Successful governance systems demonstrate inclusive, people-centered administration that is transparent and accountable. This two-day interactive forum featured representatives from local governments, leading local and international organizations and thought leaders, USAID, and implementing partner programs discussing how to improve governance systems across different development sectors and the role of locally led development. Locally Led Development in…
Trust is a vital but often overlooked element of international development. Whether in formal spaces such as state healthcare or informal projects like community campaigns, trust has the power to make or break development initiatives. If those involved in a project trust each other, the chances of its success and sustainability are vastly improved. Yet…
Trust flavors our life choices. It lays the foundations of our social and professional relationships. It colors the way we engage with organizations, services, and people. Globally, trust in public institutions appears to be decaying. The ‘fake news’ phenomenon has damaged perceptions of traditional media. The COVID-19 pandemic gave rise to widespread vaccine hesitancy, in some…
Trust is a familiar concept, yet one too often ignored in programme design. It isan essential ingredient of mutually beneficial human relationships. Internationaldevelopment projects, particularly those in the field of governance, rely on relationshipsto meet their objectives. Trust smooths collaboration between project staff, donors,local stakeholders, governments, and, ultimately, the people who benefit fromprogramming. Despite its…
Indigenous Peoples remain among the world’s most marginalized populations and often face systematic exclusion from their nation’s social, economic, and political systems. According to Mexico’s 2020 census, more than 7.3 million people aged three years and older speak one of the country’s 68 indigenous languages, representing six percent of the total population with 25 million…
Fernando Calado is a migration and human rights expert with over 20 years of experience managing complex donor programs and over 15 years of implementation in Colombia. A three-time Chief of Party for USAID-funded programs, he currently serves as the IDIQ manager for the $160 million USAID/Colombia Venezuela Response and Integration Activity (VRI) and Chief…
Lebanon is passing through the toughest economic and financial crisis of its history, starting in October 2019 and still ongoing. The country’s GDP has shrunk from $52 billion in 2019 to $22 billion in 2021, due to the combined impacts of regional politics, high levels of public waste and corruption, COVID-19, and the 2020 Beirut…
More than 2 million Venezuelans have migrated to Colombia since 2016, fleeing social, economic, and political hardship in search of employment and essential services. This massive population influx, coupled with sizeable numbers of Colombian returnees displaced by 50 years of armed conflict, has acutely strained public and private services and systems, particularly in urban areas…
Dr. Peter Vaz is a local governance and capacity building specialist with more than 20 years of experience in decentralization, multi-sectoral governance, local government transformation, and institutional capacity-building. He joined the Chemonics’ Democracy and Governance Practice from a recent field assignment in Vietnam where he served as chief of party for the USAID Strengthening Provincial…
Tomas Bridle has more than 20 years of experience designing and implementing democracy and governance projects world-wide. Tomas is joining the DG Practice from USAID where he served as the Senior Advisor at the Center of Excellence for Democracy, Human Rights and Governance (DRG). Here he provided support to USAID missions on program design, country cooperation…
For years, public confidence in Colombia’s justice system has been troublingly low, particularly in rural areas that lack sufficient government presence. Citizens in these areas interact with a justice system that is unresponsive to their needs and has a limited capacity to meet local requirements. Opportunities to improve citizens’ trust in the justice system are…