The laboratory that has been the pandemic year

May 28, 2021

5 min read

The last year has seen major setbacks in global development brought about by the pandemic. Through the year, the Creative Development Lab shared concerns in remote education, the infodemic and more. Yet, as history has shown, global crises, like COVID-19, often bring to focus challenges and spur innovation. The following are reflections from Lab members on potential lasting change to development work that the last year has brought about.

Equity

“While everyone was impacted directly or indirectly by the pandemic, the narrative that the pandemic was somehow an equalizer proved to be patently false. The pandemic laid bare vulnerabilities and put inequities into stark relief that had we not been shaken likely would have continued in the status quo. In the U.S., we saw these inequities in risk exposure, access to testing, relief, and now vaccines,” reflects Joel Masselink, the Lab’s geospatial and data services lead.

It is no surprise that we are seeing even more focus on the marginalized in international development work. In the tech industry, there is a reckoning, and Silicon Valley is growing a conscience. In the years to come, this will perhaps be reflected on as a time that led tech workers to change the industry and digital product evolution to confront race and gender bias, data privacy, internet addiction and other issues.

Digital divide

As human lives became more digitally dependent worldwide, it exposed the glaring current divide in access to digital—internet, mobile connectivity, devices, electricity, etc. Closing this gap has become a common priority and rally for governments, the private sector and the development industry. For example, programming for resilience in international education has become partly dependent on bringing connectivity for distance education.

“COVID-19 has changed spending on telecoms to embrace new infrastructure models that will make last-mile connectivity more affordable. The shift in traffic coming from business centers to households is pushing governments to revive rural household connectivity agendas. New sources of funding are being made available by governments and multilaterals to fill connectivity gaps,” says Leo Senai, the Lab’s key liaison for the Communities in Transition Division. And even where there is abundant access, the information is often incredibly unreliable.

The rapid spread of disinformation has put pressure on governments and the private sector to respond.

(Dis)information Resilience

Four to five years ago, there was an awakening about a global disinformation problem amplified like never before by social media. Over the years, there have been counter messaging activities funded and pressure on social media giants to control disinformation.

Despite the efforts, 2020 saw a dramatic rise in disinformation globally related to the pandemic, elections and other issues, insufficiently curtailed by social media companies. This has led to the realization that disinformation is here to stay, and we need to focus on preparing young people, journalists, governments, businesses and civil society around the world to be resilient to disinformation by imparting digital and media literacy.

There are examples of investments in digital literacy to limit the spread of disinformation working, such as in Taiwan, which incorporated media literacy lessons into its national curriculum from 2017 and has successfully weathered the pandemic and a national election, despite being the number one target for foreign disinformation in 2020.

Amanda Quinn, the Lab’s Data and Media Analyst and a fan of the Digital Minister of Taiwan, shares that “the increasing focus on the infodemic and how people consume information, especially on social media, makes me hopeful that there will eventually be an appropriate response from technology companies, development implementers, policy makers and others.” While social media has been rife with disinformation, it has also provided an avenue for empowering virtuous content creators.

Creator Economy

Social media use staggeringly increased worldwide during the pandemic as people sought to stay connected and entertained. The format of choice became short videos or micro-videos with services like TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts growing internationally.

“Aside from saving people from boredom, this genre gave many people an opportunity to speak up about issues that were kept in the shadows for years, a chance to find a niche community, use this genre for activism and even make an income of it by becoming a micro-influencer,” says Tamara Grigoryeva, the Lab’s Media Lead. While the micro-video format might be a passing fad in social media evolution, the ability generate some income is what signals a potential change in social media or influencer media.

It has been hard to earn money via social media with social media giants seeing a majority of the profits, leaving little for content creators. There is now an emerging movement of platforms and services like Patreon and Substack, allowing content creators to have followers subscribe directly to their content by paying—nearly all of which goes to the content creators. As artists, writers and other content producers have had to find replacement income sources during the pandemic, this is where they have turned. If the medium thrives, it can have positive implications for our work, from income sources for some women to spurring independent journalism.

A Moroccan girl takes notes during an online course. — A Moroccan student engages in remote learning with resources from the Ministry of Education.

Remote Behaviors

Beyond entertainment, we’ve also been forced to adopt remote learning, remote work, telemedicine and so on. It has led to an acceleration in the evolutions of these technologies, but it still needs to be more inclusive, reduce fatigue and be effective. “While Zoom, Teams, Jitsi and other tools served us as a lifeline, the videoconferencing exhaustion soon called for developing new, more nuanced features in currently existing videoconferencing apps and new apps all together to increase and ease participation, such as breakout rooms with easier navigation, quick polls, voice chat, etc.,” explains Grigoryeva.

Further, there is a fundamental lack of understanding in online course design and delivery, including in blended learning, technology integration, best instructional practices, the different ways in which online classes need to be designed, planned and assessed.

It is fair to assume that remote technologies, training and process to appropriately use them will see much investment and evolution and will make it easier to provide development services to remote areas in education, health and other domains.

Ayan Kishore is the Director of the Creative Development Lab.

Water for El Rancho

April 19, 2021

By Janey Fugate and Vivian Jacobs

4 min read

In a tiny community called El Rancho, set high on a sparse hillside in the rugged Western Highlands of Guatemala, Matilde López García is filling her “pila,” a home water station for cleaning plates and clothing as well as collecting water for cooking. Until two months ago, this basic task wasn’t possible.

“I would go up the hill with buckets or a water jug, but I had to make several trips to have enough water to drink and to clean with at home,” says Matilde.

For nearly two years, only half of the 900 residents of El Rancho in Chiantla, Huehuetenango, had access to running water for one hour per day. Even in a small village of 900 people, this wasn’t enough. People like García hardly had enough water to save for drinking, let alone for washing clothes and other tasks.

The burden of this scarcity primarily fell to the village women, who are usually tasked with carrying water jugs up and down the steep hill from a natural water source at the base.

“We had a lot of conflict because of the water issue,” says José García Lopez, treasurer for El Rancho’s Community Council for Rural Development (COCODE in Spanish).

But through support from the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Peacebuilding Project, or Tejiendo Paz in Spanish, water was restored to the town, transforming daily life for nearly a thousand people.

Searching for solutions

Small, overlooked and under resourced, El Rancho had few options to secure water when the people’s supply was cut off.

But as the situation worsened, Jose and other representatives from the local development organization called COCODE organized and took their complaint to Chiantla’s municipal government. In response, government authorities eventually installed a new water pump and pipe system. But they left the project half complete without coordinating with the energy company to turn it on and pump water up to the town.

When Jose and other community members approached Energuate, the region’s electricity provider, the company accused them of operating the pump illegally and fined them an amount they couldn’t pay. A stalemate ensued.

“When they left us with [the fine], we saw this as a huge conflict, and we didn’t have any way forward,” he says.

Water scarcity and access to potable water is not only an issue in El Rancho. Across Guatemala, communities face varying degrees of drought, with nearly 50 percent of rural Guatemalans lacking access to drinking water.

Tension between communities and electricity companies compound this picture. Tejiendo Paz’s Deputy Chief of Party Luz Lainfiesta says that these conflicts reach back 12 years, arising when companies began charging prices that most poor families could not afford. This issue is a primary source of conflict, leading to protests, roadblocks and strikes in recent years.

“We have to remember that this conflict is magnified in areas with historical conditions of exclusion, poverty and vulnerability,” says Luz Lainfiesta. “Access to stable electrical energy with reasonable prices is a key element for economic development that is both inclusive and sustainable.”

But before tensions could escalate in El Rancho, Tejiendo Paz met the community at this inflection point. Members of COCODE sought guidance from Carlos Pinto, a community facilitator for Tejiendo Paz, who had begun working in El Rancho on other initiatives, for guidance.

Pinto then supported community’s representatives, mediating the negotiations between El Rancho and Energuate that resulted in a significant reduction of the fine. And most importantly, after meeting with COCODE and Pinto, Energuate turned on electricity for El Rancho, powering the pumps that had lain dormant for two years.

“The mediation functioned in such a way that the community and Energuate came together without fear of conflict, since there was an impartial third-party present,” says Pinto.

Now, water reaches all the households in El Rancho and the pumps operate twice instead of once daily. Families now have ample water for cleaning, drinking and irrigation and don’t have to make the long trek up and down the mountain for extra water.

“Before I had to carry the water, but now we have the water service,” says Matilde. “It is a great advantage to have the water pump, thanks to the people who organized themselves in the community and the support of institutions like [Tejiendo Paz].”

Peacebuilding strategies at work

This kind of conflict resolution is exactly what Tejiendo Paz aims to support across the four departments the project works in. From intrafamilial violence to issues resulting from COVID-19, the project works to build social cohesion, giving communities tools to address these conflicts and meet them without resorting to violence.

Tejiendo Paz is also working to address electricity needs at the departmental level in Huehuetenango and Quiché, supporting recently initiated “Technical Working Groups” designed to specifically address conflict in the energy sector. In several of the communities Tejiendo Paz serves, fewer than 50 percent of the people have electricity.

Multiple government institutions participate in these technical working groups, including the National Commission of Electrical Energy, the Ministry of Energy and Mines, the Human Rights Ombudsman, the Ministry of the Interior and Energuate. Tejiendo Paz provides technical assistance to the working groups, facilitating dialogue between communities and government authorities responsible for ensuring the distribution of electrical energy.

According to José García Lopez, “the project facilitated us reaching out to those in charge… as they told us, we are here to help with negotiations and trainings so that you can identify the ways to solve conflicts… The main thing that we learned as a COCODE is that working hand in hand with institutions is a good thing.”

Through working with government authorities at the municipal and departmental levels, as well as building relationships with communities, the project will continue to bring together citizens and authorities to find solutions to local conflicts.

Q&A with Jorge Lainez of the Dry Corridor

March 22, 2021

5 min read

Funded by both the World Bank and the Honduras Strategic Investment Office (INVEST-H), ACS-PROSASUR is part of the broader Dry Corridor Alliance project. The project addresses water scarcity, hygiene, child under-nutrition and rural livelihoods, aiming to lift 50,000 families out of extreme poverty by improving agricultural growing practices, offering health education and business support, among other techniques. Creative implements programs in 12 municipalities in the departments of Choluteca y El Paraíso, working with 6,000 families.

In this Q&A, ACS-PROSASUR’s Chief of Party Jorge Lainez draws on his experience working in the agricultural and economic development spaces to assess the project’s impact and what can be emulated in future work.

This interview was conducted in Spanish, translated to English and has been edited for length and clarity.

Working in the Dry Corridor brings complex challenges, with high levels of poverty compounded by climate change. What makes the challenges different from other projects you’ve worked on?

Jorge Lainez: The impoverished conditions of these families are a mix of several factors. The main one is the lack of access to capital and assets, like land, water and money for investment. Also, Honduras is located in a high-risk zone for climatic events. We saw this most recently during the Hurricane Eta and Tropical Storm Iota. The Dry Corridor is one the driest part of Central America. A family with no land or water must rent land to sow their crops. They need to schedule their crops in stages to account for the dry zones. They’re more exposed to these climate impacts.

The rainy seasons are so random. They have an intense rainy season, but the distribution of this rain is focused during a short period of time, meaning it rains heavily only a few times a year. And that causes [flooding and] farmers to lose a lot of their crops. So, the families become even more susceptible to falling into cycles of poverty.

In your position, what are the biggest challenges that you’ve faced in your job? And what are the most important improvements seen since leading this project?

Lainez: Timing is the main challenge. If the assistance arrives after the crop cycle, many investments won’t be utilized. I’m talking about the times when we bring fertilizers or other agricultural inputs. Everything needs to be accurate and happen at the right time.

But we’ve had some good results. For example, we’ve been working hard to install irrigation systems. These are small irrigation systems, or micro irrigation, but they can cover up to 350 irrigated hectares. So, if there’s no rain, we use that irrigation system so the crops survive and these families have a harvest.

With Component 2, which relates to nutrition and household health, we also have a strategy mainly focusing on women as the heads of households, as well as offering guidance to parents with kids 5 years and younger. We have a program that measures their size and weight between 0 and 2 years old. This monitoring has given very good results in improving children’s nutrition levels, the diversity of their diet and better welfare at home through engaging all the contacts and resources that we have in the towns.

In your career, you’ve worked at the intersection of conservation and economic growth. What changes have you seen in this area over time? And what work is still needed in places like the Dry Corridor to incorporate environmental sustainability in agricultural development projects?

Lainez: Yes, I’ve worked in complex projects that incorporated environmental, social and financial impacts. It’s important to have those three areas in all activities, goals and impacts because you can’t get one without the others.

For the project ACS-PROSASUR, part of the broader Dry Corridor Alliance project, which deals mainly in food security and improving [agricultural] operations and household nutrition, we had to complement these initiatives with actions related to the environment. For example, if we’re working with irrigation systems, water harvesting and micro irrigation systems, we have to also take into account the sustainability of those investments. For example, we can have irrigation systems, but we have to make sure that the water that we use for the micro irrigation systems is protected and managed. So here I’m talking about managing natural resources, and mainly water.

And knowing that – as you said – the Dry Corridor is a zone where the challenges of climate change are really felt by the people living there, what are some of the more impactful interventions seen in the project? Could they be replicated or adapted in different parts of the country?

Lainez: Yes. Again, a big impact we have seen is with working with water harvesting, preserving that water and installing irrigation systems. So first, the irrigation systems offsetting the rainy period in both growing cycles [have made a difference]. Because there are two crop cycles in Honduras, there are two opportunities for growing crops. The families who have two crops are better able to ensure they have enough to eat and to sell. Installing irrigation systems is related to the financial growth because we ensure the crops make it to the end of the production cycle.

Second, training people how to manage their crops by applying better inputs, better practices and improved agricultural technologies has made a huge difference. That ensures that the producer has access to resources to be successful and reduces risk of losing crops. And when they start having surplus harvest, we have to work with them with the next step, which is marketing their produce. We do this mainly by helping them form agricultural businesses plans that emphasize the concept of the value chain, connecting the farmer to the supply line of the crop he or she is producing.

Looking ahead, we’re moving forward with some ideas that we have about working in irrigation systems with solar energy. By working in irrigation systems with solar energy we can more appropriately use the resources such as the renewable energy, the sun and through solar panels, we can cover a bigger area. For example, we’re thinking on doing pilot projects running irrigation systems with solar energy. With these pilot projects we can gain the experience to spread to other areas.

Unemployment and the insecurity are driving factors for migration in Honduras and in the Dry Corridor. How does the project indirectly address this phenomenon through implementing good agricultural practices and trying to increase livelihoods?

Lainez: Yes. Migration is always a problem in these countries, especially in Honduras. If we’re able to decrease poverty levels with the project, or improve household income through technical assistance and the investments that we’re making with the families in their livelihoods, there can be no doubt that it will counter the trend to migrate. But there are some actions which stand out. For instance, we target involving youth and women in our development projects with the micro enterprises.

One of the non-agricultural projects I see that has great potential in the zone, and which hasn’t yet been developed, is tourism. Soon we’ll implement two tourism projects, which I think will give very good results, and which have a strong attraction with youth and women. Creating jobs, generating better sales of people’s products, and encouraging a better organizational network in and among the families, I think that can significantly impact migration.

Feature image by Skip Brown.

Reading oasis: Digital library opens in San Salvador

February 10, 2021

2 min read

San Salvador’s Mayor Ernesto Muyshondt opened the city’s first digital library. Located in Parque Satélite, the second-largest park in El Salvador’s capital, the library is a public resource for youth and their families and center for learning and professional development.

“Thanks to the joint effort,” said Muyshondt, during the inauguration on January 27, 2021, “the most modern digital library in Central America is now a reality.”

Offering free WIFI, 30-plus personal computers and thousands of analog and digital books, the library fosters a culture of learning among the city’s youth. Its specific resources on science, technology, arts and math will be available for local schools.

“Especially during COVID, this digital library is important so that youth and the community can access its resources remotely,” says Harold Sibaja, Director for CREA Consultores El Salvador, which implemented the library project. “It brings a new vision for a library in El Salvador.”

A collaboration between the MCN Build Foundation in Washington, D.C., San Salvador mayor’s office and Creative’s CREA Consultores El Salvador, the library emerged from a 2018 Sister City agreement between Washington D.C. and San Salvador. The broader partnership aims to improve economic development, youth development, public safety, sustainability, education and government collaboration in both cities.

“The library is very beautiful thanks to so many hardworking people here,” said Michael Waidman, Director of the MCN Build Foundation.

The project broke ground in August 2019, with Salo Levinas, a D.C.-based architect, donating the initial design and MCN Build donating funds for construction. Modern and unconventional, the finished building reflects environmental sensibility focused on Parque Satélite’s surrounding flora.

Community ownership is central to the project’s continued success. CREA Consultores led outreach efforts to involve the park’s neighboring communities, making them aware of the library, its intended impact and engaging them in decisions around how the library can best serve the public.

[Virtual Panel] Venezuelan Migrants in Colombia: Understanding Context, Unraveling Challenges

January 22, 2021

1 min read

In this virtual panel, the Center for Migration and Economic Stabilization shared findings of a recent survey of Venezuelan migrants in Colombia, including analysis of migrants’ vulnerabilities, intention to stay in Colombia and remittance patterns. From research, academia, civil society and multilateral organizations, expert panelists shared their perspectives on understanding Venezuelan migration and the challenges it presents to the international community and Colombia. This panel took place on Jan. 22, 2021.

Manuel Orozco, Director, Center for Migration and Economic Stabilization, Creative Associates International

Ronal Rodriguez, Researcher, Venezuela Observatory, University of Rosario
Eduardo Stein, Joint Special Representative, UN Refugee Agency and International Organization for Migration
Dafne Gil, Member, Ávila Monserrate Association

St. Lucia: USAID’s Family Matters gives at-risk teens access to counseling

November 20, 2020

1 min read

Working with the whole family, counseling shows big results in increasing kids’ resiliency.

U.S. Agency for International Development’s Community, Family and Youth Resilience (CFYR) project in the Caribbean has worked to address the region’s high levels of violence and youth unemployment through holistic family counseling and job readiness programs. This video shows the impact that evidence-based, targeted counseling methods can have on young men and women living in vulnerable communities.

Data shows that family counseling works

October 23, 2020

4 min read

“Why do we care about 15-17-year-olds?”

The Global Youth Economic Opportunities Summit hinged on this question, posed by keynote speaker Cassie Crockett, Director and Head of Strategy for Schmidt Futures, in its fourth virtual session of 2020.

Crockett explained that with youth-centered programs, “you are meeting them at an inflection point, you are capturing them at this moment when they are considering what their trajectory into adulthood will look like.”

Convening organizations dedicated to developing methods to build the skills that young people need to achieve long-term social and economic success, GYEOS offered a breakout session featuring representatives from USAID’s Community, Family and Youth Resilience (CFYR) program in the Caribbean.

During an Oct. 8 session titled, “Family Systems to Improve Psychosocial and Life-Skills Among At-Risk Youth: An Evidence-Based Approach,” panelists explored how CFYR’s family-based therapy model, delivered through the Family Matters intervention, improves outcomes for ‘at risk’ youth.

“We recognize that majority of solutions are going to come through the family,” said Dr. Andre Brown of Heru Consulting, who has been training CFYR’s family counselors since 2018.

In the Caribbean, youth face high levels of unemployment and crime, as well as a lack of psycho-social support services. Using a risk assessment tool called the Youth Services Eligibility Tool (YSET), young men and women who are considered at secondary level of risk for engaging in delinquent behavior enter Family Matters. The program then pairs highly trained counselors with youth and their families to build tools to navigate conflict, improve communication and ultimately build resiliency in vulnerable communities.

“My family counselor helped me realize my strengths and transition from a high school student to the world of work … look at me now, a young entrepreneur who focuses on photography and has his own clothing line,” explained Evron, a young Family Matters graduate, in a video he prepared for the event.

Since 2016, USAID’s CFYR has been counseling youth like Evron and implementing evidence-based, targeted interventions in 15 high-risk communities across Saint Lucia, Guyana, and St. Kitts and Nevis, as part of a place based, public health approach to youth violence prevention.

The soft skills developed by family counselors during coaching sessions with youth, such as self-efficacy, emotional self-regulation, and goal orientation, translate to job readiness and retention, which was a major focus at the GYEOS session.

Speaking on the panel, Government of St. Kitts and Nevis representative and CFYR partner, Michèle de la Coudray Blake, explained how the effects of this work ripple far beyond the home.

“Regulation of self, of mood, ability to manage anger and conflict… if the youth is able to manage himself in a way that is effective, he can achieve success in other areas of life whether it is school or work,” said Blake. “The more the youth is able to manage self and build confidence and resilience, those will translate to school and work success.”

Citizen Security Project Director, Dr. Erik Alda, explored trends across all four family-based therapy programs implemented by Creative over the past six years, where on average, 75 percent of youth beneficiaries were found to be less likely to engage in crime and violence.

This trend was reflected in the Caribbean, where 73 percent of youth participants experienced a reduction in risk factors – 56 percent experienced such a dramatic decrease that they were no longer considered to be at risk after twelve months of counseling.

“[Counseling] is hugely important for these kids,” said Dr. Alda. “The skills [developed] are sustained.”

For the counselors, said Blake, the quantitative findings support the positive changes they are seeing. They embrace a holistic approach, working with participating youth, their families, and the wider community to set the stage for a sustainable transformation.

“Seeing the numbers was empowering to us, seeing the reduction in risk factors,” said Blake. “It is important to tie what the data says to the family stories. [Families say] ‘he’s listening’ or ‘we are getting on.’ The language they use to describe the cohesion of the family and aligns with what the data says.”

At the heart of the methodology lies a deep commitment to families – they are key allies in the effort to build more resilient communities. Through healing relationships, helping youth establish and pursue career goals, and educating the family on the services available to them, counselors set the stage for a sustainable transformation In this way, positive changes made at the family level are expected to have a wider impact on breaking endemic cycles of violence.

“We are partners in the process,” said Dr. Brown.

[Virtual Panel] MS-13 and Preventing Gang Violence Across the Americas

October 21, 2020

1 min read

A Conversation with Steven Dudley.

In this virtual panel, journalist and author Steven Dudley shares insights from his book “MS-13: The Making of America’s Most Notorious Gang,” followed by a panel discussion among violence prevention experts and practitioners about gang violence in the U.S. and Latin America.

Enrique Roig, Director of Citizen Security Practice Area, Creative Associates International

Steven Dudley, Director, Insight Crime
Erin Lane, Assistant United States Attorney
Guillermo Cespedes, Chief of Violence Prevention, City of Oakland

The panel was hosted by Creative and took place on Oct. 16, 2020.

Job placement platform uses AI to bring unbiased services to youth

October 13, 2020

By Janey Fugate

3 min read

Nicaragua youth — Youth use TVET centers’ computer labs. Photo by: Gretchen Robleto

Designed in collaboration with Creative’s Development Lab, the job placement consulting company JANZZ.technology and USAID’s Aprendo y Emprendo project, UBICANICA fills a critical gap between the availability of unemployed youth and employment opportunities.

“Nicaragua doesn’t really have many opportunities for somebody to go online and find a job, so if you’re in Nicaragua, that means you’re looking at newspapers or depending on word of mouth,” says Ayan Kishore, Creative’s Development Lab Director and key lead on the UBICANICA project. “That’s just not how people are finding out about opportunities in the rest of the world, so I think this is a great addition.”

Using the platform differs from a typical job search website in that it relies on AI to perform the initial matches, alerting businesses to potential employees based on skills.

“The technology itself is focused on breaking down occupations into what are the skillsets needed and then looking at resumes and doing the same, using AI matching to help show sets of jobs and potential employees’ work,” explained Kishore.

One of UBICANICA’s strengths is that it offers a non-biased selection process for companies to engage in. It uses a competency-based model rather a credential-based model to even the playing field for job applicants. Half of the initial applicants entered in the system are youth with disabilities, and their applications will be screened without taking this into account. Similarly, the AI technology used for matching is gender blind.

“The platform is open to anyone who wants to register… through this space you can develop and build a profile that is inclusive,” said Mariela Terán, the Superior Council for Private Enterprise Foundation’s Executive Director. “It isn’t required to submit photos with your application, among other benefits of the platform.”

Aprendo y Emprendo partnered with the Superior Council for Private Enterprise in Nicaragua Foundation (COSEP), a leading business chamber in the country, to house and manage the platform going forward, ensuring the program’s sustainability. COSEP’s Foundation facilitated and participated in trainings aimed at preparing users to get the most out of the service.

“UBICANICA is a great opportunity to continue this work, especially in the context we live in now with the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Terán.

Current students and project alumni, who may not otherwise have internet access or experience formally applying for jobs, can access the platform through the TVET centers’ computer labs and receive coaching on how to register and apply for opportunities. With 30 companies registered representing a range of sectors, and 50 young men and women in the system, the platform is poised to begin matching employers with potential employees.

COSEP will initially promote UBICANICA primarily through TVET centers, but the platform will be available to any job seeker. COSEP will also advertise UBICANICA’s services to its private sector partners, with the hope that the platform will become as much of a resource for companies as for youth.

The non-biased nature of the platform supports a key part of TVET-SAY’s mission, to empower youth with disabilities and foster an enabling environment for marginalized groups. Since its inception, the project has reached over 1,000 at-risk youth with skills development services, job training, scholarships and counseling, as well as nearly 3,000 youth with soft skills training. The project has also worked closely with the private sector, creating the Nicaraguan Network for Technical Education (RENET), a network of companies, TVETs, universities and other organizations dedicated to building more inclusive professional environments for youth.

From the employer side, UBICANICA provides a valuable service for Nicaraguan companies.

“[UBICANICA] will be particularly useful for businesses affiliated with enterprise trade unions and more than anything for their selection processes and human capital, which is the most important asset a company can have,” said Terán.

This digital solution represents an important way to address a big challenge in the development industry: finding meaningful employment for growing numbers of unemployed youth.

“UBICANICA is a lasting legacy of the Aprendo y Emprendo project and I’m hopeful it will be a great resource for young men and women who would otherwise struggle to get connected to meaningful work,” said Juan Manuel Sánchez, Aprendo y Emprendo’s Deputy Chief of Party.

Improving economic livelihoods for women in the Dry Corridor

October 13, 2020

By Janey Fugate

3 min read

Dry Corridor women — Kesly Rodríguez, Karla Medina, Suyapa Montoya and Sulma Sánchez co-manage their grocery store, a micro enterprise in the Dry Corridor. Photo by: Gabriel Rodriguez

Well before dawn, Sulma Sánchez is awake and on her way to open her small grocery store in San Antonio de Flores, a town in El Paraíso, Honduras. She manages the “tienda” with three other women from her community, who alternate working half-day shifts and sharing responsibilities.

The store was hardly a year old when COVID-19 hit, and the ensuing state-imposed curfews and safety measures caused the women to worry about their business’s survival. But Sánchez says that despite their fears, the pandemic offered an unexpected opportunity for growth.

“Despite the pandemic, we’ve grown to not only sell basic goods, but through our initiative we are now selling bottled water, personal hygiene products like shampoo, deodorants, cream and bio security products likes hand sanitizer and masks,” Sánchez says.

The store remained stable through the height of the quarantine in part due to support from ACS-PROSASUR’s microenterprise support initiative, which offers technical assistance, financial planning and in-kind donations to small enterprises in the region. Funded by both the World Bank and the Honduras Strategic Investment Office (INVEST-H), ACS-PROSASUR is part of the broader Dry Corridor Alliance project. The project addresses water scarcity, hygiene, child under-nutrition and rural livelihoods, aiming to lift 50,000 families out of extreme poverty by improving agricultural growing practices, offering health education and business support, among other techniques.

Dry Corridor woman — Suyapa Montoya records the store’s sales at the end of her shift, one of the practices that ACS-PROSASUR’s team helped establish. Photo by: Gabriel Rodriguez

In 2019, ACS-PROSASUR provided initial products and equipment to Sánchez and her three partners, along with financial planning and assistance. While the project’s core focus is to alleviate poverty through agricultural support, it targets 250 households that don’t have access to land by providing skills development workshops and entrepreneurship trainings.

“This helped us learn a lot of things, the project gave us an economic boost to help start our micro-enterprise,” says Suyapa Montoya, one of the women working in the store. “We’ve learned how to manage a micro-enterprise.”

Rural Honduras is strained by lack of employment, and women have fewer opportunities than men to earn viable incomes and access certain jobs. For these four women and their families, opening their store was a big boost.

Montoya says she had never held a formal job before joining her colleagues to open the business. Like many women in the region, she dedicated herself to raising her two kids. With this opportunity, she now has greater economic agency in her household.

“For the store, I hope we can grow and convert it into a supply warehouse,” she says. “For my family, I hope I can improve our economic situation.”

Dry Corridor farmers — Creative implements programs in 12 municipalities in the departments of Choluteca y El Paraíso, working with 6,000 families.

The Dry Corridor is receiving more and more attention, both from the international community and on a national level, as the visit to the region by Honduras’s president in September testifies. The lack of job opportunities in this region forces many to migrate and leave the country in search of jobs elsewhere. As climate change and persistent drought continue to make agricultural livelihoods riskier, the Dry Corridor’s main source of income, interventions with holistic approaches to gender equity, sustainable farming techniques and economic empowerment will become increasingly urgent.

“Thanks for ACS-PROSASUR for this support, because in these parts there aren’t many sources of work for us,” said Sánchez. “This activity is an alternative so that we can avoid emigrating to other places and leaving our families.”

Tejiendo Paz, Guatemalan governments sign accords to reduce conflict in communities

October 13, 2020

By Janey Fugate

5 min read

Over the past year, the Peacebuilding Project has signed agreements with four departmental governments and four municipal governments in Guatemala’s Western Highlands. Establishing formal relationships between the project and authorities, these memoranda of understanding have set the tone for addressing social conflict, proving to be effective tools in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and offering a framework to guide tangible action.

“These formal relationships lay the groundwork to address urgent issues at the local level, building trust not only between the project and authorities, but also between the communities and their governing institutions,” says Sara Barker, the Peacebuilding Project’s Chief of Party.

Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Peacebuilding Project, or Tejiendo Paz in Spanish, addresses conflicts over natural resources, land use, intrafamilial violence and governance through fostering social cohesion, inter-institutional cooperation and community strengthening. The signed agreements directly support the project’s mission to reduce violence and equip local leaders with tools to mitigate conflict.

Guatemala MOU signing — Chief of Party Sara Barker holds the signed Memorandum of Understanding with Luís Velásquez Bravo, the governor of San Marcos. The MOU creates an alliance between the project and the government to carry out joint work to reduce social conflicts and build peace in the project’s target areas.

The four departments that signed are Huehuetenango, San Marcos, Quiché and Totonicapán, which are all places with a rich, indigenous heritage and home to rural, often remote communities. These departments face issues related to gender equality and women’s rights, access to water and other resources, and the historical effects of violence, exclusion and discrimination toward Maya ethnic groups. Since COVID-19, the region’s economy has struggled, and new tensions have arisen from lack of access to services and information.

Comitancillo, a municipality where Tejiendo Paz works, has a strong indigenous identity, with most of its population speaking Mam, a Mayan language. The mayor of Comitancillo, Héctor López Cabrera, affirmed that the need for conflict mediation strategies and wider understanding of the mechanisms for services is critical to mitigate issues, from gender violence to resource disputes.

“This is a really important theme because justice at the community level is almost always resolved—about 80 percent of the time—by indigenous rights, or the application of the law [by indigenous authorities],” Cabrera said. “So Tejiendo Paz has come to strengthen how we should resolve conflict from the Mam culture in Comitancillo. I believe this is so important and fundamental.”

In every initiative organized by Tejiendo Paz, indigenous groups like those represented in Comitancillo are viewed as partners in developing solutions and paths forward, not recipients. This posture is critical to sustaining peace.

Preventing stigma and violence towards returning migrants

A growing tension caused by the pandemic has been an increase in stigma towards returning migrants. Fear of returnees spreading the virus has led some communities to protest the arrival of the migrants, resulting in conflict. In response, Tejiendo Paz and the government of Guatemala designed a communications campaign aimed at preventing stigma towards returnees during COVID-19. Called “We will beat COVID-19 together,” the campaign is the first tangible action set in motion by the formal agreements with departmental authorities.

Guatemala campaign — Printed and audiovisual materials, posters and brochures were provided to the Mayor of Cunén, Quiché, civil society and other audiences through the Departmental Governorate of Quiché as part of the campaign’s distribution strategy.

Since its launch date, the campaign has reached more than 1 million people through social media across four departments. In addition, the campaign has reached audiences through 41 radio stations in the Western Highlands, along with 1,800 posters and 1,800 brochures being distributed. The departmental governments have been active in disseminating the information locally and the Social Communication Secretariat of the Presidency has begun sharing the campaign through the President’s social media platforms.

The campaign is just one facet of the project’s multipronged approach to addressing the drivers of migration, which is a phenomenon particularly prevalent in Guatemala’s Western Highlands. A baseline study conducted by the project in communities across the Western Highlands shows that violence and migration are inextricably related. While economic incentives are cited as the primary reason why people leave their homes, people who feel more secure in their community are less likely to want to migrate.

Tejiendo Paz’s Barker says that migration can’t be reduced without seriously looking at conflict.

“Sustained conflict has an economic impact,” she says. “Studies show that economic motivations are the main drivers for migration. But when you dig deeper into the underlying factors, conflict comes up.”

A chief underlying cause of unemployment is often conflict and violence. According to a private sector assessment, from 2014-2018, social conflict resulted in an estimated economic cost of $688 million.

Building bridges between communities and government institutions

“We know that the lack of trust in authorities is a major source of conflict,” says Rudy Mazariegos, an advisor in the Governor’s office of Huehuetenango. “The lack of trust has resulted from the broken promises of governments over many years, decades of mistrust, so the people no longer believe in institutions. But it is in our hands to rebuild this trust.”

This reality is the impetus behind Tejiendo Paz’s peacebuilding initiatives, including conducting conflict mediator trainings and culturally sensitive workshops, strengthening municipal commissions on conflict resolution, and establishing of women’s and youth activist groups at the community level designed to identify and work towards solutions.

With the memoranda of understanding, the project hopes to build on a growing political will to use collaboration and community-based solutions to foster peace. Speaking on his desire to see change, Cabrera gets to the heart of the project’s work, and the heart of the agreements signed to foster collaboration on Guatemala’s greatest challenges.

“Comitancillo is a municipality ready for development. We, the youth, women and men, are enthusiastic to work hard to move out of poverty,” says Cabrera. “I believe that with the Tejiendo Paz team… we can see what strategies are used to motivate the development of the municipality starting from the heart of our culture—our families, youth and kids, as well as the professionals from our beloved municipality.”

*Cover image was taken before March, 2020 and the subsequent health safety measures.

International Migration from Latin America and the Caribbean

September 21, 2020