Blog
Insuring Resilience against Climate Change in Colombia Â
As climate change continues to create global challenges, Global Communities is working to create innovative, community-focused solutions to help mitigate the impacts. The city of MedellÃn, Colombia, faces unique risks associated with climate change due to the city’s topography and rainfall patterns. Heavy rain can result in flooding and mudslides across MedellÃn and as a…
Read MoreSupporting Community Resilience and Economic Recovery in Guatemala
By Noah Steinberg-Di Stefano When speaking to families in rural communities throughout Huehuetenango, Guatemala, almost everyone mentions that things have gotten more expensive. For them, this is not quantified as an inflation percentage but rather the price they pay for staples like tomatoes or beans when they go to the market or buy fertilizer for…
Read MoreGiving San Diego Infants a Healthy Start through Lactation Education and AccessÂ
By Lizzie Hickman The recent baby formula shortage in the United States (U.S.) has brought attention to infant nutrition needs and costs. The scarcity highlighted a larger conversation around the importance of breastfeeding/chestfeeding, inequity in healthcare and barriers parents face to accessing lactation services. In the U.S., Black birthing parents are nine times more likely to…
Read MoreEmpowering Women in India through Self-Help Groups
By Sushmita Mukherjee Global Communities believes in the power and potential of women’s collectives to bring about positive change. In India, PCI, a Global Communities Partner, is working to design and test community-based solutions that will make meaningful advancement toward gender equality. Specifically, we work with women’s collectives within the Self-Help Group (SHG) structure, nurtured…
Read MoreSupporting Economic Resilience through Increased Livelihoods in Sri Lanka
By Nagarajah Sathyaruban and Amila Jayamaha In Sri Lanka’s Mullaitivu district, a lack of job opportunities and career guidance avenues has contributed to a high youth unemployment ratio. For local youth, this has reinforced negative stereotyping, increased the risk of substance abuse and led to a sense of isolation and disillusionment, with ethnicity seen as a…
Read MoreReflecting on the COVID-19 Response Program’s Impact in San Diego
In May 2020, the world could not fathom what the future had in store, nor could Global Communities (then Project Concern International) envision the myriad of needs we would serve in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in San Diego. Fast forward more than two years and what began as a community-centered contact tracing program…
Read MoreDisaster Planning Pays Off in Northwest Syria
By Adile Sahin Originally from Hama, Asem has been displaced several times, like most Syrians, to escape the war at home. First forced to flee in 2012, he was displaced to the Idleb countryside, where he opened a hygiene materials shop. However, the village was later bombed by an air strike, during which Asem suffered…
Read MoreEquitable Partnerships to Support Women’s Economic Empowerment & Combat Gender-Based Violence
By Mabel Bejarano Cobo Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to be part of a panel at the Gender Plus Summit which was organized by FHI360 and co-sponsored by Global Communities. I joined Elena Ratoi from the Center for International Private Enterprise, Doina Postica from the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative in…
Read MoreProtecting Ghana from the Spread of COVID-19, One Community at a Time
By Emefa Baidoo and Senam Ntow Like many other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Ghana was not prepared to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. With a population of more than 31 million people and just one hospital bed per 1,000 individuals, its already overburdened health system and infrastructure nearly shattered. In addition, urban-rural disparities continue for…
Read MoreUsing the New Digital Savings Group Hub to Eliminate Paper, Inspire SavingsÂ
Digitization can feel overwhelming — and even risky when considering inherent equity and access issues. Yet, with the right resources, organizations can go paper-free, or at least reduce that paper output, and save money in the process. We chatted with Paulina Rudnicka, Senior Technical Advisor for Gender Integration at Global Communities, about the launch of…
Read MoreThe Vitas Lab: Building Brighter Futures Through Financial InnovationÂ
By Rohit Kulkarni and Lizzie Hickman Low- and middle-income countries were hit hard by COVID-19, as revenue streams dried up and government enforced lockdowns shuttered workplaces. Cracks in Lebanon’s financial system started in 2019 but were exacerbated by the pandemic. As a result, the Lebanese economy has undergone one of the worst peacetime collapses in…
Read MoreExpanding Possibilities for Women Entrepreneurs in Guatemala
By Jessica Ayala Just over a year ago, Sucely Rocsana Reyes Molina never would have imagined that she would own a flourishing formal dairy business with so many opportunities in the market. Today, the 30-year-old single mother has multiple people who help her deliver 15 types of cheeses and creams, expanding her business well…
Read MoreWorking to End Period Shame and Poverty in Parts of Africa
Lack of education on menstrual hygiene and health, persisting taboos and stigma, limited access to menstrual products and poor sanitation facilities undermines the educational opportunities, health and overall social status of women and girls around the world. As a result, millions are kept from reaching their full potential. In recognition of Menstrual Hygiene Day, learn…
Read MoreUSAID’s Zahabu Safi (Clean Gold) Project Launches Refiners Community of Practice to Help Set Up Responsible Gold Supply Chain from Eastern DRC
By Rachel Brass – Director, Market Linkages and Investment, USAID’s Zahabu Safi (Clean Gold) Project Gold refiners Heimerle + Meule, IGR, Italpreziosi, L’Orfebre, MKS PAMP, PX Precinox and Rand Refinery have joined a pre-competitive and collaborative group of refiners interested in learning and sharing the realities of sourcing artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) gold from…
Read MoreRebuilding a Sense of Home and Hope in Honduras
By Alberto Vásquez Padilla Martha’s broad and welcoming smile begins to fade as she starts to tell her story. Originally from a small village in Lempira, in the western region of Honduras, she left her town for the city when she was 18 years old. Now 43, Martha says she was looking for better opportunities…
Read MoreQ&A with Arwa Alkhawaja, COVID Outreach Specialist in San Diego
By Natalia López-Thismón When the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, Global Communities (then operating as PCI) moved quickly to collaborate with the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to the community through contact tracing. Since then, our programming has shifted into education and vaccine outreach as…
Read MoreBuilding Demand for Responsibly-Sourced Gold from Eastern Congo
Many communities in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) rely on artisanal and small-scale mining as a primary livelihood. While a significant drive of DRC’s economy, it tends to be an informal and risky business that has also been used to fuel conflict. As a key source of income for armed groups and criminal…
Read MoreIndispensable: Recognizing & Rebranding the Work of Brazil’s Trash Recyclers
By Roseli Bianchi and Lizzie Hickman In Brazil, some low-income families make ends meet through recycling. However, the process is not as simple as sorting trash into neatly labeled green bins. Rather, ‘catadores de materiais recicláveis’ are informal waste pickers who spend long, back-breaking hours scouring the streets of their urban communities for discarded materials they…
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