In early 2018, drought-stricken Cape Town narrowly averted its “Day Zero,” the day when taps in the city would have run dry. Reservoirs filled up just enough to avert an all-out water crisis, and “Day Zero” has now been pushed to 2019. Meanwhile, in 2016, 2017, and 2018, floods in South Asia, Africa, Europe, and…
What are the barriers to usage of digital financial services? What are the most effective ways to drive uptake? Modern financial solutions, spurred by internet and mobile access, present an important opportunity to make transactions more efficient. These digital innovations can save time and transportation costs for bank and client alike while building credit history…
Those of us who work in peacebuilding pull out every tool in our toolbox to solve conflicts — we talk about infrastructure, jobs, agriculture, governance, and youth programs. But youth programs tend to focus on out-of-school individuals aged 18-35 years old, not school-aged children. And rarely do people talk about supporting children — nor education…
The United Nations estimates that 68 percent of the world’s population will be concentrated in urban centers by 2050. While water and sanitation access and delivery are generally higher in urban areas, cities still face significant challenges managing, operating, and expanding critical infrastructure, as well as ensuring the financial and environmental sustainability of municipal water…
“It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.” — Nelson Mandela This quote from Nelson Mandela succinctly captures what I have learned to be a critical key…
Back in 2015 while designing our approach for USAID’s Colombia Rural Finance Initiative (RFI), a Colombian colleague and I visited a sugar smallholder who had settled in the Meta department, fleeing the civil war. On his adobe walls hung a photograph of the farmer smiling proudly next to Colombia’s President Santos, who had visited their…
Put yourself in her shoes. Imagine you are a woman living in Vietnam and sign language is your first language. You are entitled to inherit land that was owned by your parents before they passed, but when you visit your local Legal Aid Center to inquire about the process, the officials do not know sign…
The Case of the Vanishing Women isn’t the title of the latest mystery novel. It is what happens as women progress through their careers. As they move up the corporate ladder, women fall off at every successive rung. The vast majority never make it to the top. Among Fortune 500 CEOs, it is just as…
This post originally appeared on Agrilinks. Farming is a risky livelihood throughout the world. But for smallholder farmers in particular, productivity and food security are defined by risk. “Good years” are defined by adequate rains, and “bad years” by drought. In Uganda, where 70 percent of the population is employed in the agricultural sector, the…
This activity was one of four winners of Chemonics’ recent Market Systems and Youth Enterprise Development Innovation Contest within the youth enterprise track. This post originally appeared on Marketlinks. When thousands of youth are migrating abroad to seek better employment opportunities, how do you provide a viable economic alternative to encourage them to stay, develop their skills,…
On May 8, 2018, the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) declared an outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever after confirming two cases of the disease by laboratory tests in the northwestern part of the country. The government made the decision after receiving reports of an additional 21 suspected cases of Ebola, including…
One objective under Goal 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals is to “achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services, and access to safe, effective, quality, and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all.” To achieve this objective by 2030, countries need an increase in health financing efforts both domestically and…