development sector. Travel and movement restrictions, work from home…
Abdulkader Alaeddin is a team leader overseeing the Syria Education Programme and a monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning (MERL) expert with 14 years of experience designing, implementing, and leading activities in conflict-affected areas across the Middle East, including in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey. He has experience designing and implementing grants programs, including in the…
Harun Birlik is an experienced development professional with more than 10 years of experience working in the Middle East and North Africa region. Harun specializes in grant management, corporate and donor compliance, and internal audit. As a grant and compliance lead of Chemonics’ United Kingdom Division, he provides leadership in areas relating to financial management,…
While efforts to improve inclusion of learners with disabilities are gaining traction with donors and ministries of education, those efforts largely focus on identification and disability mapping to get policy into place. Approaching inclusive education solely from the lens of policy development leaves the classroom teacher and the children she serves waiting. Practical implementation of…
Bill Clay is a political and civil society organizer with more than twenty years of experience managing complex national and international development projects focused on parliamentary capacity building, media, and elections. He is currently the team leader for the Gole-Kaab (Support to Four State Assemblies) project based in Mogadishu, Somalia. Previously, he served as a…