I once commented to a caseflow management trainer that caseflow management is “as much art as science.” He replied that it is actually “much more art” than science. My work on rule of law projects has led me to the same conclusion. Democracy and governance (D&G) programs are dynamic. Each program begins with a clear…
September 22, Members Day of the annual 2014 SEEP Conference, marked the launch of the SEEP Network’s Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) Working Group. Throughout my career with Chemonics, I have spent the majority of my time focusing on issues surrounding women’s access to capital, business development services and SME development, particularly in conflict zones such…
Below is an excerpt from an essay that appeared in the 2014 Frontiers in Development books, themed around ending extreme poverty. The essay, by Chemonics’ Neal Donahue and Ilisa Gertner, posits that there is often an underlying tension between the “seemingly complementary goals” of agricultural growth and increased production and consumption of nutritious food. Development…
If you follow media reporting on women in Afghanistan — I do, but only in English — you probably experience a flood of violent emotions. Shock and revulsion at the seemingly endless string of brutal domestic and public attacks against women and girls. Fury that the police and courts often do nothing, or even protect…
Of all the reasons to travel to Costa Rica, attending a philosophy conference is probably not very high on the list. And yet, for that very reason, I found myself on a plane this July, in the company of tourists and travelers whose destinations included pristine beaches, isolated ecolodges, and bohemian hideaways. My destination, perhaps…
Introduce the protagonist, define the context, identify the challenge, and provide a resolution. And don’t forget the quote and a photo. It is a familiar format. The success story framework is one we use often to communicate the achievements of our project beneficiaries and demonstrate the value of international development. The power of stories is…
Although the official theme at this year’s World Water Week, an annual development conference held in Stockholm, Sweden, is “Energy and Water,” from the first session the speakers have adopted food security as an unofficial pillar. Many of the conference seminars and workshops formally incorporate agricultural themes into their discussions, and USAID is no exception.…
As the head of Chemonics’ Democracy and Governance practice, I’m pleased to invite you to join us in an ongoing discussion about programming, trends, innovations, and experiments in this critical sector of international development work. To get the conversation going, I’m sharing here some thoughts that I hope will help structure our discussions moving forward.…
Movers and shakers from across the globe spoke at this year’s International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia. The likes of Bill Clinton, Executive Director of UNAIDS Michel Sidibe, and Sir Bob Geldof (the English musician of “Do They Know It’s Christmas” fame) were among those ticketed as high-level speakers, and their words received the lion’s…
The count of African countries supposedly increased by one in June, when a Virginia man planted a flag in the disputed territory of Bir Tawil and claimed himself king of “North Sudan.” He based his claim on the doctrine of terra nullius, “land not under the sovereignty of any state.” The news article was something…
The fifth Resilient Cities 2014 conference in Bonn, Germany was organized by Local Governments for Sustainability, an association of 1200 cities, towns, and counties in 84 countries. The conference brings together city mayors, academics, international organizations, and donor agencies alike, and is one of the few opportunities that exist for city managers and experts to…
Welcome to the Compass, Chemonics’ technical blog. We are excited to start this new venture, our first corporate blog, because we strongly believe that sharing ideas and experience helps us learn, grow, and ultimately do better development. When we began considering the idea of blogging, we asked ourselves a few key questions. First, why start…