3 Questions with Dany Khy on Chemonics’ New Center for Private Sector Engagement

1. Why is Chemonics creating the Center for Private Sector Engagement? Why now and what are its goals? Although the Center for Private Sector Engagement is new, Chemonics has worked with the private sector for over 40 years from empowering entrepreneurs and spurring the growth of local businesses to partnering with multinationals to deliver critical…

What Does a Systems Approach to Conflict Prevention Look Like?

Today’s conflicts are long, intractable, and more complicated than ever. The last decade saw a marked rise in state-based armed conflict for the first time since the end of the Cold War, all involving non-state actors. Radicalization, organized crime, climate change — and now pandemics — bring new challenges to convoluted conflict systems. Yet, the…

From the Highlands to the Deltas: Why We Need Integrated Water Security Programming

Whether building strong economies, improving human health, or supporting thriving ecosystems, water is an integral and interconnected element with impacts far outside of the water sector in global development. While improved water management can reduce treatment costs and deliver valuable ecosystem services, poorly managed upstream resources can undermine investments in drinking water delivery. Cases from…

The Case for Youth Engagement in the Program Design Process

As global development professionals, we need to recognize that today’s world leaders don’t fit the narrow definitions of previous generations. We typically think of leaders as those with long-established power, while we ignore influential, often young, individuals like small-scale farmers and healthcare workers, community organizers and policy advocates. Today, integrating youth engagement in program design…

Creating a Sustainable Peace Deal in Yemen: A Discussion with Ahmed Al Khameri

Six years into the Yemen conflict, the war shows no sign of abating. The situation is dire: 80% of Yemen’s population of 30 million requires some form of humanitarian assistance; nearly half the population is in acute need. With violence spilling across Yemen’s borders and threatening maritime security in the Red Sea’s strategically important Bab el-Mandab Strait, regional…

Building Back Better Through Trade

This post originally appeared on British Expertise International’s blog. Governments are looking to trade to breathe life back into their beleaguered economies. Allowing goods to move safely and efficiently across borders into businesses and consumers hands is vital to restoring faith in markets and stemming rising unemployment. But restoring trade to previous levels is not…

Crowding-in Commercial Financing to Water Supply and Sanitation Utilities

This post originally appeared on the Rural Water Supply Network blog. Achieving SDG6, clean water, and sanitation for all by 2030 requires estimated investments of US$114 billion per year. The present value of the total investment needed is US$1.7 trillion, and these estimates do not include costs of operation and maintenance. At three times current…

Mitigating Hesitancy Key to COVID-19 Vaccine Readiness

Vaccines are one of the most cost-effective public health interventions, saving millions of lives each year. They are our best chance of eradicating COVID-19, which has had one of this century’s most devastating impacts on humankind, with high death tolls and major disruptions to economies and everyday life. Vaccines historically take years to develop, requiring…

Best of the Blog 2020

Check out our countdown of the 10 most popular* blog posts from 2020! 10. The Case for Practical Techniques for Inclusive Classrooms By Audrey SpencerAudrey Spencer explains why disability identification and policy reform alone can leave teachers and students waiting and calls for more immediate, practical techniques to create inclusive classrooms. 9. Voices from Our…

Assessing the Community-Based Workforce Helps Optimize HIV Programs

This post was adapted from a post that originally appeared on the USAID HRH2030 program’s website. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated human resources for health challenges around the world and heightened the need for a well-prepared, well-supported workforce to not only respond to the pandemic but to also maintain essential services including those for HIV. Community-based…

3 Questions with Baz Semo: Ensuring Safe and Continuous HIV Service Delivery in Nigeria

In Nigeria, where 1.8 million people live with HIV and 100,000 were newly infected in 2019, the pandemic has disrupted the government of Nigeria’s efforts to lead a large-scale, evidence-driven national response to control the HIV epidemic by limiting access to critical testing and treatment services. To address this, healthcare administrators and frontline workers are…