Positioning Jordan’s Economy for Strong Growth

Over more than the past decade, Jordan has faced several external shocks that affected its economic growth. The global financial crisis in 2009 slowed economic activity, and regional conflicts disrupted trade routes with key partners, including Turkey and the European Union. Additionally, in 2011, Egypt’s natural gas supplies were interrupted and, most recently, the COVID-19…

Rights Live in All Languages: Promoting Indigenous Rights in Mexico

Indigenous Peoples remain among the world’s most marginalized populations and often face systematic exclusion from their nation’s social, economic, and political systems. According to Mexico’s 2020 census, more than 7.3 million people aged three years and older speak one of the country’s 68 indigenous languages, representing six percent of the total population with 25 million…

Advancing Women’s Health Through Data and Partnerships

As a 19-year-old student living in Benin, Kidita* dreamed of finishing her studies before starting a family. She relied on the pill so she wouldn’t get pregnant while at school. But one day, when Kidita went to the health facility in her village to pick up her monthly prescription, she found that it was unavailable.…

Creating Stability through Education in Syria

Children, young people, and adults alike have been traumatized by more than a decade of conflict in Syria. With more than 2 million children out of school, education remains one of the country’s hardest-hit local governance sectors. Issues that affect children’s abilities to access quality education services range from a lack of infrastructure to the…

Advancing Inclusive Development

Chemonics invests in people, systems, and practices to facilitate the exchange of ideas and best practices in inclusive development. With a dedicated Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Technical Practice — a 200-member community of practice of development professionals and a network of more than 70 technical specialists embedded in projects around the world —…

Sustaining the Legacy of Holistic Education in Malawi

Malawi has benefitted from successful reading projects that provide learners with foundational reading and literacy skills to support the country’s continued development. USAID’s NextGen Early Grade Reading Activity builds on that progress by partnering with the Ministry of Education to support early literacy, improve classroom instruction, and build systemic capacity. The activity provides high-quality reading…

Susan Pascocello

Susan Pascocello is Chemonics’ General Counsel. An international development executive and lawyer, Susan brings more than 30 years of progressive private and public sector legal experience, including 25 years working in different aspects of international development. She served as USAID’s General Counsel (Acting) for four years during her time as Deputy General Counsel and provided integral…

Championing Migrants’ Integration in Colombia

More than 2 million Venezuelans have migrated to Colombia since 2016, fleeing social, economic, and political hardship in search of employment and essential services. This massive population influx, coupled with sizeable numbers of Colombian returnees displaced by 50 years of armed conflict, has acutely strained public and private services and systems, particularly in urban areas…

Fostering an Investment-Friendly Climate in Pakistan

The Pakistan Investment Promotion Activity (IPA) is funded by USAID to support investment in Pakistan by attracting investors, assisting their entry and establishment in the country, securing their retention, and fostering links internally. The activity has four principal objectives. These include addressing the business-enabling regulatory environment for investment promotion, reforming institutional policies including the ease…

WINenergy: Women in Energy

The future of sustainable energy solutions is determined by the competition of ideas at the intersection of sectors and by the responsible choices we make as a society. With this in mind, Chemonics invited our audience to observe International Women’s Day and join us for Women in Energy (WINenergy), a webinar hosted by Chemonics’ Water,…

Advocating for an Inclusive Justice System for All Colombians

For years, public confidence in Colombia’s justice system has been troublingly low, particularly in rural areas that lack sufficient government presence. Citizens in these areas interact with a justice system that is unresponsive to their needs and has a limited capacity to meet local requirements. Opportunities to improve citizens’ trust in the justice system are…

Olga Ponamarova

Olga Ponamarova (she/her/hers) is a gender and social inclusion specialist with more than 10 years of experience in project management working with and within civil society organizations and humanitarian response and development projects in Ukraine. Olga has worked for the USAID-funded Democratic Governance East project as a gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) specialist contributing to…