Colombia’s Carbon Stewards: The Misak in the Páramos

Páramos, high-altitude Andean grassland ecosystems located in South America, are rich, biodiverse ecosystems that are critical sources for fresh water and carbon storage. In Colombia, the indigenous Misak community that inhabit the Páramo de las Ánimas are strengthening their centuries-old ties to nature by prioritizing sustainable ways to protect, conserve, and restore grassland ecosystems. Los…

A Dialogue with Nature: Communities and Carbon in Colombia

Locally led carbon projects play a critical role in transferring resources to support the sustainable development and self-determination of communities, while also contributing to climate action. In this docuseries, viewers will travel throughout Colombia, one of the world’s most biodiverse countries, from its high Andes ecosystems (páramos) to the Eastern plains (llanos) and the mangroves…

Best Practices for Centering Indigenous Peoples in Development Projects

Engaging Indigenous Peoples is essential to driving forward locally led development, ensuring international development projects respond to and align with Indigenous Peoples’ self-determined goals and needs, and deepening projects’ impact and sustainability. This engagement is encoded in USAID’s Policy on Promoting the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (PRO-IP), but the question remains: How can Indigenous Peoples’…

Learning from Colombia’s Inclusive Approach to Migration

Globally, the number of people forcibly displaced from their homes now exceeds a record 100 million people. Many cross borders to flee from conflict, violence, insecurity, or persecution – bravely facing challenges like language or cultural differences in search of stability, safety, and opportunity. Examples include migrants, inclusive of refugees and asylum seekers, leaving Ukraine,…

How to Promote Meaningful Partnerships with Indigenous Peoples

Indigenous peoples and communities are critical to sustainable development outcomes across many sectors, including environmental conservation, economic growth, and social justice. Yet historical and structural barriers have posed a challenge for meaningful engagement of Indigenous peoples, that leverages their knowledge, expertise, and solutions. In part due to a misalignment of priorities, Indigenous peoples’ representation has…

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…

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…

3 Building Blocks for Mobilizing Inclusive Climate Finance

The private sector, recognizing the economic threat and global calls to climate action, has mobilized corporate pledges to avert climate disaster and bridge the nearly $4 trillion financing gap for climate financing by 2030. At the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), nearly 500 global financial services firms agreed to align $130 trillion – some…

Dr. Kenya Dugger

Dr. Kenya Dugger brings 21 years of experience in the Army and Department of Defense, and more than twelve years of experience working with executives and employees in the areas of global diversity and inclusion, data analysis, culture awareness, ethics and compliance, and human resources. Prior to his position at Chemonics, Kenya spent two years…