Exposure to violent and radical ISIS ideologies has damaged Syrian children’s mental health. In areas touched by violent extremism, transforming classrooms into mental health positive spaces that deliver psychosocial support can kickstart the healing process.
In Ukraine, enabling environment reforms and agriculture sector gains are vital for economic growth. Particularly in eastern and southern Ukraine, there is an economic decline of industry, and isolated rural communities have limited access to markets throughout the rest of Ukraine and Europe. The USAID Agriculture Growing Rural Opportunities (AGRO) activity cultivates national and grassroots…
This post originally appeared on Inclusive Development Partners Blog. Beyond the fact that many employers worldwide are required to provide reasonable accommodations , creating accessible and inclusive remote work environments can drive productivity and innovation as well as increase morale. In fact, working remotely has been considered a reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. And while ensuring inclusiveness, accessibility, and…
Science shows that honey, rich in antioxidants, can lower a person’s cholesterol and promote healing. As a commodity, it can also transform entire communities. Just ask Zoraida Silgado Escobar, legal representative for the Carbebias Honey Producer Association (Asocabebias), in Northern Colombia. Before beekeeping helped to change her community, her father and neighbors earned their livelihood…
This post was adapted from a post that originally appeared on the USAID HRH2030 program’s website. Gender sensitivity is often overlooked in the slew of daily health care inquiries directed to service providers. And yet, gender norms—how a society ascribes day-to-day roles, rights, and responsibilities to women and men—play a significant role in client-provider interactions. Reproductive…
Emerging economies such as Colombia, Philippines, and South Africa offer sophisticated financial sectors that historically failed to reach marginalized groups. In Colombia specifically, this left rural areas largely unbanked and excluded from the broader economy, after decades of war. In four years, USAID/Colombia’s Rural Finance Initiative (RFI) — implemented by Chemonics — has linked more…
Despite advances in rebuilding Lebanon’s physical, social, and economic infrastructure, many Lebanese citizens experience inadequate access to public services and economic opportunities. The Syrian conflict has placed additional strain on communities, reducing cross-border trade and bringing an estimated 1.5 million refugees to Lebanon. Host-community fatigue and tensions over resources and livelihoods are mounting. In response,…
In the Philippines, economic progress is constrained by weak competitiveness and non-inclusive growth. However, recent high-level economic reform directives, like the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program and the “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program, present opportunities to transform the country’s economic trajectory. The USAID Delivering Effective Government for Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth (DELIVER) project promotes economic competitiveness…
The ACCELERE!1 (A!1) project improved educational outcomes for girls and boys through enhanced teaching in national languages and French, reduced barriers to education, and increased transparency of school governance structures. This was accomplished by A!1’s income-generating activities and community savings groups approach, which helped parents secure a more affordable education for their children.
Somalia faces heightened public scrutiny as its government manages $92 million of E.U. budget support while striving to meet International Monetary Fund performance benchmarks. Its ability to adopt sound fiscal policy and improve financial governance will determine its eligibility for debt relief. At this critical juncture, the Federal Parliament of Somalia must strengthen its financial…
Understanding cultural norms is essential to achieving results in development interventions and preventing interventions from causing unintended negative consequences. However, capturing norms within everyday contexts in ways that can be monitored and evaluated can be expensive and time consuming and is not always feasible. We tested a novel method, the cultural consensus analysis (CCA), in…
The paper’s background section explains why the study focused on these four social groups and explores the diversity that exists across and within them. In addition, the paper examines whether it is effective to use the phrase “vulnerable groups” to refer to the collection of social groups that programming is intended to include. The paper…