Invest in Emerging Economies to Protect Our Future

This post originally appeared on Fast Company on April 17, 2023.  We have the money and ingenuity to solve the world’s greatest challenges. What we need most right now is to unlock the massive capital needed to harness both the entrepreneurial potential in frontier and emerging economies and relevant technology that will provide the breadth of…

Driving Sustainable Growth in Moldova’s High-Value Agriculture, Wine, and Tourism Sectors

Moldova, a landlocked country bordered by Romania and Ukraine, faces a challenging development path. The country needs to sustain macroeconomic stability and revive private sector growth, but the COVID-19 pandemic, an economic recession, and the regional crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have all caused economic uncertainty. Structural factors, like an overall declining population,…

Webinar: Redefining Local Capacity Strengthening

April 19, 2023 This webinar convened representatives from local implementing organizations, USAID, and other key stakeholders to advance the dialogue on locally-led development in the context of USAID’s 2022 Local Capacity Strengthening Policy. Local organizations shared their perspectives and experiences on how international donor assistance supported them to define their vision for success.  This was…

3 Questions with Bakhtiyor Inamov on Leadership in the Water Sector

The USAID Tajikistan Rural Water Supply Activity (RWS) partners with local governments, communities, and businesses to develop and improve safe drinking water infrastructure and related services for underserved rural communities. Because the lack of access to safe drinking water disproportionately affects women and children, RWS involves them in every stage of the process. Bakhtiyor Inamov,…

USAID Solicitation and Use of Political Economy Analysis by Contractors

This report is a retrospective analysis of the implementation of political economy analyses (PEAs) solicited by USAID to assess whether PEAs are an effective tool to increase the impact of development programs. PEAs are commonly used within thinking and working politically (TWP) approaches, which seek to significantly improve development impact by understanding and responding to…

Turning Moldova’s Brain Drain into Brain Gain

Over the last two decades, young Moldovans have faced a bleak economic future, with limited job prospects and low wages. Global and regional crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and unprecedented inflation have not helped matters. A strong workforce is desperately needed to help rebuild the economy. For many young Moldovans,…

News: Chemonics Setting Science-Based Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Targets

Chemonics is committed to confronting the climate crisis by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across its global operations. Today, Chemonics announces that it has joined the Business Ambition for 1.5°C Campaign and has committed to setting emissions reduction targets in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Chemonics joins the world’s largest and fastest-growing…

News: Colombia Rural Finance Initiative Selected as 2022 Digital Development Award Winner

The Digital Development Awards (“the Digis”) recognize and celebrate USAID projects and activities that support inclusive development through digital technology. This year, the USAID Colombia Rural Finance Initiative (RFI) implemented by Chemonics was selected as one of five Digi recipients for developing a mobile phone-based system for rural smallholders and urban-based, low-income groups to conduct…

The War in Ukraine and the Future of Global Food Security

This post originally appeared in the Council of International Development Companies’  (CIDC) Thought Leadership Compendium.  Hunger and food insecurity have steadily worsened throughout the last decade. Climate change — with its cascading effects on crop production and land viability —has exacerbated global food insecurity, and in recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to key agricultural…

2022 Forum on New Approaches to Countering Corruption Across Sectors

This virtual Forum brought together development practitioners, donors, and academics working to overcome the obstacles to sustainable progress created by corrupt practices and institutions to varying degrees in every country and every sector of development where USAID, Chemonics, and our partners around the world are pushing for meaningful changes that improve people’s lives. We used…

Tajikistan: Building Resilience into the Oxygen Supply Chain

When COVID-19 hit Tajikistan in early 2020, it soon became clear that supplemental oxygen would be the most essential life-saving treatment for those who fell severely ill. Tajikistan’s health system, like many in lower- and middle-income countries, was unprepared to meet the needs of COVID-19 patients. In India, for example, people formed long queues outside…