This post originally appeared on The Atlantic Council. Many governance experts see decentralization as a potential model to mitigate political and sectarian challenges in Syria, Libya, and Iraq and improve livelihoods in those countries by restoring basic services to local populations. But in countries with a long history of absolute control, central government officials frequently…
USAID’s Strengthening Educational Performance-Up (STEP-Up) Zambia Project was conceived to address the root causes of learner underperformance. The project worked through the education system to produce a shift in knowledge, attitudes, and practices that would contribute to improving learning outcomes, especially reading achievement at the primary education level. Rather than prescribing actions, STEP-Up supported education stakeholders…
In October 2013, USAID launched the Feed the Future-funded Land Reform and Farm Restructuring Project (LRFRP). This $5.5 million, three-year project supported the continuing process of dehkan (individual or family) farm restructuring and recognition of property rights, leading to a market in land-use rights. This occurred through four key tasks: 1) legislative reform, 2) building the capacity of Tajik officials, farmers,…
Does international development take place inside a political vacuum, where the difference between success and failure hinges purely on getting the technical aspects of an intervention right? Or does development take place inside the unpredictable — and, at times, chaotic — world of politics, where the fate of even the most technically sound solution depends…
Funded by USAID and implemented by Chemonics International, the Local Government Support Project (LGSP) worked with 32 center towns in Moldova to design policies and procedures that contributed to good governance and developed capacity to meet decentralized authorities and responsibilities for services in a transparent manner. The project also provided basic services that engendered growth of local economies and made services more cost effective and…
When conducting a preliminary analysis of civil society capacity in Cambodia in September 2015, there was one topic that dominated all my meetings and interviews: the new Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations (also called LANGO). Everyone, from donors to international NGOs and local civil society organizations (CSOs), were sharing their concern about how LANGO…
USAID’s Strengthening Educational Performance-Up (STEP-Up) Zambia Project provided technical assistance to produce meaningful, measurable improvement in learner performance and literacy at the primary school level. At the heart of STEP-Up Zambia’s approach is the importance of one-on-one relationships at each level of the Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training, and Early Education (MESVTEE) leadership structure,…
The USAID Strengthening Educational Performance-Up (STEP-Up) Zambia project began in December 2011. This report describes how the project team’s first challenge was to understand why the primary education system in Zambia, which once performed well, had in recent years (circa 2012) struggled to deliver quality education and produce students who succeed in higher education. STEP-Up’s…