This piece originally appeared on ASU Now. For coastal residents of the east African country, Mozambique, severe floods that endanger their health and lives are a frequent reality. Helping communities cope with extreme weather events is a challenge for locals and development agencies alike. Taking the cultural attitudes of those served into account, however, could…
This blog post originally appeared on Climatelinks. New research in Mali highlights a promising opportunity for action on climate change adaptation: local government development planning. Tim Finan and Mamadou Baro of the University of Arizona presented results of a study supported by USAID’s Adaptation, Thought Leadership, and Assessments (ATLAS) project on January 12 at USAID’s…
This blog post was contributed by SERVIR, a joint initiative by NASA and USAID, and was originally posted on www.servirglobal.net. Landscapes on Earth are changing at unprecedented levels. For scientists, practitioners, and environmental decision makers, tracking these changes efficiently and accurately is critical to protecting lives and livelihoods. While there are many ways to learn…
Corruption drains resources for social programming, limits citizens’ confidence in public institutions and in their own political efficacy, and lines the pockets of unscrupulous politicians. It can stunt economic growth for the entire country, meaning that no one escapes its impacts. However, some groups are more vulnerable than others to the adverse impacts of corruption.…
Feed the Future West/WINNER combined elements of both an agricultural program and an environmental conservation program in Haiti. How did the project balance both goals? Conservation and agricultural development are very closely connected. Our project began as a large watershed program and then its mandate expanded when the 2010 earthquake happened eight months in. It…
Human traffickers prey on those who do not have access to viable economic opportunities or the means to pursue a better future. Exclusion from social opportunities and protections creates a cloak of invisibility for those who are forced into mining blood diamonds in Democratic Republic of the Congo, toiling in garment sweat shops in Bangladesh,…
Learn more about how e-payments promote economic growth in a Mert Tangonan’s video interview. Electronic payments go beyond mobile money, and include electronic funds transfers, credit card transactions, and more. What everyday challenges does the Philippines experience considering that only 2 percent of transactions fall under the umbrella of e-payments? What many people don’t realize is…
What does a start-up field assignment with Chemonics look like? In my case, I landed in Burundi in August, charged with carrying out recruitment efforts in the country for USAID’s Global Health Supply Chain Program-Procurement and Supply Management project (GHSC-PSM). In the end, I spent forty days in Bujumbura, at times working 16 hours a…
As governments all over the world attempt to address global issues, youth bring an important ability to challenge leaders to look at issues from a different perspective. Youth often bring innovative angles towards addressing social and economic challenges. One of these challenges that continues to persist in both Southeast Asian and European nations is gender…
This blog post is adapted from a post that originally appeared on Climatelinks. Climate science is a complex field, and communicating that science and its implications for development programming in a way that is clear, but does not oversimplify, is a persistent challenge. Yet bridging the gap between research and implementation is vital for development practitioners to…
Youth engagement in agriculture is an important component of many agricultural development programs. Why is it so important to reach youth? Firstly, the current population that’s engaged in agriculture in Uganda has an average age of around 65 years old. As that population stops farming in the next five to 10 years, who will feed…
Open government is critical to enhancing essential services, opening civic space, and making government more accountable to citizens. Sustainable Development Goal 16 asks the international community to aim toward building more effective, responsive, and inclusive institutions, which evidence shows lead to better development outcomes for citizens. Recently, at the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Global Summit…