Blog
Pass the Mic: Using Data to Improve and Adapt Emergency Food Assistance ProgramsÂ
By Paula Rudnicka, Sr. Manager for Public Affairs at Global Communities Using reliable, quality data in humanitarian settings is critical to ensuring that life-saving interventions reach affected populations in a timely and equitable manner. While evidence-based decision-making should be a trademark of any emergency response program, data collected in crisis contexts is not always translated…
Read MoreUSAID CLEAR Program in Kenya Launches a Series of Cooperative Management Education Videos
The Cooperative Leadership Engagement Advocacy and Research (CLEAR) program, funded by USAID, Cooperative Development Program, recently developed a series of training and educational videos to capture the curriculums and materials developed over the life of the program. Cooperatives, SMEs, and others can benefit from these videos to learn about the basics of cooperative management, view…
Read MoreBuilding the Resilience of Kenya’s Cooperative Sector through Capacity Building of Policymakers and Implementers
By Olga Oyier & Maureen Gitau, USAID/CLEAR Program Kenya’s devolved system of governance has provided the country with an opportunity to implement grassroots-led development programs but also revealed technical gaps at the county government level, particularly in the area of public policy formulation and implementation. More specifically, the cooperatives policy and legislative reform process to…
Read MoreHow Policy Innovations Can Strengthen Cooperative Businesses in Kenya
By Maureen Gitau, USAID/CLEAR Program Registration of cooperative businesses is a challenging issue for policymakers and stakeholders in the cooperative sector. Under Schedule Four of the Kenyan Constitution, cooperative development is a fully devolved function, meaning oversight for cooperatives was transferred from the national government to county governments, including the transfer of powers and funding.…
Read MoreWorking to Build Economic Resilience in Guatemala’s Crises-Stricken Highlands
By Gesler Castillo Guatemala’s Western Highlands continue to suffer long-term impacts from widespread destruction caused by Hurricanes Eta and Iota, including the loss of livelihoods and damage to infrastructure and public services. The region is home to a significant portion of Guatemala’s rural population, many of whom rely on subsistence agriculture to survive. Unfortunately, prolonged…
Read MorePass the Mic: Advancing Equality through Gender-Transformative Parenting and Nutrition Interventions
By Paula Rudnicka, Sr. Manager for Public Affairs at Global Communities Global Communities has long recognized that advancing gender equality is vital to achieving development objectives, including better health outcomes for women, children and entire families. Where feasible, we integrate gender-transformative approaches in our maternal, newborn and child health interventions. For example, we encourage positive…
Read MoreImproving the Livelihoods & Living Conditions of Gaza Youth through WASH Projects
Global Communities recently began implementing 10 construction projects that will directly impact the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) needs of 3,497 households in the Gaza Strip. The projects include the installation of new water pipes, water tanks, toilets and shower taps as well as construction of a new sewage network and stormwater pipelines in seven…
Read MorePass the Mic: Reinvigorating Global Efforts to Reduce Maternal and Child Mortality
By Paula Rudnicka, Sr. Manager for Public Affairs at Global Communities In 2012, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) partnered with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Governments of India and Ethiopia to convene the Child Survival Call to Action, which galvanized unprecedented commitments from governments and civil society around the…
Read MoreHow Village Savings & Loans Groups Saved $7,000 in Only Four Months
By David Mbulula Garamba National Park lies in the Haut-Uélé province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), along the border with South Sudan. Most of the region is very isolated, but African Parks (which manages Garamba) has improved security greatly over the past few years, both for the wildlife within the park and…
Read MoreImproving Access to Safe Drinking Water in Honduras
By José Alberto Vasquez Padilla Despite possessing a large amount of water resources, many communities in Honduras suffer from a shortage of safe drinking water, which leads to a series of public health and quality of life problems across the country. According to the National Survey of Demography and Health (ENDESA 2019), only 50% of…
Read MoreUp to Youth Program Supports Sweet Entrepreneurship in Kosovo
By Lizzie Hickman Do you remember what it was like to be a teenager, to have the entire world of possibilities open for you to explore? Many of the world’s young people lack the resources to pursue or invest in their dreams, but that’s where Up to Youth, a five-year initiative funded by the United…
Read MoreFirst School Meals Served up in Madagascar
By Chloe Pan On February 6, 2023, Global Communities and its consortium of partners in Madagascar served the first school meals supported by Mianatra (“Learn” in Malagasy), a McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition (McGovern-Dole) project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). By the end of the week, a total of…
Read MoreReviving Ukrainian Communities through Shelter Repairs in Hard-Hit Regions
Since the start of Russia’s invasion on February 24, 2022, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have been deprived of their homes and had their livelihoods disrupted due to ongoing hostilities and massive missile attacks. Damage to residential buildings and civilian infrastructure continues to grow. As of November 2022, according to the Kyiv School of Economics,…
Read MoreExpanding Outreach and Support for the LGBTQI+ Community in Sri Lanka
By Aditi Sharma Transgender people in Sri Lanka frequently face social rejection, lack protection and have little to no representation in political parties due to the absence of anti-discriminatory legislation in the country. They are often excluded from accessing essential services and social benefits systems as well. “Some of our community members don’t have sustainable…
Read MoreHygiene Promotion Team Protects Families from Diseases in Northwest Syria
By Adile Sahin Ali, 37, lives with six family members in Atmeh, which hosts more than 157,400 internally displaced people in northwest Syria. The camp was established in 2011, following the start of the country’s now decades-long conflict, and sits on graded agricultural land that lacks a proper sewage drainage system. Over the last 10…
Read MoreSupporting Families through Winter in Gaza  Â
By Ziad Bakri and Lizzie Hickman In Gaza, winter brings near freezing temperatures and torrential rain, leaving families that cannot afford to winterize their homes at the mercy of the weather. To help families overcome winter-related challenges, Global Communities distributed 350 winterization and hygiene kits and conducted health promotion sessions with 3,485 households in the…
Read MoreSupporting Mobile Legal Clinics in Sri Lanka to Increase Access to Justice
In Sri Lanka, some segments of the population — particularly those directly affected by the prolonged armed conflict — face challenges due to a lack or loss of personal documentation pertaining to their identity, citizenship, civil status, property ownership and education. For these groups, such as internally displaced persons, the resettled and returnees, the lack…
Read MoreUSAID CLEAR Program in Kenya Launches a Series of Worker Cooperative Videos
Kenya has a vibrant and dynamic cooperative movement. The worker cooperative model, while new to the Kenyan Cooperative sector, is gaining attention and recognition as a tool for equitable economic development and job creation. In the United States, worker cooperatives have been gaining popularity over the years and their success is making a big impact.…
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