Today, Chemonics celebrates our 40th anniversary. On July 14, 1975, our founder and first CEO Tony Teele began an incredible journey with just a development mission and a single employee. Forty years later, many things have changed. Chemonics has more than 2,800 employees worldwide, 94 percent of whom are local. We are 100-percent employee owned,…
Melissa Scudo is the team leader for the Tunisia Tax and Customs Reform Activity (TCP)—a two-year initiative to help the government of Tunisia bolster economic growth through tax and customs reform. TCP is part of Chemonics’ Asia and Middle East Economic Growth Best Practices (AMEG) project. Regional turmoil makes this a challenging time to implement…
Chemonics International recently finished an innovative project in the mining sector. The obvious question for Chemonics and USAID is why would a development program choose to work in mining generally, and in Colombian gold mining specifically? A little context may provide the answer. Colombia has a long history of gold mining that dates to the…
While some health projects focus on one specific area, “family health” refers to a whole package of services (family planning and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, maternal, neonatal and child health, malaria prevention and treatment, nutrition, safe water and hygiene, and tuberculosis treatment). Why is it important to offer care in this integrated way? Siloes may make…
In 2015, Chemonics marks 40 years of advancing our development mission, of partnering with international and local organizations and clients, and of delivering lasting impact for our beneficiaries. Looking back at my 22 years with Chemonics, I am proud of many things. I am proud of the work we have done to improve people’s lives.…
As we approach summer here in the United States, many families have already started planning that dream get-away vacation to the beach. A trip to the beach melts away our worries as quickly as waves crash on the shore. For many people around the world though, these same waves both provide and threaten livelihoods. More…
I will always be impressed as to how 4,000 inhabitants established their community on Hinnavaru—a paragon of desert islands in the Maldives. Hot sand, dust, and scarce vegetation combine to provide scant shade beneath the unrelenting equatorial sun. Somehow, every single vista on this island is overwhelmed by the Indian Ocean. On a recent visit,…
What is new or different about what this project is doing that could have implications for other agriculture initiatives? What’s different about this project is the involvement of the private sector from the time of conceptualizing an idea. For example, look at rice. When we met with the rice processors and asked what their challenges…
The International Consortium on Governmental Financial Management (ICGFM) is convening this week in Miami, Florida, with the shared interest of improving public financial management in their respective countries. To kick off the conference, Lead Financial Management Specialist Svetlana Klimenko from the World Bank highlighted the importance of public financial management within the larger context of…
Uganda has the world’s youngest population with over 78 percent of its population below the age of 30. Though the country also has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in Sub-Saharan Africa, many of Uganda’s young adults have limited interest in pursuing careers in agriculture because they see it as a subsistence livelihood, or…
Since the mid-2000’s, Georgia has achieved significant gains in business enabling environment reforms. How has PMCG transferred that experience to its clients? Serving as the Minister of Finance (2005-2007) and Minister of Economic Development (2004-2005), I, together with the government team supported by international development partner institutions (specifically with the USAID Business Climate Reform in Georgia…
This week at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, the Global Health Council, FSG and Chemonics hosted a session addressing the question: Are Complex Global Health Partnerships Worth It? Before the audience got comfortable and the speakers took their seats at the front table, I noticed Peru’s Minister of Health, Dr. Anibal Veláquez Valdivia, had…