Sarah Ahmed is a development professional with 17 years of experience in U.S. government-funded projects in democracy and governance, and peace, stability, and transition across the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. As senior vice president of Talent, Learning, and Development, she is responsible for creating efficiencies through improved processes and guidance in the…
Michael has spent much of the past decade working in conflict-affected environments, mostly as an adviser for FCDO and USAID OTI programs in locations including Uruzgan and Syria. He also served as the civilian stabilization adviser to the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Syria/Iraq Stabilization Review in 2017. In 2020 he led the startup team…
The practical guide provides a means to analyze power dynamics in local conflicts. The approaches and activities contained support organizations to develop conflict mitigation, resolution, and prevention techniques that reflect the underlying political and cultural factors that drive conflict. The free, open-access toolkit provides organizations with a step-by-step guide on how to plan and run…
Daniel Emory has more than five years of international development experience supporting USAID and U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)-funded projects in west and southern Africa spanning conflict prevention, democracy and governance, and agricultural development. He currently serves as project manager for the Transparency and Accountability for Inclusive Development in Mozambique project, and recently…
Jaclyn Grace is a Programme Technical Manager in Chemonics’ United Kingdom Division. She is concurrently pursuing her MPhil in Development Studies at the University of Oxford, focusing on conflict and stabilisation in West Africa. Her ongoing academic research undertakes a comparative analysis of evolving conflict dynamics across Malian and Burkinabe borderlands. At Chemonics, she most…
Chemonics is pleased to announce Sahar Tabaja as its new Peace, Stability, and Transition Practice (PST) director. Ms. Tabaja is an accomplished stabilization expert with more than 10 years of experience in governance, conflict prevention, and managing capacity building programs in conflict-affected and fragile environments. Prior to this role, Ms. Tabaja served as a stabilization…
On August 4, 2020, some 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been stored for years at the Port of Beirut exploded, emitting a mushroom cloud of pink and yellow smoke. People felt the material impact up to 100 miles away. The death toll on the second day of the explosion exceeded 100 residents, and…
Bilal Al Ayoubi is the Task Order 2 director of USAID’s Lebanon Community Support Program (CSP). He previously served as the senior program development specialist on the Chemonics-implemented Lebanon Civic Support Initiative and as senior transition advisor for the Yemen Stabilization Initiative with Development Transformations, both projects funded by USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives between…
1) Why do you think it is important to expand activities to Beni and Butembo? As a Congolese citizen, I’m aware of the challenges in various parts of my country, and in particular, in Beni and Butembo in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Approximately 1 million inhabitants of these cities face heightened insecurity from…
As chief of party for the USAID Digital Liberia and e-Government project, Vicki Cooper led efforts to strengthen Liberia’s health, education, and economic growth sectors through enhanced information, communication, and technology capabilities in the aftermath of the Ebola epidemic. 1. How can the global development community use lessons learned from the Ebola crisis in Liberia…
Despite advances in rebuilding Lebanon’s physical, social, and economic infrastructure, many Lebanese citizens experience inadequate access to public services and economic opportunities. The Syrian conflict has placed additional strain on communities, reducing cross-border trade and bringing an estimated 1.5 million refugees to Lebanon. Host-community fatigue and tensions over resources and livelihoods are mounting. In response,…
Photo courtesy of USAID Colombia Human Rights Activity. This post originally appeared on Devex. When everyone is struggling to recover from violent conflict, singling out one community for assistance among many ethnic and religious identities can actually make matters worse. Yet, to heal the inter-community rifts that set the stage for conflict, targeted outreach to…