Ariana Szepesi-Colmenares, a citizen security and governance specialist with 13 years of international development experience, serves as Chemonics’ Director for New Business Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, overseeing business development across a wide array of technical sectors, including rule of law, citizen security, environmental conservation, economic growth, youth and women empowerment. Previously, Ariana…
For decades, the international development community has struggled to prove its effectiveness by ensuring that programs deliver politically viable solutions that respond to locally led processes. Guaranteeing these principles is a shared responsibility between donors and implementers. While donors need to shed the straitjackets of untested theories of change, pre-established project activities, and onerous reporting…
Bill Clay is a political and civil society organizer with more than twenty years of experience managing complex national and international development projects focused on parliamentary capacity building, media, and elections. He is currently the team leader for the Gole-Kaab (Support to Four State Assemblies) project based in Mogadishu, Somalia. Previously, he served as a…
In the wake of protests and the removal of its president in 2014, Ukraine faces many divisive social, economic, and political pressures that challenge national unity. Eastern Ukraine particularly feels the weight of these pressures. Although the new government established a plan for key reform initiatives, these reforms have not occurred as quickly as citizens…
When designing a new project, how often do we set out to strengthen a particular actor’s or institution’s ability to “hold government to account?” What does that mean exactly? Maybe the better question to ask is: what is the most effective way to strengthen accountability in our development work? And then, what does it look…
The Strengthening Advocacy and Civic Engagement (SACE) project was a five-year program funded by USAID and Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND). Implemented by Chemonics International with partner Root Change, SACE strengthened civil society’s ability to work with the government to influence the development and implementation of democratic reforms that improve transparency, accountability, and…
What do forest and species loss have to do with politics? A great deal, in fact. Conserving and protecting natural resources involves a complex set of power dynamics, interests, and economies — licit and illicit — that affect how a program can operate within an existing local system. Biodiversity programming must embrace a Thinking and…
Initially slated as a three-year project working under three objectives, SSG was modified in 2017, when USAID issued an RFP and subsequent contract modification that provided a one-year extension for project activities under Objective 1: Improved legislative, oversight, and representational functions of Somalia’s deliberative bodies. The two other objectives included improving the representational functions of…
USAID’s Enhanced Palestinian Justice Program (EPJP), a five-year, $18.2 million program in the West Bank, improved service delivery in the justice sector by strengthening individual and institutional capacities and increasing citizen engagement with and respect for the rule of law. This was addressed by developing justice sector policies and procedures, building the knowledge and skills of justice sector…
From April 2013 to February 2018, USAID/Nicaragua supported 17 Nicaraguan civil society organizations (CSOs) to strengthen their organizational capacity to better advocate for citizens’ demands through the Capacity Building for Civil Society Advocacy (CBCSA) project. This contributed to achieving USAID/Nicaragua’s Development Objective 1 to increase citizens’ ability to engage in democratic governance. It also increased civil society’s capacity to advocate for transparency and accountability, and…
Garrett Dorer is a former managing director, transitions unit. He served as chief of party of five major initiatives and led global training efforts for Chemonics’ staff worldwide.
Since the collapse of the central government in 1991, Somali citizens have lived under statelessness and weak transitional governments. USAID’s Strengthening Somali Governance (SSG) Project supported the development of more effective and accountable Somali government institutions. Since October 2014, SSG greatly improved how the government provided essential services. Throughout the political process, the project systematized…