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From Sex Worker to Car Washer: DREAMS Program Helping Young Women Live Empowered Lives
From Sex Worker to Car Washer: DREAMS Program Helping Young Women Live Empowered Lives This article first appeared on BBC Swahili |  By Idris Situma Twenty-three year old Felicia Onimbo is a resident of a Majengo, a shanty town just outside of Nairobi, Kenya. Life in Nairobi’s informal settlements is fraught with challenges. These slums contain some of…
Read MoreUSAID Resiliency in Northern Ghana (RING) Project
USAID Resiliency in Northern Ghana (RING) Project: Investing in local government, supporting sustainable change The Ghanaian government has made impressive strides in government decentralization — empowering regional and local government officials to make decisions and provide services to the communities they represent. The USAID Resiliency in Northern Ghana (RING) project seeks to strengthen this structure…
Read MoreUSAID-RING Feed the Future Project Thrives in Northern Region
USAID-RING Feed the Future Project Thrives in Northern Region This article first appeared on Citifmonline |  By Abdul Karim Naatogmah Over 2,000 female beneficiaries of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Resiliency in Northern Ghana (RING) Feed the Future mission, have started harvesting 100 acres of orange-fleshed sweet potato cultivated in 70 communities of 17 districts in…
Read MoreSocial Entrepreneurship Conference in Moline
Video: Social Entrepreneurship Conference in Moline A new social entrepreneurship series by Western Illinois University took a closer look at the ongoing revitalization efforts in Moline’s Floreciente neighborhood. Global Communities is implementing the Flourishing Communities program, funded by the John Deere Foundation, in Floreciente and engaging residents to reinvigorate the neighborhood and improve the quality of…
Read MoreUSAID supported Youth Leader Wins the Accelerating Innovation through Young Leaders Awards at Habitat III
USAID supported Youth Leader Wins the Accelerating Innovation through Young Leaders Awards at Habitat III In the run-up to the UN Habitat III conference in Quito, Ecuador, October 17-20, 2016, the Mega-Cities Project organized a global competition to identify Young Leaders that are implementing creative solutions to urban challenges at the intersection of poverty, environment…
Read MoreLearning Brief 3: Market Feasibility for Financial Products Focused on Youth in Construction
Learning Brief 3: Market Feasibility for Financial Products Focused on Youth in Construction The data in this report was based on assessment of results from: a literature review, 9 focus group discussions, 29 key informant interviews, and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data from banking industry players. The focus group discussions consisted of 77 youth selected…
Read MoreLearning Brief 2: Knowledge Attitudes and Practices of Youth and Construction Sector Stakeholders in Ghana
Learning Brief 2: Knowledge Attitudes and Practices of Youth and Construction Sector Stakeholders in Ghana Construction is the back-bone of Ghana’s economy and shapes the outlook of cities, towns, and villages. It is estimated that the construction industry in Ghana contributes approximately USD 500 – 600 million annually to GDP (COTVET, 2010a). In 2012, the sector attained…
Read MoreLearning Brief 1: Workforce Gaps and Opportunities for Youth in Ghana’s Construction Sector
Learning Brief 1: Workforce Gaps and Opportunities for Youth in Ghana’s Construction Sector The construction sector in Ghana contributed 8.9% to the country’s GDP and grew by 11% in 2012. The sector is expected to continue its steady growth and estimates have shown that it will generate one million jobs in the next 10 years.…
Read MoreNew Boreholes Increase Access to Clean Water in Juba’s Jebel Area
New Boreholes Increase Access to Clean Water in Juba’s Jebel Area This story was originally published by USAID South Sudan. Before the construction of the new boreholes, residents fetched water from a dirty, open sources. Photo by Betty Poni. On October 7, the Jebel community in Juba celebrated the launch of two USAID-funded boreholes that…
Read MoreYouth Local Councils in Palestine: Promoting Civic Participation Among Youth in Palestine
The capacity of local government to reach out to citizens and to involve them in identifying priorities, planning, and monitoring builds trust and solidifies the relationship between citizens and government officials. Over the past decade, Global Communities in Palestine has designed interventions to enhance awareness of good governance practices and the important role of the…
Read MoreLocal Government and Infrastructure (LGI) Program
The overall goal of the Local Government and Infrastructure (LGI) program is to promote an enabling environment for good local governance and provide the basic infrastructure necessary for sustainable improvements in the quality of life of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Awarded in 2010, the program focuses on two main components, infrastructure and…
Read MoreParenting Groups Helping Solve Household Conflict in Rwanda
Parenting Groups Helping Solve Household Conflict in Rwanda Viviane Mukandekezi is a mother of five children in Kinazi, Southern Rwanda. She and her husband are both workers in fields surrounding their village. Beside the poverty the family is facing, Viviane was overwhelmed with the growing responsibility at home. As life became more challenging, her husband slowly…
Read MoreSupporting Community Based Nutrition Program and Growth Monitoring in Rwanda
Supporting Community Based Nutrition Program and Growth Monitoring in Rwanda Angele Uzamukunda is a nutritionist at the Kabuye health center, where she supervises the Community Based Nutrition Program (CBNP) and growth monitoring sessions for children under five from the villages of Kabeza, Nyagasozi, Burizira, and Rebero in the district of Gasabo. Since August of this year,…
Read MoreKenya: Healthy Outcomes through Prevention Education (HOPE)
Kenya: Healthy Outcomes through Prevention Education (HOPE)Â Evaluation Summary In Kenya, high poverty, insecurity, poor health outcomes, substance abuse and low levels of education make young people, especially girls, vulnerable to a variety of risks such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and Diseases (STDs), and Sexual…
Read MoreGlobal Communities Programs in Haiti
Global Communities Programs in Haiti Global Communities began working in Haiti in 2006 to promote stability by creating jobs and rehabilitating much-needed infrastructure. In response to the devastating earthquake, which struck Haiti in January 2010, Global Communities implemented projects focusing on rubble removal, restoring livelihoods through cash-for-work, construction of transitional shelters and rebuilding of a…
Read MoreInnovation in Infrastructure – Creating the Ras Atiya School in the West Bank
Global Communities West Bank & Gaza worked with architects and engineers to build a school in the West Bank that is seismic resistant. This school can withstand earthquakes and can be used as a shelter for other emergencies. The innovation used in constructing the school will allow it to be a safe learning place for…
Read MoreUnintended Consequences: How Fighting HIV in Kenya Created Benefits Beyond Health
Unintended Consequences: How Fighting HIV in Kenya Created Benefits Beyond Health Written by Betty Adera, Chief of Party for Global Communities’ DREAMS Initiative in Kenya This article originally appeared on Medium and Reuters Alertnet The threat posed by HIV and AIDS in East Africa is nothing new. For years, we have seen efforts to curb the…
Read MoreUrban Sanitation: A Messy Problem for Habitat III
Urban Sanitation: A Messy Problem for Habitat III By Alberto Wilde, Ghana Country Director for Global Communities As we approach Habitat III in Quito, Ecuador, one of the most essential topics that must be addressed in the New Urban Agenda is urban sanitation. One in three people in the world lack access to a toilet. The…
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