Weak political and social institutions, persistent poverty, high population growth rates, and even recurrent climate shocks can drive vulnerable countries into chronic instability. Preventing vulnerable countries from backsliding into conflict requires a strategic, multi-layered, and flexible response. This includes the delivery of humanitarian assistance, but also programming that can immediately stabilize countries and build the foundation…
Currently the senior vice president of the Human Resources Division, Mina Day has more than 20 years of development experience and a human-centered management approach designing and leading cross-departmental activities in home-office and field-office settings. Mina’s entry into international development started in Serbia and Kosovo while working on emergency and transition programming. Later, as home-office…
What is stability? A single definition of “stability” could go a long way in aligning the international community’s priorities around addressing fragility and the risk of instability. On June 26 to 27, the Stabilization Symposium brings together world leaders, development practitioners, private sector representatives, and policymakers to look at applying a single definition of stability…
Bridget Burke is a director with more than 13 years of experience in conflict, disaster, and post-conflict transitional settings. Bridget works part-time at Chemonics, and part-time as a practicing psychotherapist and consultant on staff care, leadership, and stress/resilience. Bridget is trained in trauma response and applies a unique focus on trauma and mental health to…
Todd Diamond is a governance specialist and conflict analyst with more than 25 years of experience designing and implementing international donor projects. Working on behalf of various U.K. and U.S. government agencies, his experience includes assessing conditions that give rise to non-state actors and helping to build the capacity of civil society and the legitimacy…
Michele Piercey is an international development practitioner with 17 years of experience, 11 of which have been in the field. She has managed conflict mitigation projects across the world, as the leader of stabilization and political transition programs in Afghanistan and Tunisia, and most recently, as chief of party for the USAID/OTI-funded Iraq Regional Program. …
Rhett Gurian is currently the chief of party of the USAID Lebanon Community Support Program (CSP). He previously served as the senior vice president of Chemonics’ West and Central Africa and Haiti region and the chief of party for the USAID Syria Essential Services (SES) project based out of Jordan. Also, as chief of party,…
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…
This post originally appeared on Devex People think and say all sorts of things that they would never actually do. One of the biggest challenges in countering violent extremism is not only figuring out which people hold radical views, but who is most likely to join and act on behalf of violent extremist organizations. Determining…