Blog
The Role of WASH in Sustaining Maternal Health During Delivery: Reflections from Global Communities WASH for Health Program, Ghana
Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) play a foundational role in improving maternal health outcomes during pregnancy, delivery and postpartum.
Read MoreUSAID’s Zahabu Safi (Clean Gold) Project Facilitates Landmark Agreement in Congo’s Ituri Province
By Kevin Eze The banks of the Ituri River are teeming with men and women searching for gold. For many of these individuals, artisanal mining is inherent, a livelihood passed down from generation to generation. For Aristote*, who has limited education and qualifications, it is a means of survival. Gold has been mined in the…
Read MoreSolar-Powered Pumping System Brings Clean Water to Community in Yemen
Yemen’s ongoing conflict had pushed the community of Al-Mahfad to undertake extreme measures to deal with water shortage. Residents were given access to water only once every four days, and water pumps were limited to operating only six hours per day. Not surprisingly, the burden of collecting water fell on women and children. “I used…
Read MoreReflections on Programming Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has continued to impact communities beyond what many thought would be a few weeks of quarantine. As we recognize the second anniversary of the pandemic, we reflect on Global Communities’ country teams that are hard at work to help mitigate the impacts of the pandemic on their communities. We were able to…
Read MoreGlobal Communities’ Response to Ukraine Crisis
For decades, Global Communities has responded to complex humanitarian emergencies. Our approach prioritizes partnering with affected communities to identify and address urgent needs with a focus on resilience and long-term recovery. In addition, Global Communities has worked in Eastern Europe for more than 60 years and has a deep understanding of the unique needs of…
Read MoreTogether for our African Girls and Young Women
In Sub-Saharan Africa, the concept of gender equality remains abstract and farfetched. In this day and age, there are still girls and young women who lack access to primary and secondary school due to social, cultural, religious or political reasons; who are not yet reached with comprehensive information on their sexual and reproductive health; who…
Read More‘Mahila Mate’ Program Offers Ray of Hope for Gender Equality and Financial Equity in India
Rajkumari Pal is a mother of three in the Khatkhariya village of Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur district in India. Despite having a bachelor’s degree, she was unable to find work outside of her home. When Rajkumari’s husband lost his job as a computer operator at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the couple suddenly found themselves…
Read MoreA Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Eastern Congo
USAID’S Zahabu Safi (Clean Gold) Project brokers a business deal to prevent communal violence and increase incomes for artisanal miners in Maniema province By Kevin Eze When Aimé* returned to his family’s mining concession after the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, he found throngs of strangers digging for gold. The area, situated in Kabotshome, in the…
Read MoreFacts about Human Trafficking and COVID-19’s Impact on the Illicit Industry
By Lizzie Hickman Although Human Trafficking Awareness Month is coming to a close, Global Communities continues our work to diminish human trafficking in San Diego by educating children, parents and teachers to identify the signs of exploitation and offer empowerment programs that reduce children’s vulnerability to traffickers. We also press on to mitigate the spread…
Read MoreVision 4 Housing: A Kenya Case Study
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Cooperative Development Program – Cooperative Leadership, Engagement, Advocacy & Research (CLEAR) Vision 4 Housing Cooperative got off to a rocky start. Originally set up as a community-based organization (CBO) in Kenya, its members became overextended managing multiple projects. One of those was a promising cyber café that offered digital…
Read MoreChipukizi Voice of Drama: A Kenya Case Study
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Cooperative Development Program – Cooperative Leadership, Engagement, Advocacy & Research (CLEAR) Youth employment is not a laughing matter – unless you are a member of Chipukizi Voice of Drama. What began as a small club has since grown into a business led by young people who helped pioneer the…
Read MoreImproving Working Conditions and Security at Artisanal Gold Mine Sites in Eastern Congo
By Kevin Eze Even as a landowner, Diel’s* income falls short. Profits have not been enough to feed and care for his wife, six children and elderly parents. He and other artisanal and small-scale gold miners have been out of work due to the invasion of mine sites by military in eastern Democratic Republic of…
Read MoreSupporting Community Recovery in El Copantillo
The drive to the remote community of El Copantillo looks much different than it did almost a year ago. Roads once cleared by the municipality were swept away, along with the rest of the mountain face, when tropical storms Eta and Iota pummeled Honduras in November 2020, causing considerable damage to homes, livelihoods, crops and…
Read MoreSupporting Displaced Livestock Breeders in Northwest Syria
Due to ongoing conflict and drought, the livestock assets of Syrians are eroding, further increasing the risk of food insecurity for people like Samira. The 30-year-old widow was displaced from her home in southern Idlib and currently lives in the Armanaz sub-district with her four children. While the family was able to bring livestock with…
Read MoreMeaningful Engagement of Boys and Men: A Pathway to Prevention and Response to Gender-Based Violence
By Betty Adera, Senior Technical Advisor HIV/AIDS and Health, Global Communities The COVID-19 pandemic has brought discussions of domestic violence and abuse of women and girls into the global public discourse. As I have worked in the space of adolescent girls and young women’s health and well-being at the community level for more than 20…
Read MoreWorld AIDS Day: Centering Adolescent Girls in the Journey towards HIV Epidemic Control
By: Betty Adera, Senior Technical Advisor HIV/AIDS and Health, Global Communities, Nairobi, Kenya The theme of this year’s World AIDS Day is “End Inequalities” and it is especially timely as the world continues grappling with COVID-19. Adolescent girls bear the greatest brunt of COVID-19-related inequalities. UNAIDS estimates that in sub-Saharan Africa, four in five new…
Read MoreYoung Doctor Inspires Botswanan Girls to Dream Big and Break Barriers
Photos courtesy of Dr. Aone Gogontle Ditirwa Dr. Aone Gogontle Ditirwa, 25, is from Bobonong, in the Eastern horn of Botswana, and one of the youngest female doctors in the southern African country. As a child, she recalls her love for dismantling things around the house in an effort to “re-create” them – a talent…
Read MoreMentorship Program Offers a Helping Hand for Young Syrians
While the conflict in Syria has lasted more than a decade, protection risks remain high across the country and have been heightened by the coronavirus pandemic. With funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/BHA), Global Communities is currently implementing Response Operations for the Syria Emergency III (ROSE III) program…
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