Global Communities Archives

Colombia: Private Sector Partners Helping Farmers Bring Products to Market The farmers in the isolated region of Montes de Maria in northern Colombia face numerous economic challenges. One of the biggest obstacles that agricultural producers face is marketing their products and reaching consumers. To help producers overcome this challenge, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural…

Crowded House: Accra Tries to Make Room for a Population Boom By Sharon Benzoni This story originally appeared in Next City. It’s Sunday evening in the Ussher Town section of Ga Mashie, and life outside Joseph Quarteh’s house is in full swing. A group of small children dance the latest variation of azonto to the…

Increasing Access to Financial Services in Colombia A loan client in her minimarket. Lack of capital is one of the major difficulties that farmers face in Colombia because it limits their capacity to invest, produce, buy inputs and trade their commodities. In Montes de Maria, isolation of rural communities further limits their capacity to access…

Liberia: Government, USAID-IWASH Score Big CLTS Success Sixty One Communities Free of Open Defecation This article originally appeared in Shout-Africa. A total of sixty one communities in Bong, Lofa and Nimba counties have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) after a meticulous process conducted by the government of Liberia with support from the USAID-funded IWASH…

USAID Launches the Community Engagement Project Putting communities in charge of their own progress (To read this press release in Arabic, please click here) USAID announced today a new three-year, US$21 million community engagement project to help Jordanian communities identify the most pressing challenges facing their communities and to develop practical solutions to address them.…

Sekondi-Takoradi City Spatial Development Plan   The discovery of oil in Ghana’s Western Region has suddenly opened up many issues that call for urgent action. Expected rapid economic growth and expansion spurred by the oil industry is likely to draw huge populations into the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis, whose population is currently about 500,000. With the migration will come…

Liberia: USAID, CHF Turnover U.S.$25,000 Modern Latrine in Logan Town This article originally appeared on the AllAfrica website As part of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-Global Communities (formerly CHF International) Improved Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Program in Liberia, a modern public latrine facility has been officially turned over to residents of Blamo…

Revitalizing Communities through Employment and Infrastructure With funding from USAID, Global Communities began implementing projects in Georgia in 2004 offering vocational training and employment opportunities in construction while rehabilitating community-prioritized major infrastructure. The goal was to help Georgian communities to achieve greater self-sufficiency and stability by improving essential infrastructure services and enhancing local economic development.…

India: Bangalore Annual Report 2012 Since 2009, Global Communities has been helping the city of Bangalore create a more sustainable solid waste management system that is more inclusive of the informal sector. Informal waste pickers recycle an estimated 600 tonnes per day in Bangalore, saving money for the local government and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But…

Empowering Women Entrepreneurs in Liberia Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Certificate Program for Women Entrepreneurs  Global Communities, in partnership with the Goldman Sachs Women’s Entrepreneurship and Leadership Certificate Program, is working with women entreprenuers to ensure they gain access to credit in the short term, while building support networks to provide skills and training that will give them access…

Economic Growth Project in Montenegro (video) Economic Growth Project was designed with the aim to improve opportunities for economic development in northern Montenegro. Through measures that were implemented in 13 municipalities in the north (Andrijevica, Berane, Bijelo Polje, Danilovgrad, Kolasin, Mojkovac, Niksic, Plav, Pljevlja, Pluzine, Rozaje, Savnik, and Zabljak), the project provided assistance to Micro,…

Cracking the Nut Africa: Improving Rural Livelihoods and Food Security  USAID Rwanda’s Integrated Improved Livelihoods Program “Ejo Heza”, managed by Global Communities (formerly CHF International), is pleased to announce the first Cracking the Nut Africa: Improving Rural Livelihoods and Food Security conference to be held in Kigali, Rwanda on January 13-15, 2014, in conjunction with AZMJ. This event will highlight innovations in the development…

Promoting Improved Nutrition Among Women and Children in Rwanda ‘Drink more milk’ drive launched to promote healthy nutrition   By Jean Pierre Bucyensenge, The New Times. A new campaign which seeks to encourage milk consumption in families was on Tuesday launched in Nyanza District. The campaign, which is championed by Global Communities/CHF International through the…

Sailing the Seven “Cs:” Unlocking bank financing for SMEs in the Middle East By Arun Hsu, Chief of Party, Jordan Loan Guarantee Facility This article originally appeared on The OPIC Blog.  In this guest post, an OPIC partner outlines a system for determining creditworthiness of potential borrowers that lack collateral and a track record of working…

LabourNet – Empowering Informal Workers Through Sustainable Social Enterprise By David Weiss, President and CEO, Global Communities This article originally appeared in The Huffington Post. Sandhya Vishal Ghatge (center) attends her training graduation ceremony. Ghatge is a graduate of both the beauty/hair and electrician training courses offered through LabourNet One of the challenges we at Global Communities face…

Promoting Adult Literacy in Rwanda 830 Ngororero adults acquire literacy skills By Jean Pierre Bucyensenge, The New Times 68-year-old Mukamutamu proudly displays her literacy graduation certificate. It was a bitter experience when Mukamutamu, a resident of Ngororero District, missed out on an opportunity to become a Gacaca judge. The 68-year-old-woman had been entrusted by her village…

Helping Rural Communities in Colombia with Improved Access to Potable Water Lack of water is one of the most serious problems that communities in the rural Montes de Maria region face. According to UNICEF, 92% of Colombians have access to improved water sources, but in municipalities such as El Carmen de Bolivar, residents do not have access…

Building Resilience among Vulnerable Households in Rwanda (video) Since 2005, Global Communities has been working in Rwanda to help address the health, social and economic needs of vulnerable households affected by HIV/AIDS with USAID and PEPFAR funding. Currently, under the USAID/Higa Ubeho program (“be determined and live”), Global Communities is assisting more than 60,000 households through a wide range interventions…