In Tajikistan, rural communities lack access to essential goods and services, which contributes to a high prevalence of childhood undernutrition, stunting, and other poor health issues. Increasing access to clean water and sanitation can improve these outcomes. The USAID Rural Water Supply (RWS) Activity partners with local governments, communities, and businesses to develop and improve…
Colombia, like other countries, implemented stay-at-home measures and restricted certain social services to limit the spread of COVID-19 beginning in mid-March 2020. Women and girls have disproportionately faced increased risks of experiencing gender-based violence (GBV) due to the socioeconomic fallout, and women in Colombia often lack consistent and reliable pathways to report violence. In response,…
Cecilia Barraza is a Colombian GBV expert with 27 years of experience designing and implementing public policies to advance gender equity, improve access to justice, and reduce GBV. She currently serves as deputy chief of party on the USAID/Colombia Justice for Sustainable Peace project. Cecilia has served as an advisor on the Presidential Council for…
Cristina Hardaga Fernández is the chief of party of the Human Rights Accountability Activity (Promoviendo la Rendición de Cuentas por los Derechos Humanos (RED-DH)), a five-year USAID-funded project focused on enhancing the capacity and commitment of the Mexican government to provide effective and accountable responses to grave human rights violations, such as forced disappearances and…
Biodiversity loss is one of Central America’s most pressing challenges. The five-year, $13.9 million USAID Regional Program for the Management of Aquatic Resources and Economic Alternatives, implemented by Chemonics International, was developed to strengthen coastal-marine resource management and biodiversity conservation while improving the livelihoods of local populations. Population growth in coastal marine areas, climate change,…
With only 7 percent of its territory arable, Tajikistan’s land is valuable. Although the country took steps to allow citizens to freely buy and sell rights to use the land, the lack of national appraisal standards and professional institutions to support their implementation made it difficult to determine how the land should be priced for…
The USAID Promote: Women in Government (WIG) project is pleased to present the Workplace Obstacles: Analysis and Recommendations (WOAR) follow-up report. This report is the culmination of three years of research, analysis, and collaboration with the Afghan government. The report that follows not only identifies the key barriers to women’s participation in the Afghan civil…
Since the international intervention in Afghanistan post-2001, efforts to improve the lives of women have produced mixed results. Although Afghan women have the right to participate in public life and have gained improved access to education and health care, various obstacles still limit women’s advancement in society. Many women lack the concrete resources and education…
PROMOTE: Women in Government is a joint commitment by the United States and Afghan Governments that works to empower 75,000 women between the ages of 18 and 30, and help ensure these women are included among a new generation of Afghan political, business, and civil society leaders. To support the project’s objectives, this partnership assessment…
Branden Ryan has eight years of international development experience in gender equality and social inclusion, project management, training, and business development. In his role, he ensures that projects and proposals mainstream and integrate gender equality and social inclusion principles and conducts technical outreach, communications, and research activities. Prior to joining Chemonics, he worked with Crown…
The USAID Feed the Future Tajikistan Agriculture and Water Activity (TAWA), which aims to raise incomes by engaging rural women directly in agricultural productivity while also boosting awareness of better nutrition and sanitation behaviors, has integrated learning and continuous improvement in its standard operations. By embedding a sense of collaborating, learning, and adapting (CLA) practices…
Chemonics recognizes the key role gender equality in leadership plays in achieving development impact, and understands that for women to achieve leadership roles equally with their male peers, the systemic barriers for women must be addressed, such as supporting workplaces free of harassment and ensuring pay equity. Research suggests that if women played an identical…