News: Chemonics Partners with Devex on Month-long Campaign Exploring Development and Conflict

The World Bank estimates that 1.2 billion people, roughly one fifth of the world’s population, are currently affected by some form of violence or insecurity.

Conflicts and crises – be it civil unrest, political instability, or war – can derail development progress, wreaking havoc on even the most carefully laid plans. And civilian populations often continue to suffer long after the fighting as stopped, impacted by the collapse of government services, particularly education, healthcare and economic development.

That’s why for the next month, Chemonics is partnering with Devex to talk about the challenges and opportunities countries face during times of crisis, and how the development community can better respond in these difficult but critical situations.

Starting Tuesday, August 25, Devex will launch Conflict in Context, a global, interactive online conversation about conflict, transition and recovery. Chemonics is proud to join USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives, MercyCorps, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) as co-sponsors of the campaign.

Over its four weeks, the campaign will focus on what happens when a crisis hits, positive development stories that come out of crises, challenges and complexities of working in development during a crisis, and the future of fragile states as well as prevention and mitigation of conflict.

Through expert commentaries, stories and video interviews, Chemonics hopes to contribute to a dialogue on how communities and countries can not only survive crises, but emerge stronger and reach future development goals. As part of the campaign, we’ll co-host a Twitter chat on Sept. 8 featuring aid workers who have served on the frontlines of global conflicts, where practitioners will share the realities of the first 24 hours, weeks, and years to follow in conflict hot spots. Devex will also hold two additional digital events later in September focusing on how the media portrays conflicts, and the experiences of conflict survivors.