Middle East and North Africa.

Devising New Ways to Learn Remotely: Intranet in an IDP Camp

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Injaz II program introduced an intranet to support virtual classrooms and distance learning for children in IDP camps.

Empowering Youth to Drive Economic Reform in Tunisia

The Tunisia JOBS project works with university students to demystify the economic reform process and introduce how they can advocate for positive change that will create more job opportunities and improved competition.

Launching E-Government Solutions to Streamline Tunisian Tax Processes

Tunisia FIRST rolls out a platform that simplifies processes, creates a new accountability structure for taxpayers, and collects taxpayer data that is now streamlined and shared across government agencies.

Succeeding as a Tunisian Female Government Leader

The USAID Fiscal Reform for a Strong Tunisia (FIRST) Project provides technical support and capacity building to the Tunisian Ministry of Finance to strengthen Tunisia’s fiscal foundations for sustainable and inclusive growth.

Creating Public Finance Reform

Melissa Scudo, former team lead for the USAID Tunisia Tax and Customs Reform Pilot Activity, discusses methods for creating reform in the public finance space.

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Projects
Impact Stories
News and Blog

Transforming Jordan’s Recycling Industry

Waste recycling services in Jordan constitute a viable commercial opportunity for Jordan’s private and public sectors to increase the competitiveness of recycling and invigorate the circular economy.

Generating Jobs and Growth in Tunisia

Economic and political stability in Tunisia hinges on sustainable employment opportunities.

Preventing Conflict at its Roots in Lebanon

Tensions in Lebanon are mounting over resources and livelihoods. Service delivery and financial resources can prevent escalation.

Strengthening Education for Youth in Syria

The Syrian conflict has raised an unparalleled need for access to education so that young Syrians have a chance to learn and thrive.

Promoting a Moderate, Inclusive, and Stable Syria

Amid the conflict in Syria, local efforts to build a peaceful and inclusive future and resist extremism need support.

Restoring Essential Services in Syria

Electricity, schools, roads, and other essential services are out of reach for many of Syria’s conflict-affected communities, magnifying the instability of their recovery efforts.

Building Peace in Libya

It is important to build stability and resiliency through civic engagement and community dialogue in Libya.

Laying the Fiscal Foundation for Tunisia’s Growth

With greater simplicity, equity, and efficiency in its fiscal policies, the Tunisian government can foster sustainable and inclusive growth.

Promoting Private Sector Employment in Lebanon

A stronger business environment for private enterprises in Lebanon will help increase employment opportunities for Lebanese citizens.

Cutting-edge Technologies in Global Health Supply Chains

To improve access to high-quality health products worldwide, the USAID Global Health Supply Chain Program-Procurement and Supply Management project employs cutting-edge technologies and industry best practices to make global health supply chains more efficient and reach more people.

Strengthening Municipal Governance in Jordan

Jordanian communities need innovative, sustainable ways both to improve how municipalities deliver services and to develop closer relationships between citizens and the government.

Tax Reform for Economic Growth

In 2014, Tunisia conducted its first free and democratic elections, a process that marked its smooth transition out of four years of political unrest but also highlighted the need for economic reforms.

Managing Water and Wastewater in Lebanon

The water and wastewater infrastructure in Lebanon needed improvements to deliver efficient, sustainable services to the country’s citizens.

Turning on the Tap in the Middle East and North Africa

Certification programs for water plant operators are improving critical water and sanitation services in the Middle East and North Africa.

Strengthening Jordan’s Economy Through Tourism

With millions of people visiting Jordan each year, the government recognized that the tourism industry is a major asset to Jordan’s economy and should be strengthened.

Supporting Water Sector Programs Around the World

USAID missions and country partners often require quick-response technical assistance to plan, design, and implement water sector programs.

Piloting and Promoting Best Practices for Economic Growth

Piloting and sharing approaches to job creation, public financial management, trade and customs, access to finance, enterprise and workforce development, and economic inclusion is promoting economic growth in Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa.

A Stronger Justice Sector in the West Bank

As the West Bank’s justice sector becomes more transparent, citizens are becoming more engaged, recognizing their government’s improved efficiency and accountability.

Improving Early Grade Reading Skills in Morocco

Moroccan schools are making an effort to transform reading instruction in Arabic to improve primary students’ basic literacy skills.

A Stronger Tourism Sector in Jordan

Beyond enriching the lives of millions of visitors every year, the tourism sector plays a critical role in Jordan’s economy and requires structured support to achieve its full potential.

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COVID-19 and Conflict: Keeping Syrian Children Learning Between Crises

First, the Syrian Crisis forced children out of school. Then COVID-19 hit. Find out how Chemonics’ Manahel project is harnessing online platforms to keep children learning and minimize disruptions to their education.

Making Vaccines More Visible

By expanding the reach of its vaccine management information system, Pakistan is poised to increase immunization coverage and save thousands of lives from preventable diseases through greater data visibility.

A One-Stop Success for Afghanistan

A new streamlined concept for customs processing — the one-stop shop — has transformed the way that Afghan traders can export their goods to neighboring countries and generate income.

Transforming Afghanistan’s Future

A unique year-long program is changing the lives of young Afghan women.

The Path Toward Protected Rights in the West Bank

Thanks to structured training, the West Bank family courts now constitute a powerful platform through which victims of gender-based violence can access services that more effectively address their needs.

Banking on Tourism in Jordan

With Sharia-compliant financing, small- and medium-sized tourism enterprises in Jordan can more easily access bank loans that are critical to economic growth.

Learning to Read in Morocco, One Letter at a Time

By introducing phonics-based teaching methodologies, the Reading for Success – Small Scale Experimentation activity is testing the most effective approaches for strengthening children’s Arabic reading skills in targeted primary schools.

Building Blocks for a New Education Landscape in Sindh

A nuanced approach that targets learning materials, teacher training, instructional review, and an innovative formative assessment technique has the potential to reshape the way reading is taught in Pakistan.

Changing Perceptions: Countering Stigmas around Tourism in Jordan

With Sharia-compliant financing, small- and medium-sized tourism enterprises in Jordan can more easily access bank loans that are critical to economic growth.

Changing Perceptions: Boosting Jordan’s International Appeal

Jordan is using partnerships and strategic marketing to promote its tourism sector, changing perceptions about the country’s image in the eyes of international visitors.

Taking a Stand Onstage

An interactive drama technique called “forum theater” is teaching Palestinian citizens about gender-based violence and showing them how to address the social issue.

A New Kind of Sindhi Story for Children in Pakistan

After a learning material gap-analysis study revealed a lack of children’s books in the Sindhi language in Pakistan, local publishers are creating more child-friendly stories.

Investing in Women

In Jordan, young women are getting a chance to work in the growing tourism and hospitality sector.

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A woman with a basket on her head walks down a road in Sanaa, Yemen.

Creating a Sustainable Peace Deal in Yemen: A Discussion with Ahmed Al Khameri

Six years into the Yemen conflict, the war shows no sign of abating. The situation is dire: 80% of Yemen’s population of 30 million requires some form of humanitarian assistance; nearly half the population is in acute need. With violence spilling across Yemen’s borders and threatening maritime security in the Red Sea’s strategically important Bab el-Mandab Strait, regional…

3 Questions with Mohammad Youssef: COVID-19, Technology, and Innovation

COVID-19 has forced the development community to pivot programming and innovate to bridge the physical divide that social distancing has imposed. Mohammad Youssef is the director of programs for the U.S. State Department-funded Injaz education project in Syria. In this blog, Mohammad reflects on new COVID-induced challenges, and how his background in IT has helped him…

3 Questions on Designing an Emergency Intervention in Lebanon During COVID-19 with Bilal Al Ayoubi

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…

Hands holding a printout of a line graph

Three Questions on Financing Self-Reliance with Mario Kerby

In May, Chemonics, the Urban Institute, and USAID co-hosted a panel discussion and interactive breakout sessions to explore approaches for fostering commitment to more transparent, sustainable financial governance. This summit highlighted experiences and lessons from three USAID projects — including the Chemonics-implemented Fiscal Reform for a Strong Tunisia (FIRST) project — that have successfully built…

Syrian children sitting in a circle shout happily

Psychosocial Support for Children Counters the Legacy of Violent Extremism in Syria

Exposure to violent and radical ISIS ideologies has damaged Syrian children’s mental health. In areas touched by violent extremism, transforming classrooms into mental health positive spaces that deliver psychosocial support can kickstart the healing process.

The Case for Practical Techniques for Inclusive Classrooms

While efforts to improve inclusion of learners with disabilities are gaining traction with donors and ministries of education, those efforts largely focus on identification and disability mapping to get policy into place. Approaching inclusive education solely from the lens of policy development leaves the classroom teacher and the children she serves waiting. Practical implementation of…

3 Questions with Roula Moussa on Private Sector Engagement in Lebanon

Roula Moussa is the CEO and founder of Netways. In 2017, she created DiasporaID, a digital platform that connects and promotes collaboration among Lebanese diaspora communities worldwide. As a partner under the USAID Asia and Middle East Economic Growth Best Practices (AMEG) program, Roula shares her experience pitching and scaling DiasporaID to USAID and recommends…

3 Questions with Todd Diamond on Countering Violent Extremism and Preventing Gang Violence

This post was adapted from an interview between Elisabeth Dallas, Chemonics’ Peace, Stability and Transition Practice director, and Todd Diamond, a conflict, stability, and security director in Chemonics’ U.K. Division. For the full interview, watch the video below. How are violent extremism and gang violence — and the development community’s approaches to them — similar?…

Development Works Here with Razan Quossous

We’d like you to meet Razan Quossous! Razan is an economic growth expert with 20 years of experience, including private sector development and increasing access to finance. Now the business enabling environment component leader for a tourism project in Jordan, Razan shares her insights on how development work can spur economic growth to improve lives.…

News: Innovation, Technology, and Advancing the SDGs at ICT4D 2019

Digital technology has had a profound impact on global development across sectors and in many parts of the world. From April 30 to May 3, public, private, and civil society organizations from more than 80 countries will convene for the 2019 Information and Communications Technology for Development (ICT4D) Conference in Kampala, Uganda. Now in its…

Boosting Water Resiliency in the Middle East and North Africa with a Systems Approach

The State of Water in the Middle East and North Africa The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region contains some of the most water-stressed communities in the world. A combination of high population growth and rapid economic development have intensified the stress on water over the last 50 years. According to the United Nations…

Sequencing for Success in Blended Finance Solutions

For emerging markets, blended finance is the new cool kid on the block. It’s a tool that facilitates access to finance around the world, and it’s gaining momentum with the international development community. While articles discussing blended finance abound, development practitioners increasingly seek specific information about how to “do” blended finance. Chemonics and LixCap know…

News: USAID and Chemonics Selected as Government Innovation Awards Winners

Chemonics updated this story on September 9, 2019. The transformative power of information technology (IT) infiltrates the day-to-day lives of people around the world — from the once-remote communities who now embrace social media to the youth who were excluded from finance but are now using mobile money. Across geographical borders and technical sectors, IT…

News: Chemonics Presents at the Health and Humanitarian Logistics Conference

From July 18 to 19, health and humanitarian sector professionals will convene in Dubai, one of the world’s largest hubs for humanitarian relief. As a sponsor of the Health & Humanitarian Logistics (HHL) Conference, Chemonics looks forward to exploring disaster preparedness and response, long-term development and humanitarian aid, and global health delivery. In our presentations,…

News: Global Health Supply Chain Program Maintains Strong On-Time Delivery Performance

The USAID Global Health Supply Chain Program – Procurement and Supply Management (GHSC-PSM) project recently published a report that covers the second quarter of FY2018 (January – March 2018). The report outlines the impact the project has had in 60 countries around the globe. On the crucial metric of on-time delivery (OTD) of lifesaving health…

Empowerment at Your Doorstep: The Case of WEinSPIRE in Pakistan

This activity was one of the four winners of Chemonics’ recent Market Systems and Youth Enterprise Development Innovation Contest within the market systems track.This post originally appeared on Marketlinks. Working in a market system can mean that no endeavor or initiative is too big or too small if it can lead to transformative change. In Pakistan,…

News: Innovating, Connecting, and Transforming Development at the ICT4D Conference

Innovations in technology have enhanced development impact across all sectors — from agriculture to education to health. From May 8 to 10, public, private, and civil society organizations from around the world will convene for the 2018 Information and Communications Technology for Development (ICT4D) Conference in Lusaka, Zambia. Now in its 10th year, the conference…

News: Global Health Supply Chain Program Tops 80% On-Time Delivery

The GHSC-PSM project recently shared a report that covers the first quarter of FY2018 (October 1-December 31, 2017). On the crucial metric of on-time delivery (OTD), GHSC-PSM achieved 82 percent for the month of December, exceeding its target of 60 percent. Overall, the quarter’s OTD was 72 percent, more than double that of the previous…

The Case of Jordan: Empowering Municipalities to Improve Public Service Delivery

This post originally appeared on UrbanLinks. Quick infusions of public services are usually a surefire way for local officials to increase their political capital. But pushing through reforms that spur longer-term economic development and strengthen community cohesion is often much harder to accomplish amid competing priorities. In Jordan, USAID’s Cities Implementing Transparent Innovative and Effective…

Two men examine a control panel in Jordan.

Can Jordan Beat Water Scarcity Without Desalination?

Water scarcity is nothing new to the Middle East. In fact, many would say that water — or the lack of it — has shaped its very history and culture. Looking forward, water will continue to play a pivotal role for this arid region of the world. Aging water infrastructure and increasingly uncertain climate events…

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