Middle East and North Africa.

Women of the Palestinian Authority

Between 2005 and 2011, there was a large increase in the number of women taking leadership roles in the Palestinian Authority. Learn about how USAID training helped them further develop their skills.

How Can The Tourism Sector Benefit Youth?

How can the $7.6 trillion tourism industry benefit young people in their countries? Ibrahim Osta, chief of party for the USAID Jordan Building Economic Sustainability Through Tourism program, shares his perspective.

Water Infrastructure Support

The Water Infrastructure Support and Enhancement for Lebanon (WISE-Lebanon) program transformed the quality of and accessibility to water for thousands of Lebanese citizens by improving service delivery from existing facilities.

Sindh Reading Program

A partnership between the Sindh provincial government and USAID has helped more than 100,000 students improve their reading and comprehension skills by investing in their teachers’ professional development

How to Create Jobs Cost-effectively

The USAID Asia and Middle East Economic Growth Best Practices Program tackles barriers to business growth, creating more than 150,000 jobs on USAID projects around the globe.

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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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Approaching 95-95-95 HIV/AIDS Goals by Focusing on Patients

Ensuring adherence to HIV treatment can significantly improve the quality of life for people living with HIV. A patient-centric treatment approach is successfully reducing the burden and helping the global health community maintain the progress made to end AIDS by 2030 during COVID-19.

A third party logistics provider uses a motorbike to transport samples across Nigeria.

Private Partnership Paves the Way to Better Health in Nigeria

Engaging private sector partners in Nigeria’s lab sample network has strengthened the country’s efforts to eliminate HIV/AIDS and made its global health supply chain more resilient in the face of COVID-19.

In TransIT: Enhancing Visibility Across In-Country Supply Chains

Chemonics is helping to ensure that health commodities are delivered where they are needed most by using a low-cost, easy-to-use, cloud-based transport management system that increases visibility across the in-country supply chain.

Access to Medicines Transforms Lives for HIV/AIDS Patients

Bolstering the health supply chain in Zambia equips health facilities with the medicines and other supplies needed to care for patients like Catherine Nalungwe who live with HIV/AIDS.

Making Supply Chain Data Visibility a Reality

With a new tool at their disposal, health facilities in Malawi are collecting reliable data that ensures lifesaving medicines and supplies reach their final destination.

Investing in Women

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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…

News: Chemonics Projects Earn Industry Recognition at SID-W Innovation Competition

Two panels of development experts, along with attendees of last week’s Society for International Development – Washington Chapter’s (SID-W) Virtual Annual Conference, have recognized three Chemonics-implemented projects for their innovative approaches to development challenges. The awards were announced during the event as part of SID-W’s annual Innovation Competition. This year, SID-W members entered their innovations…

3 Questions with Mohammed 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…

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.

Preventing Culture from Eating Your Strategy

This blog post has been adapted from an article in Journal of Social Science & Medicine – Population Health. If you’ve worked in development for long enough, at some point you’ve scratched your head about why a technically sound strategy achieved less than expected results. As the old business adage goes, “Culture eats strategy for…

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…

Three Models that Ensure Private Sector Engagement

This post originally appeared on Devex. Donor agencies, such as the United States Agency for International Development and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, have made private sector engagement, or PSE, a key element of their development strategies. Being more intentional about including the private sector in development is good news. Over the years,…

News: Chemonics Releases SHEA Prevention and Response Toolkit

Chemonics has launched a Sexual Harassment, Exploitation, and Abuse (SHEA) Prevention and Response Toolkit to help the development community protect people from sexual assault and to engage organizations in working and learning together to share best practice and important lessons in SHEA. The free, open-access toolkit provides organizations with a step-by-step guide on how to…

2020 Vision: Three Development Trends of the New Decade

Despite a global commitment, the U.N. estimates that countries and donors need $2.5 trillion in additional finance each year to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, official development assistance in 2018 was $153 billion. The number speaks for itself: the development community simply cannot…

Best of the Blog 2019

Check out our countdown of the 10 most popular blog posts from 2019! 10. To Respond to the Venezuelan Migration Crisis, Let’s Also Tap the Private Sector By Ariana Szepesi-Colmenares As Venezuelan migrants navigate challenges in host countries, the private sector must play an active role in maximizing their economic opportunities. 9. Development Works Here…

Development Starts Here — A Pledge to Action for Diversity and Inclusion

This post originally appeared on Devex. So often international development professionals facilitate incredible change in the most challenging environments, yet it can be difficult to practice what we preach. By the very nature of our work with people from all parts of society, all over the globe, international development firms — including Chemonics — have,…

Making the Future Accessible: Safeguarding Women with Disabilities in the Workplace

Girls and women with disabilities experience up to 10 times more gender-based violence than those without disabilities (United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) global study). This can include physical or sexual violence, often perpetrated by family members or neighbors who know they are alone at home. To compound the situation further, women with disabilities have a…

An Argument for Inclusive Stabilization

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…

News: Chemonics’ President and CEO Susanna Mudge Joins Women Leaders on Panel at Global Women’s Summit

On Tuesday, October 15, 2019, Chemonics’ president and CEO Susanna Mudge participated in Foreign Policy’s global women’s summit, “Her Power: Global Voices, Global Impact.” Co-hosted in partnership with the Inter-American Commission of Women of the Organization of American States, the Inter-American Task Force on Women’s Leadership, and the International Monetary Fund, the summit convened professionals…

News: Chemonics’ Senior Vice President Melissa Scudo Gasmi Discusses Private Sector Engagement at CSIS Event

On Monday, October 7, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) hosted a panel discussion on private sector engagement, titled More than a Wallet: The Role of the Private Sector in Development. The panel explored the role of the private sector in development. The event featured Chemonics’ Middle East and North Africa Senior Vice…

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.…

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