“Research enables us to identify how best to address the challenges that impact society. The good thing is that governments are starting to acknowledge the potential for research to drive national development.” Joy is unequivocal, and her belief in her work is easy to see. “This is my passion: ensuring that evidence can impact policy…
Economic development does not happen in a vacuum. Each country has unique attributes and challenges that can affect program outcomes – from local identity politics to tensions over resources – and attitudes towards minorities. Promoting economic growth in fragile and conflict-affected areas adds an additional layer of complexity as programs run the risk of exacerbating…
We live in an increasingly urban world with infrastructure and essential services struggling to keep pace. From the current level of 56% in 2020, the United Nations (UN) projects that 68% of the world’s population will be urban by 2050. Many of the world’s fastest growing populations over this period are projected to be rapidly…
Growing up in Islamic State-held territories, young Syrians have lived through traumatic experiences. Subsequently, many children have become desensitized to violence and developed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. As a result, conflict-affected children urgently need mental health support. Chemonics’ Injaz program is primarily an education project. It works with children in both formal and informal settings, including…
Syria Regional Program II (SRP II) operated with the goal of achieving a moderate, inclusive, and stable Syria. The project maintained and increased the influence of strategic moderate entities, strengthened communities to better resist extremism, and enabled the early recovery of newly liberated areas from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) by providing…
Juan is an expert in social policy, with over 14 years of experience working on the implementation and evaluation of Colombian national policies to overcome extreme poverty. He currently serves as the Deputy Chief of Party – Technical for the $40 million USAID/Colombia Migration Management Activity, the first task order under the Venezuela Response Integration…
Global mental health experts recognize that traumatic stress can dramatically affect progress toward the same outcomes Chemonics projects work toward each day, including educational achievement, economic productivity, social cohesion, positive communal relations, and overall health and wellbeing. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated many of these sources of trauma, whether it be armed conflict, natural…
When many people think of the concept of trauma, they imagine a specific and singular event that causes overwhelming stress for the person affected. In reality, trauma can be understood as an experience, a series of events, or set of circumstances that can have lasting and adverse effects on individual and community physical, social, and…
As countries around the world grapple with the COVID-19 health crisis, the downstream economic and social impacts are particularly devastating for populations that already exist within the margins of society, including those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI). In many countries, the pandemic has amplified the stigma, discrimination, violence, and deprivation…
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…
Sahar Tabaja is a conflict specialist with more than 15 years of experience designing and managing stabilization, governance, P/CVE, and peacebuilding programs in the Middle East. Her work has focused on exploring how youth, women, civil society, and local actors can positively change governance practices, alter conflict systems, and enable societal peace in fragile environments.…