Across the world, 13.6 percent of youth are unemployed and almost 20 percent, or 260 million, are out of school. For those who manage to find a job, a staggering 17.1 percent still live below the extreme poverty threshold. The truth is that there are still too many young people who lack the education, skills,…
The development world is no stranger to human-centered design. Many of the basic principles — working with stakeholders to understand their needs, reframing core issues, taking a pilot-based approach to program design and refinement — have been part of the development discourse, in one form or another, for the last few decades. And as a formalized process, it’s…
Between 2010 and 2014, the USAID Zambia Communications Support for Health (CSH) program collaborated with the Zambian government to implement four health communication campaigns: the CSH-designed Safe Love HIV Prevention campaign, USAID’s STOP Malaria, Mothers Alive, and The First 1,000 Most Critical Days nutrition campaigns. To expand the reach and impact of these initiatives, CSH…
Dr. Efrain Laureano is a senior natural resources economist with more than 30 years of experience managing USAID development programs. He currently serves as the senior vice president of Chemonics’ Asia Division. Previously, Efrain was the chief of party for the Philippines Biodiversity and Watersheds Improved for Stronger Economy and Ecosystem Resilience Project (B+WISER), leading the team…
From March 6 to 8, the Chamber of Digital Commerce and Georgetown University’s Center for Financial Markets and Policy will host the third annual D.C. Blockchain Summit, which Chemonics is proud to sponsor. The summit will bring together a diverse audience from the private sector, government, and media to discuss applications for blockchain and cryptocurrencies.…
The adoption of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was a watershed moment for the world, not only because of the importance of the goals themselves, but also because of the inclusiveness of the process used to develop them. Because of that inclusiveness, the private sector is now speaking the same language as that…
This post originally appeared on UrbanLinks. Quick infusions of public services are usually a surefire way for local officials to increase their political capital. But pushing through reforms that spur longer-term economic development and strengthen community cohesion is often much harder to accomplish amid competing priorities. In Jordan, USAID’s Cities Implementing Transparent Innovative and Effective…
Achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 will not be easy — or cheap. It is estimated that an extra $2.5 trillion in funding will be needed to achieve the SDGs by 2030. Soon after the goals were finalized in 2015, it became clear that traditional philanthropy and official development assistance at its current levels would…
Melissa (Scudo) Gasmi joined Chemonics in 2007 and brings more than 20 years of experience managing complex international development programs. Melissa served as team leader for Chemonics’ Tunisia Tax and Customs Reform Activity in Tunisia, chief of party for Chemonics’ Asia and the Middle East Economic Growth Best Practices project, and program manager and deputy…
Deforestation in Haiti is driven by a variety of factors — demand for wood-based fuels, high population density, lack of resources in rural areas, and weak enforcement of natural resource regulations. For communities in Northern Haiti, economic and environmental vulnerabilities have escalated deforestation and reduced forest cover in the region’s watersheds. USAID’s Reforestation Project is…
How can strong partnerships support sustainable tourism around the world? What roles should international development practitioners, financial organizations, governments, and the private sector play in tourism development? These are the kinds of questions that participants will tackle at the Conference on Jobs and Inclusive Growth: Partnerships for Sustainable Tourism, which takes place from November 27…
Husaini Abdullahi, a farmer in the Abaya Dagwaji community of Jigawa, Nigeria, just took his first step towards an aflatoxin-safe future. His three-hectare farm is dedicated to groundnut intercropped with maize, both of which are highly susceptible to aflatoxin contamination. Aware of the dangers of aflatoxin, Husaini is now taking the measures to ensuring a…