15 development trends to watch for in 2015

January 14, 2015

6 min read

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15 development trends to watch for in 2015

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]2015 is expected to be a big year in global development, and Creative experts weighed in on the trends and changes they anticipate. From social investing to yoga, here are 15 things to watch in 2015.

1. Real-time and open data

Funders and NGOs will continue to improve data collection and management so project information is increasingly available for real-time analysis and decision-making.

A continued push for information transparency will lead more governments, funding agencies and implementers to make their data openly available. USAID helped put this on the agenda for 2015 by releasing these Development Data guidelines in fall 2014.

From Jacqui Deelstra, Associate, Technology for Development and Ayan Kishore, Senior Associate, Technology for Development

2. Answers on the poverty-growth relationship

Does macroeconomic growth for countries mean better lives and incomes for its citizens?

In 2015, we might learn the answer and just how these correlates between growth and poverty reduction work, if they exist. USAID is currently conducting a multi-country study using the Inclusive Growth Index (IGI) —a methodology to assess countries’ economic condition and the role increased trade and investment have had on the lives of individuals and households in developing countries.

Expect more research on the poverty-growth relationship from donors and development experts this year.

From Jerry Wright, Senior Director, Economic Growth Division

3. Focus on urbanization and youth migration

Cities are the next frontier for economic, technological and social development, according to the private sector. Meanwhile, youth migration patterns will affect urban development programs. Empowering and providing opportunities to young people in cities and will be a development priority in 2015.

From Bonnie Politz, Senior Advisor for Youth, and Magdalena Fulton, Senior Associate for Youth and Elizabeth Mullen, Program Associate for Youth

4. A neighborhood-based approach to crime and violence prevention

In fall 2014, Vanderbilt University released the results of a three-year study showing that community-based violence prevention programs in at-risk neighborhoods across Central America have improved residents’ perceptions of security—51% fewer residents reported being aware of murders, extortion or blackmail and 35% fewer residents reported avoiding dangerous areas out of fear of crime.

In 2015, expect implementers to focus on the neighborhood level where crime and violence prevention can generate significant results.

From Guillermo Cespedes, Director, Crime and Violence Prevention

5. More “Om”

For children and youth—particularly those at risk—mindfulness, meditation and yoga practices bring about calmer focus and inner balance, resulting in reduced anxiety and stress and greater self-control and self-awareness.

Expect to see a growing awareness of the power of these methods and an increased willingness to use them in programming.

From Eileen St. George, Director, Education in Conflict

6. Cutting-edge university innovations on electoral integrity

In 2015, nine innovative partnerships between USAID and U.S. universities will conclude, producing cutting-edge research we can expect to influence recommendations to USAID’s Center of Excellence on Democracy, Human Rights and Governance.

Out of the research, we will see innovations that strengthen programs and field missions including an Election Results Evaluation Tool; a sophisticated forensic instrument to assess whether elections are free and fair; findings on whether vote-buying efforts truly affect how citizens vote; and research on the impact of election observers on fraud, political representation and accountability.

From Tihana Bartulac Blanc, Senior Associate, Electoral Education and Integrity

7. Mainstreaming technology for development & peacebuilding

Development professionals in 2014 increasingly discussed lessons learned and best practices for the use of technology for development, including the Principles for Digital Development, an initiative supported by a large coalition of funding agencies and international organizations.

Peacebuilding actors also generated new technologies and initiatives to stem conflict and address humanitarian crises. In 2014, USIP launched the USIP PeaceTech lab. These tools can be used to combat gangs and terrorists who use technology as a means for recruitment and intimidation

In 2015, using this knowledge, technology interventions will become even more integral to development work in all sectors, including peacebuilding and conflict resolution, and will be better designed and implemented.

From Jacqui Deelstra, Associate, Technology for Development and Ayan Kishore, Senior Associate, Technology for Development

8. More social investing

While social investing became trendy in the United States in the 1980s, it did not come into vogue in development assistance until much later, when movements such as the Calvert Social Fund, the Clinton Foundation and the Business Call to Action emerged.

Uptake on social investing by corporations and donors may have been slow, but the impacts of social investing have been impressive. Now, it’s a key feature on the post-2015 development agenda.

From Jerry Wright, Senior Director, Economic Growth Division

9. A move beyond “training” to human and institutional capacity development

With USAID focusing more on human and institutional capacity development, implementers are following suit and reshaping their approaches.

Consistent with this trend, Creative is moving beyond just training to implementing its Collaborative Approach to Performance Support that builds individual, organizational and systemic capacity with diverse results-based tools.

From Michael McCabe, Senior Associate, Training and Capacity Development

10. Youth voice and authentic engagement

In the past year, we saw young people shape discussions on the UN’s post 2015 development goals; Malala Yousafzai receive the Nobel Prize for her courageous work to promote girls’ education; and closer to home, organizations like the Alliance for International Youth Development amplify youth voice at the Interaction Forum 2014. Programs designed with and by youth are more targeted, effective, and sustainable according to global research and evidence generated by Creative’s youth-led programs in Morocco and Central America.

Embedding youth voice and authentic youth engagement will be critical to all aspects of programs in 2015.

From Bonnie Politz, Senior Advisor for Youth, Magdalena Fulton, Senior Associate for Youth and Elizabeth Mullen, Program Associate for Youth

11. Blended learning and leveraging mobiles

By the end of 2015, the global e-learning market is expected to double from its 2011 worth of $35 billion to almost $70 billion. The development field is embracing the e-learning revolution that allows staff, partners and beneficiaries to learn “soft” and “hard” skills anytime, anywhere.

CreativeU.com and other platforms are aggregating quality, mobile-friendly courses and converting formerly instructor-led trainings into dynamic models that blend in-person with mobile learning, which have demonstrated better long term retention.

This year, mobile apps and educational games will continue to advance, giving youth engaging tools to interact with curriculum and create and share their stories, real or fiction, in ways that stimulate their minds creatively, emotionally, intellectually and with purpose.

From Michael McCabe, Senior Associate, Training and Capacity Development, and Eileen St. George, Director, Education in Conflict

From Eileen St. George, Director, Education in Conflict

12. A “gender data revolution”

In December 2014, Hilary Clinton announced six new partnerships to extend Data2X, an initiative launched in 2012 to spur a “gender data revolution” and advance gender equality and women’s empowerment globally through evidence-based policy and programs. Expect an even stronger push for gender-relevant data this year along with more demand for lessons learned in gender and development.

Donors, including USAID, will continue to emphasize gender integration in projects and require more systematic approaches that involve gender analysis and strategies, draw on data and evidence and demonstrate results.

From Rekha Martin, Senior Associate, Gender

13. Using effective local governance to build state efficacy

Strengthening effective local governance will be a priority in 2015. The Busan New Deal and USAID Local Systems’ Framework present a platform that calls for better understanding of the political economies of countries and communities to meet this challenge.

State-society relations will be a key focus area this year—and in the post-2015 development agenda—in achieving peacebuilding and state-building.

From Deborah Kimble, Director, Governance and Civil Society

14. Enhanced career preparation and job entry programs

Today, the fastest growing jobs throughout the world are “digital” and technology-based. Youth will seek out training this year in computer and technology skills in order to take advantage of the economic opportunities in today’s economy. Green jobs and investments in agriculture will also create employment opportunities for youth.

From Bonnie Politz, Senior Advisor for Youth, Magdalena Fulton, Senior Associate for Youth and Elizabeth Mullen, Program Associate for Youth

15. Measuring human capital development

There are three strands of measurement for evaluating success and returns on investments in human capital: education, health and economic returns to individuals and households. It took a lot of work and debate for the development community to come to this consensus.

Now in 2015, Creative’s experts will work with and alongside both USAID and the Millennium Challenge Corporation to define how best to design projects that improve human capital development, and also measure their impact on markets, economies and—in the end—standards of living for people in developing countries.

From Jerry Wright, Senior Director, Economic Growth Division[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”sidebar-primary”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

For better Mideast strategy U.S. should “Keep Calm and Carry On”

December 19, 2014

6 min read

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Beirut—The iconic British government poster—Keep Calm and Carry On—issued in 1939 epitomized the resolve that came to be associated with British resilience through six long years of World War II, much of it on the losing end, before victory in 1945.

Threatened by jihadist spillover from Syria’s civil war, internal conflict between radical Sunnis and Shiites, political paralysis, the burden of over a million Syrian refugees added to its population of 4 million, and the general turmoil gripping the Middle East—Lebanon carries on.

From here, one looks at some of the political dysfunction and fear-mongering in Washington—rumors and sensationalism about ISIS suicide bombers pouring across the Rio Grande, Ebola coming to America, the Caliphate engulfing the Middle East, Russia and China edging out a weakened West because America cannot or will not lead, and a “sluggish” economy.

By comparison, Lebanon, which really does have ISIS inside its borders and other immediate political, economic and social threats, seems the paragon of calm amidst the storm.

Our floundering is disconcerting, more so because it is entirely self-inflicted. We are a great power, but we are in need of a national intervention. We could begin with a unified and consistent policy toward the greater Middle East—not as we would have it be, but as it is.

All sovereign states act in ways their leaders perceive to be in their interests. Syria’s Bashar Assad believes his fight against what is overwhelmingly a Sunni insurgency is existential. Regime supporters— Alawi, Christian and Druze— largely share that view. They need only look to the atrocities committed by ISIS against Alawis, Yazidis, Kurds, Shiites, Christians and non-compliant Sunnis to reinforce their legitimate fears.

Russia supports Syria because Assad is a decades-long ally and one of its last outposts of influence in the Middle East. Iran has invested significant blood and treasure in Syria to support its distant coreligionists and extend its influence from Lebanon through Syria and Iraq. Saudi Arabia and Turkey want to counter Iran by ousting Assad and creating a Sunni majority government in Damascus, though they have supported different proxies.

Iraq is a sectarian nightmare with neither the Shiite majority nor the minority Sunnis Arabs and Kurds willing to be ruled by any other than their own kind. All of Iraq’s neighbors have interests in supporting one faction or the other, and they do. The combination of the Iraq War, the Arab Spring and their fallout stirred this toxic brew, out of which emerged ISIS.

Irrespective of whether everyone, including the United States, was too slow to recognize the potent danger of ISIS, its blitzkrieg to the gates of Baghdad this summer and fall and its unspeakable atrocities had the salutary effect of aligning virtually every state’s interests against it. (The exception of course is the tide of would-be jihadists who have flocked to the black flag of ISIS.)

Aligned interests are not necessarily united interests. Turkey embraces multiple interests and, for the moment, relegates the containment and degradation of ISIS to a distant third behind dethroning Assad and dealing with its Kurdish problem. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States remain wary of enabling any advantage to Iran.

Jordan supports the US-led coalition against ISIS, but confronts its own internal security challenges and is wary of enabling Iranian regional influence by degrading ISIS. Yemen, Egypt, Libya and the rest of North Africa are too preoccupied with their own internal challenges to offer much more than moral support, if that.

Indeed the tide of foreign fighters filling the ranks of ISIS flows from many of the very countries whose governments support the defeat of ISIS.

Israel has its own calculi, which do not include degrading ISIS at the expense of empowering Iranian influence over Syria, not to mention empowering its near enemy, Hezbollah.

This is the Middle East as it is, with which we have to contend. It is messy, confounding, duplicitous, treacherous, unwanted and overwhelming-—all the more reason the United States needs to actually be united and clear-eyed on our interests and everyone else’s. From such realpolitik, realistic objectives, strategy and tactics emerge.

President Obama has been hammered by those across the political spectrum over his unwillingness to plunge headfirst into the Syrian civil war, either by providing more than token arms and training to the “moderate” Syrian armed opposition, sending in Special Forces advisors, bombing Syrian regime forces or establishing a no-fly zone over parts of Syria.

He was right to resist overt military intervention in yet another civil war, with virtually no prospect of a good outcome and the sure prospect of the expenditure of more blood and treasure. Unfortunately, he failed to clearly articulate this to the country and its allies, giving the impression of confusion and indecision.

The administration was slow to recognize the peril ISIS presented to Iraq and the region, and initially reluctant to commit US air assets and advisors to stem the ISIS onslaught, after the collapse of the Iraqi army and security forces.

However, President Obama was right to insist the Iraqis must be the agents of their own salvation; to recognize the malevolent role the Maliki government played in the rise of ISIS and the collapse of the Iraqi forces; and to orchestrate the ouster of Maliki, before committing significant support.

The shock-and-awe advance of ISIS has been largely blunted in Iraq, including the Kurdish autonomous region, with the help of US arms, coalition air strikes and, yes, Iranian military assistance. While the administration rightly emphasized its efforts were focused on degrading ISIS in Iraq, it finally hit ISIS strongholds in Syria with significant air strikes. It was slow to understand the strategic significance of the Kurdish defense of Kobane, even though the town itself had no strategic value, and too solicitous of the interests of Turkey in doing nothing to aid the Kurds fighting there.

One can argue that the commitment of US air assets could be more robust, and the hard refusal to commit Special Forces advisors and forward air controllers to some Iraqi and Kurdish combat units is baffling, though understandable from the viewpoint of domestic political realities.

But overall, the administration has gotten it about right. What is missing is a clear articulation of our interests in enabling Iraqi ground forces to degrade, contain and ultimately diminish ISIS. Syria is a related, but different problem with different interests.

It is a vagary of war that the US degrading ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra frees the Syrian regime, to some extent, to focus on defeating the other more “moderate” anti-regime combatants. But it must be remembered that although both ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra have fought each other, they have united to decimate other anti-regime elements.

The defeat of the Assad regime by either would enable a blood bath against regime combatants, minorities and moderate Sunni combatants and civilians. The imminent defeat of the Assad regime is emphatically not in the West’s interest. The degradation and containment of ISIS is.

In 2004, U.S. General John Abizaid, then-Commander of US Central Command, coined the phrase “The Long War” to describe the enduring challenge posed by al-Qaida and other Islamic extremist groups. The term was not welcomed by pundits who prefer quick wars with tidy outcomes, but it was prophetic.

ISIS is a manifestation of The Long War, as are the other jihadist derivatives in Syria, Yemen, Egypt, the Maghreb, Nigeria and South Asia. That war will last generations, and the West and its allies must be prepared to fight it as such.

More the reason for the United States and its allies to put its domestic houses in order, articulate a clear strategy and tactics to prevail, and “keep calm and carry on.”

James Stephenson is a Senior Advisor at Creative Associates International. This blog represents the views of the author alone and not those of Creative Associates International.

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Active learning revitalizes Yemeni curriculum

December 9, 2014

4 min read

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Active learning revitalizes Yemeni curriculum

By Salwa Al-Azzani

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]Sanaa, Yemen—Real learning happens when a child can interact with a concept and truly understand it firsthand. Rote memorization and lectures crammed with information have proven to be ineffective. Unfortunately, these teaching methods have been standard practice in Yemen for years.

This academic year, Yemen’s early grade science, math and reading curriculum is getting an active learning makeover thanks to the Yemen Early Grade Reading Approach, a USAID-funded initiative that teaches literacy through interactive lessons, stories and phonics. The project is implemented by Creative Associates International.

The Ministry of Education is modeling its curriculum redesign on the successes of the reading approach—breathing new life into a curriculum that has not been updated since it was reviewed 20 years ago, according to Dr. Mohammed Mekhlafi, lecturer and Dean at Sana’a University.

Using this creative method “children speak, read, draw and write. Children simply interact with what they learn,” says Hussein Al-Absi, a specialist in science and a team leader of the science subject reform effort at the Ministry. “It’s interesting in the fact that it has a variety of activities, such as plays, quizzes, stories and drawings that teachers practice with their children, making reading fun—activities that will make other subjects fun as well.”

Following successes during the trial phase of the reading approach, in which children’s reading ability jumped from just 5 words per minutes to 25 words per minute using the interactive lessons, the Ministry decided to initiate a review of its curricula, especially for first grade math and science.

Common concepts across subjects

Al-Kuwait-School--Salah-District-Taiz By integrating common vocabulary and themes across math, science and reading, children become more comfortable with the concepts and gain a deeper understanding of what they are learning.

The curriculum “uses sounds and words that children have already learned in previous lessons….I reinforced the words from the YEGRA materials in[to] the math subject reform,” explains Saeed Naji Al-Sharajabi a mathematics specialist and team leader of the math subject reform effort at the ministry.

“For instance, the words ‘ant,’ ‘milk,’ ‘mama’ and ‘papa’ are repeatedly mentioned in the material. I focused on the same words and the number of images that children see in the book to introduce numbers in a simple way, and I have utilized the different images and shapes in the book to introduce simple mathematical equations.”

A tried-and-true approach

Al-Sharajabi is part of a Ministry team of 15 curriculum reform leaders in the curriculum and trainings sectors—designated by former Minister of Education Abdulrazzaq Al-Ashwal and led by technical experts from Yemen Early Grade Reading Approach team.

In planning its curriculum reform in other subjects, the Ministry’s curriculum and training sectors will also replicate the holistic methodology of the Yemen Early Grade Reading Approach, including an enhanced cascade model of training teachers and a professional development model that employs coaching in reading instruction to professional learning communities.

Also drawing from the reading approach, the Ministry will organize trainings around practice-in-training with children. Trainers will be selected based on merit and successful performance on assessments and in interviews. The ministry will deploy the logistical and administrative procedures utilized in Yemen Early Grade Reading Approach support and follow-up mechanisms, which have proven efficient and effective.

Interactive lessons, better learning

Yemeni educators have long advocated for curriculum changes that target both the structure and the content of lessons, noting that a more child-centered approach allows children to interact with and understand what they learn.

Teachers interviewed report that the traditional curriculum tends to emphasize memorization and often covers several topics in a very limited time. They say that in these environments, children are passive learners and often try to simply memorize information without actually learning it. Ultimately, this leads to bored, unengaged students and poor performance.

Active learning, as many teachers who have implemented the Yemen Early Grade Reading Approach have attested, is reversing this trend.

Al-Furat-School-Tahrir-District2--Amant-Al-Asima “This approach is excellent. Children are very excited to have the YEGRA books, and they are very excited about reading with me,” says No’om Abdulaziz, a teacher in Al-Wahdah school in the Amant Al –Asimah district and a trained teacher in the approach.

Abdulaziz says that the books, games and lessons of the approach make Arabic reading fun and interesting for her students, and she anticipates improved outcomes as interactive learning spreads to other subject areas.

“The old Ministry book that we used in the past had no images and a lot of text. It treats students as passive learners, and all they do in class is sit and listen without interacting with the teacher. Arabic felt like a dry subject. It’s more fun now, and I am glad that science and math subjects have also been revised in accordance with the YEGRA approach and are made more interactive and consistent so learning is more meaningful for our children!”

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Master trainers mobilize Yemeni parents for reading support

November 24, 2014

4 min read

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Master trainers mobilize Yemeni parents for reading support

By Salwa Al-Azzani and Maree Melican

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]Sana’a, Yemen—Greater parental involvement in a child’s education not only improves student achievement but also leads to higher quality education and better schools, several studies show. In Yemen, educators and parents often struggle with how to jumpstart and sustain meaningful parent engagement.

An innovative, phonics-based literacy program called the Yemen Early Grade Reading Approach is resolving this dilemma by mobilizing Master Trainers to rally community support for early grade reading and equip parents with specific tools to take an active role in their children’s education.

Master Trainers utilize a parent training manual that features 13 key visual messages on the importance of reading for children and how parents can support reading skills at home and in school.

The manual provides guidance on topics from school preparation and making home a “language rich” environment to tracking student performance.

During the three-day training in Sana’a, 15 Master Trainers from the governorates of Amant Al-Asimah, Ibb, Abyan and Rayma learned facilitation methods to instruct social workers, headmasters and ultimately parents, particularly those with low levels of literacy themselves, on effective ways to support a child’s reading development.

Illiteracy levels in the country are nearly 35 percent. For women, illiteracy rates reach 60 percent.

“The activities in this training are excellent and have motivated me to help mobilize the community to support reading, which will help strengthen the relationship of the school with the community,” said Mansoor Ali Saleh, a Master Trainer from the Al-Jabeen district in Rayma governorate.

The Yemen Early Grade Reading Approach is part of the Community Livelihoods Project, which is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented by Creative Associates International.

Yemen’s Ministry of Education, a key partner in the initiative, is expanding the Yemen Early Grade Reading Approach to schools in all 23 governorates nationwide. At the end of this academic year, 16,628 schools will be participating.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

Master Trainers spark a chain reaction

The Master Trainers will have a reverberating effect on support for education in their communities.

Through those they train directly and subsequent sessions conducted by others, they will instruct 11 school social workers at the district level, 417 school social workers and headmasters in 204 new schools and ultimately 15,000 parents on best practices to support early grade reading.

“Conducting regular sessions with parents and [Mother/Father Councils] will activate their role in supporting the school and will give them the skills and knowledge to solve many of the educational problems facing the school and children, especially with reading,” says Adeela Ahmed Al-Khader, a Master Trainer from the Khanfar district in Abyan governorate.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

Social workers make the connection

With the launch of the Ministry’s Girls Education and Community Participation unit in 2005, every school was assigned a unique social worker to act as a liaison between the school and community and to augment family involvement in education, including the creation of Mother/Father Councils.

These social workers play a critical role in the Yemen Early Grade Reading Approach as messengers and coaches to community members on how to best support schools and encourage literacy.

To date, the Community Livelihoods Project and the Ministry of Education have trained 643 social workers at the district level and have consequently reached more than an estimated 250,000 parents with important lessons and methods for boosting their children’s performance and staying on top of their educational progress.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

Parents witness a transformation

Parents are invited to visit the classroom to see the reading approach in action and learn firsthand ways to extend their children’s literacy learning beyond the school day.

“The YEGRA course has brought more discipline in the children’s daily after-school routine as well as helped strengthen our relationship with school,” says Tagreed, the mother of a third grade student, after completing a parent training.

With parents actively invested in schools and reinforcing lessons in the home, reading levels are up and absentee rates are down, according to teacher and administrators in the implementing schools.

One parent even says that thanks to the Yemen Early Grade Reading Approach, the tables have turned and his first grader is now teaching him.

“I have noticed great changes in my son’s performance and attitude towards school,” said Mohammed Ali, discussing his son’s success with the approach and his own experience using practices he learned in the parent training. “He is happy to go to school and when he comes home he tells me about his lessons and tells me the stories he took with the teacher. My son now reads better than me, he now teaches me at home.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”sidebar-primary”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Inequality, unemployment prevent growth

November 17, 2014

3 min read

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Inequality, unemployment drive conflict, prevent growth: Creative expert

By Jillian Slutzker

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]Economic inequality and unemployment, common in many Middle Eastern countries, drive conflict. Companies, governments and development practitioners should tackle these sources of fragility to stimulate sustainable growth, said J.W. Wright of Creative Associates International during a speech in Washington, D.C.

To attract foreign investment and jumpstart growth, however, countries must first attain a threshold level of stability and resilience, said Wright, who leads the Economic Growth Division.

Wright spoke to business leaders and diplomats at the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’ 23rd Annual Arab-U.S. Policymakers Conference on Oct. 29, which had discussions about how to spur economic growth, investment and human capital in the Arab Gulf countries and throughout the Middle East.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

Examining growth, grievance and conflict

Citing the results of recent study by Creative called “Exploring the Correlates of Economic Growth and Inequality in Conflict Affected Environments: Fault Lines and Routes of Recovery,” Wright said that “inequity was considered more a driver of conflict than the level of poverty. And class inequity in employment was a larger driver of conflict than unemployment itself.”

Creative is exploring these concepts and issues of global economic policy and investment in two research series—Trends in Global Development and Economic Growth, Fragility and Resilience.

Speaking on a panel with experts and dignitaries including former U.S. Ambassador to Qatar Patrick Theros, Wright said the international community must dig deeper than basic economic indicators to address inequities that perpetuate group grievance and preclude growth.

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Youth unemployment and instability

As a case study to highlight the inequality-conflict relationship, Wright referenced Egypt, where unemployment has shot up to nearly 13 percent since the January 2011 revolution, according to the International Labour Organization.

A surge of employment in Egypt’s informal sector in the last three years has done little to abate the crisis.

“Jobs in the informal sector aren’t permanent, aren’t protected by labor laws and don’t get formal investment,” Wright said.

Causing further instability is the fact those most affected by swells in unemployment are largely youth—particularly the college-educated— and the middle class, “groups that once provided stability,” Wright explained.

In the Middle East, more than 30 percent of the population is from 15 to 29 years old, or over 100 million people, according to the Brookings Institution. More than 29 percent of these young people are unemployed, data from the International Labour Organization shows.

In Egypt, the trend is even more pronounced with almost half of the population under age 25, which means a flood of new job-seekers entering steep competition for very few jobs each year. Nearly 87 percent of Egypt’s unemployed are from 15 to 29 years old, with college-educated youth being the most adversely affected, a recent Brookings Institution paper noted.

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Investing in the local workforce

Exacerbating this economic instability, Wright cited findings in Creative’s recent study that economic inequality and the availability of jobs directly affects citizens’ perceptions of government legitimacy.

Solving this problem is not as easy as creating new jobs alone, Wright explained. Private sector jobs must be transparent and seen as legitimate by the population.

“Less than one in six private sector workers has either a formal contract or social insurance,” writes Pauline Baker, President Emeritus of the Fund for Peace, in “Fragility in Revolutionary Egypt,” a research endeavor supported by Creative.

“If youth—and it is the educated youth who are the most disaffected— if they want jobs but they don’t trust the private sector, then we’ve got a real problem,” Wright told fellow panelists and the audience.

Remedying these economic sources of fragility and drivers of conflict will not be quick nor easy. But Wright does have a suggestion on where companies and investors can begin.

“When your companies make investments, let’s think a little bit more,” said Wright. “Let’s think about putting workforce development for the local population into the programs and operations.”

By providing relevant skills and job opportunities for the unemployed classes and youth in the Middle East, companies and international development implementers can help reduce the inequalities that drive conflict and support national and regional economies to truly thrive.

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Toolkit gives Moroccan youth the lead in tackling dropout

November 3, 2014

6 min read

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Toolkit gives Moroccan youth the lead in tackling dropout

By Jillian Slutzker

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]A new, practical toolkit to use the innovative Youth Speak methodology—a youth-led process of investigating school dropout and mobilizing community action to address it—has been released.

With the support and leadership of Morocco’s Ministry of Education’s Directorate of Non-formal Education, the toolkit will be implemented by Youth Speak teams in 40 middle schools nationwide this year. It will empower the next wave of middle school students to be the instigators and agents of positive change to reduce school dropout and improve conditions for students in their communities.

“After a preliminary assessment and consideration of the success in achieving the objectives of the Youth Speak program, the Directorate of Non-Formal Education plans to introduce this operation as part its new strategic vision to fight against dropouts,” says El Hassane Mahfoudi, Team Leader of the Anti-Dropout Unit at the Directorate of Non-formal Education.

Mahfoudi says the Directorate plans to implement Youth Speak in as many as 60 additional schools in 2016 and 100 more schools the following year.

Up to 400,000 Moroccan students drop out of school each year, and the dropout rate for students in 7^th to 9^th grade is nearly 11 out of every 100, the Ministry of Education reports.

For a problem centered on the lives of young people and challenges they encounter in pursuing education, previous approaches to the issue have involved surprisingly low levels of youth input and leadership.

“Youth Speak is a project for youth, with youth and by youth,” explains Youssra Bailoul, a Youth Speak leader and student from Tetouan who participated in the program’s original rollout in 2013.

Through the Youth Speak process, youth leaders, both those in school and out-of-school, investigate the factors contributing to students dropping out of the schools in their communities and design solutions based on their findings.

“The goal is for youth to do all the work, not adults. In the past, adults did most of this research. There was not communication between the students and the people who were responsible for the research,” Bailoul says.

Youth Speak was pioneered by Creative Associates International, with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development in six Moroccan middle schools in 2013 as part of the Improving Training for Quality Advancement in National Education project. At the conclusion of the program, all participating out-of-school youth had returned to the classroom.

The rollout of the Youth Speak Morocco Toolkit follows successful outcomes in a usability test of the toolkit with youth leaders and their coaches in three pilot schools in the Rabat-Salé region, representing urban, peri-urban and rural zones.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

Jumpstarting inquiry and action

The Youth Speak process hinges on youth leadership and cannot succeed without it, explains, Eric Rusten, Ph.D., youth development and education expert at Creative and co-author of the toolkit with El Mostafa Echchotbi, a Moroccan specialist on youth and learning facilitation.

“[Youth] are the ones that will drive this forward. They are the ones that will be most affected by the results. No one else will be more interested in their future,” says Rusten.

Four of the six pilot communities that took part in Youth Speak in 2013 prepared proposals, using their research reports, to request grants from a government program.

Through their investigations, the youth researchers had discovered that a lack of safe, affordable transportation to school was preventing students from attending. Their proposals were approved, and each of these communities received funding to buy two school busses.

By using an inquiry-based approach where thoughtful responses rather than “right” answers are encouraged, adult coaches of Youth Speak teams lay the groundwork for a youth-guided process of questioning and problem-solving around the dropout issue.

“We were all timid at the beginning,” explains one alumni of the Youth Speak program. “But the facilitators and our coaches encouraged us to speak up, make decisions, lead activities and present our results….By the end of the workshop we were different young people from who we were at the start.”

In fact, the outcomes of Youth Speak have even surpassed the expectations of its creators, according to Echchotbi.

“This initiative has continued to surprise everyone, including the organizers, the coordinators, the ministry officials, the funders, schools staff and youth leaders,” he says, reflecting on the original Youth Speak groups’ successes. “Day after day, meeting after meeting, the youth leaders gained skills and demonstrated capabilities which were unsuspected.”

Echchotbi explains that the day youth leaders presented their research findings on the factors leading to school dropouts and their perspectives on solutions, government and school officials were stunned.

“At this moment, everybody believed that these young girls and boys were capable of doing miraculous things,” he says.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]

Seven-steps to true youth leadership

The toolkit, which will be distributed in Arabic and is tailored to the Moroccan context, guides schools, coaches and youth leaders through a seven-step process from creating a Youth Speak team to carrying out research, designing a dropout prevention plan, and ultimately monitoring and sustaining efforts to stem future attrition.

It also includes sample implementation plans and workshops exercises in a digital annex.

With the toolkit in their hands, youth will be in the “driver’s seat,” Rusten says, with the skills to navigate a number of difficult roads they may encounter. They will become community role models, much like Youth Speak leader and alumni Youssef Bidar from the town of Youssoufia.

“As a Youth Leader I realized that I had an important role to play in my school and community,” says Bidar.

“As news about Youth Speak spread, other students would come and ask me and my fellow Youth Leaders to talk to students who were thinking about dropping out or who had already dropped out and were wondering how to return to school.”

Youssef says parents, teachers and school administrators also sought out his insights and those of his fellow leaders on best practices to counter dropout.

While the Youth Speak approach has been used so far to fight dropouts it can be deployed by youth to address a variety of challenges. The toolkit helps youth develop into master “chefs,” Rusten explains, cooking up solutions to the dropout problem, or other issues affecting their group of peers.

“What’s the difference between someone who has to cook with a cookbook and a chef in a restaurant?” Rusten asked youth leaders and coaches at the start of the usability testing workshop. “A toolkit is not designed to be a recipe in a cookbook. We want you to become chefs, not cooks.”

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A lasting transformation

When youth are the ones driving change, the balance of power changes between adults and young people and a new collaborative, respect-based relationship replaces a hierarchical one.

This transformation of relationships between adults and youth is one of the most powerful changes the Youth Speak approach spurs, says Rusten.

Throughout his long career working with youth in educational settings, Echchotbi explains that prior to becoming a Youth Speak coordinator he favored conventional teaching methods and did not delegate authority to his students.

As a Youth Speak coordinator, Echchotbi says the guiding principle was “keeping youth at the center of all our work, to authentically care about them and to trust in their capacities to do things well and to innovate….Over time I saw young people quickly gain new skills and develop a strong sense of confidence in their abilities.”

“I have come to realize that Youth Speak needs to be a part of every Moroccan student’s education,” Echchotbi says.

With toolkits arriving this month in the mailboxes of the 40 schools launching Youth Speak initiatives this year, Morocco is well on its way to putting youth at the forefront of stemming the country’s substantial dropout problem.

“We all realize that we need take action to prevent dropouts,” says Bidar.

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New program to boost livelihoods of ethnic Tibetans in China

October 20, 2014

3 min read

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New program to boost livelihoods of ethnic Tibetans in China

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]Oct. 20, 2014 – A new program will support efforts to improve sustainable livelihoods of up to 18,000 ethnic Tibetans in China’s Sichuan province, Creative Associates International announced today. Focusing on communities in and around the provincial capital of Chengdu, the U.S.-supported program will sharpen the entrepreneurial skills of ethnic Tibetans working in areas such as eco-tourism, as well as boost productivity of herders, artisans and business owners. It will also enhance the competitiveness of ethnic Tibetan businesses in local, regional and international markets. Called the “Sichuan Market Development Project (previously Support for Ethnic Tibetans in China),” the five-year, $7.5-million program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development is projected to reach 18,000 ethnic Tibetans directly, while indirectly more than 70,000 will see economic gains. “Creative believes in inclusive economic growth that lifts up all members of a community,” says M. Charito Kruvant, CEO of Creative. “This program will provide ethnic Tibetans with the skills and knowledge to achieve sustainable livelihoods and also reap the benefits of a changing and growing market economy.” Economic development in China’s Western region in recent years has created significant growth but has also presented challenges for traditional, pastoral ethnic Tibetans.

Combining local knowledge with livelihoods expertise

Creative’s implementing team has extensive experience in economic growth, sustainable livelihoods and agriculture, as well as strong relationships with both the Chinese government and the ethnic Tibetan community. The program team includes two local partner organizations: Machik, an organization with expertise promoting entrepreneurship in Western China; and SynTao Co., a Chinese investment firm emphasizing socially responsible investment in ethnic Tibetan-owned businesses. Two international organizations—Aid to Artisans and Plateau Perspectives—are part of Creative’s implementing team. Adding to the expertise of its partners, Creative has a trusted track record of implementing livelihoods projects in challenging environments including Yemen, Pakistan and Colombia. “Creative’s extensive on-the-ground experience improving value chains in emerging economies and crisis-affected communities globally prepares us well for improving the livelihoods of ethnic Tibetans in this region,” says Monty Palmer, Director of Creative’s Economic Stabilization and Recovery practice area. “We look forward to combining our expertise with the local knowledge and experience of our partners to bring economic gains to traditional ethnic Tibetan communities.” Through grant-making and training, the program will deliver technical expertise and capacity building to trusted local organizations with a long history of livelihoods work in ethnic Tibetan communities.

About Creative Associates International

Creative Associates International works with underserved communities by sharing expertise and experience in education, economic growth, governance and transitions from conflict to peace. Creative is the second-largest company owned by women that works with the U.S. government. Based in Washington, D.C., Creative has active projects in more than 15 countries. Since 1977, it has worked in nearly 90 countries and on almost every continent. Recognized for its ability to work rapidly, flexibly and effectively in conflict-affected environments, Creative is committed to generating long-term sustainable solutions to complex development problems.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”sidebar-primary”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Project launch promises opportunity to Moroccan child laborers

October 15, 2014

5 min read

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Project launch promises opportunity to Moroccan child laborers

By Khadija Ramram

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]Marrakech, Morocco—During the past 15 years, the use of child labor has decreased in Morocco due in large part to concerted government funding, legislation and programming to reach the most vulnerable families and children.

But for an estimated 92,000 children ages 7 to14 still working in dangerous and taxing trades like agriculture, domestic labor or artisanal sectors, the battle to combat child labor is far from over.

“As a complex societal phenomenon resulting from intertwined causes, poverty and family vulnerability, child labor requires a collaborative effort from all stakeholders so that we could see our children thrive in better life conditions….like what is known in other countries,” said the Director of Morocco’s National Mutual Aid (Entraide Nationale), Abdelmounaim El Madani.

Joining efforts to fight child labor in Morocco, the U.S. Labor Department, Creative Associates International and the Moroccan government have launched the Promise Pathways project, which aims to reduce labor rates for those ages 6-17 years in the target zone of Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz.

The project kicked off with a Sept. 29 ceremony at the Centre of Training and Qualification for the Professions of Handicraft in Marrakech and was attended by over 90 representatives from civil society organizations, the private sector and the U.S. mission

Promise Pathways builds on a long bilateral partnership to reduce child labor in Morocco.

“This project comes after a decade of cooperation between our two governments in the field of combatting child labor. It is part of our key objective to ensure dignity of work and viable education and employment pathways for the youth in Morocco, and in particular in the region of Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz,” said Andrea Appell, Acting General Consul for the U.S., during her address at the launch ceremony.

During the next four years, the project will bolster government and civil society efforts to mitigate the negative repercussions of child labor on the educational opportunities and wellbeing of children. It will support initiatives to prevent child labor, enhance the resiliency of families against poverty, and improve educational opportunities for young laborers forced to leave school.

Promise Pathways aims to reach a total of 5,500 youth and 1,000 family members in eight areas in the Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz region.

Morocco has shown noticeable progress in reducing the number of children engaged in abusive child labor. According to the High Commission for Planning (Haut Commissariat au Plan), the figures have decreased from 517,800 workers between ages 7-14 years old in 1999 to 92,000 children in 2012.

The country has also taken legal strides to root out the practice through new regulations, including increasing the minimum work age from 12 to 15 years in the 2004 Labor Code.

Yet, in the informal sector, which includes handicrafts, agriculture and domestic work, child labor is still common and regulations are difficult to enforce.

Collaborating with Moroccan partners, Promise Pathways will address three main components in a holistic approach to combat child labor while supporting Moroccan youth to achieve their potential through opportunities in education, livelihoods and skills training.

A key focus of Promise Pathways will be to streamline activities among youth service delivery institutions—government and civil society alike—to better coordinate efforts and guide resources in the direction of those in most need.

“We have enthusiastically adhered to this project since the beginning because of its approach and emphasis on coordination among all actors,” explained El Madani. “Our ambition is to build an analytical and a practical model regarding child labor…which will be scaled up to other regions.”

Not only do these vulnerable youth and families need timely access to the right services, but youth engaged in work and out of school also require viable educational opportunities for long-term success.

Speaking at the event, Ahmed Benzzi, the director of the Regional Academy of Education and Training (l’Académie Régionale de l’Education et de la Formation ) emphasized that all stakeholders must work together to reduce and prevent school dropout during the primary to middle school transition period when many youth leave school for work.

In tackling dropout, Promise Pathways will build on the success of Youth Speak, a U.S. Agency for International Development-funded initiative implemented by Creative and the Moroccan Ministry of Education that empowered middle school dropouts to return to school and advocate in their communities the importance of improving access to continue their education.

Benzzi noted that the Promise Pathways project will complement other government-led programs to combat child labor and support education, which includes providing school transport and 1 million schools bags to students and supporting cash transfers in poor, rural communities.

Demonstrating the transformative power of education for school dropouts and child laborers, 14 year-old Youssra shared her story at the launch event. After dropping out from sixth grade, Youssra benefited from non-formal education services provided by ATFALOUNA, (“Our Children” in Arabic). After one year of instruction, she could reintegrate into formal schooling.

“I had many difficulties at school, that’s why I had to quit school,” said Youssra, speaking at the inaugural event of the project. “Now, I am back to formal schooling….because I had the chance to be assisted by the association. The teacher supported me a lot. She explained to me that I can learn as many other children.”

The association supported Youssra and other children like her through tutoring, psychological services, mediation, extracurricular activities and foreign languages classes and, most importantly, a chance at a brighter future.

In partnership with the Moroccan government and civil society, Promise Pathways will work with associations like ATFALOUNA and vulnerable youth like Youssra to ensure that children in the Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz region have the chance to achieve their potential and avoid the life-altering consequences of child labor.

Representing the Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz region’s Division of Social Action at the project launch event, Moulay Abdelsalam Samarkandi expressed optimism in the promises of Promise Pathways, noting that it would better serve at-risk communities and children in the ongoing campaign to root out child labor.

Khadija Ramram is the Education Specialist for the Promise Pathways Project

Funding for this project was provided by the United States Department of Labor. This material does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the United States Department of Labor, nor does the mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the United States Government.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/12″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=”sidebar-primary”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

ISIS and the Syria inflection point

October 3, 2014

4 min read

Spike's blog interconnected map

Irrespective of the modern trappings of warfare—artillery, automatic weapons, captured armored vehicles, Kalashnikovs and rocket-propelled grenades—the playbook of ISIS is straight out of the seventh century. It has used the largely unguarded, ungoverned spaces of eastern Syria as a staging area to strike weakened areas of Iraq and Syria.

Many of the tactics and factors behind the success of ISIS are nearly identical to those detailed in the pages of The Great Arab Conquests, a 1963 work that chronicled the first wave of Arab conquest from 632 to 680, which swept out of the Arabian Peninsula, engulfing much of Asia and North Africa. The book’s author, Lt. General Sir John Bagot Glubb, also known as “Glubb Pasha,” led the Arab Legion of Transjordan, later Jordan, from 1939 to 1956.

With no infantry and only the most rudimentary tactics, Glubb pondered how a seventh century cavalry of illiterate goat and camel herders defeated the best standing armies. He attributed it, particularly in the dynamic early years, to four factors that combined religion and policy.

First, Islam was new and religious zeal was a driving force. Second, jihad—interpreted in this context as “holy war”— was a simple, unifying concept, and death through jihad promised instant entry into a paradise of carnal and other earthly pleasures mostly unknown in life. Third, leaders in Mecca and Medina mandated policies that allowed the armies to keep a fixed portion of plunder, returning the remainder to these two heartland cities. Plunder included women and fed a vast trade in concubines and other slaves. Fourth, all of the above created highly motivated warriors who, above all, were not afraid to die. Glubb observed that a soldier unafraid to die is a formidable adversary, hard to defeat.

In present day Iraq and Syria, anyone not subscribing to ISIS’s severe interpretation of Islam is an infidel meriting death or enslavement. Its genocidal murder and enslavement of Yazidis, Christians, Shiites, Kurds and resistant Sunni tribesmen is a tactic calculated to purge conquered territory, terrify its enemies, and enhance its jihadi credentials, to attract like-minded recruits.

Why anyone would be attracted to the ISIS Gotterdammerung of beheadings and mass executions mystifies most, but it is a potent attractant to a subset of disaffected Sunni Muslims looking for meaning in their lives and—perversely—seeking respect and dignity. The chimera of the Islamic Caliphate, the power of arms and the allure of the spoils of conquest are the ingredients of an intoxicating elixir.

ISIS will be defeated. It ruthlessly uses terror, light mechanized cavalry tactics and the interstice of governance resulting from geography and civil war to impose its chilling creed, but it has a short shelf life in the face of growing alarm and resistance in the Middle East and beyond.

Unfortunately, the disaffection of its adherents will remain long after its demise. ISIS is a symptom. The real cancer is the disaffection that fueled it—and that has no military cure.

The recent robust airstrikes against ISIS’s strongholds in Syria by a coalition of the United States and five Arab allies were a welcome signal that the gloves have come off. It was particularly encouraging that the Assad government was informed in advance that the strikes would occur and did not interfere, including in the U.S. strikes against the Khorasan Group, west of Aleppo.

While the news today brings much relief—someone is doing something—it is accompanied by handwringing that airstrikes alone are not enough, that ISIS will cleverly hide its military assets, and that only a combination of air power and ground troops can defeat ISIS on the battlefield.

All of that may be true, but it misses the point that an Arab coalition against ISIS—a coalition of countries that have been at odds and supporting various Islamic proxies in Syria—is a tectonic shift. Unwittingly, the rise of ISIS is the inflection point that may offer a resolution to the “wicked problem” that is Syria’s civil war.

Assad and his allies—Iran and Russia—surely recognize the reality that Syria is unlikely to soon be cobbled together again, if ever. Conversely, the U.S. and the regional powers must conclude that Assad’s departure from the areas his regime controls would leave a vacuum that would currently be filled by the likes of ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra, risking the slaughter or expulsion of Syria’s Alawite, Druze, Christian, Shiite, other minorities and moderate Sunnis.

Assad has brutally protected his interests with mass murder, torture and starvation. He is a bad actor in a rough neighborhood of bad actors.

Yet the U.S.-led coalition and its allies need to order their priorities and use the much more dangerous threat of ISIS and the alignment of interests of Assad, Iran, Russia, the U.S.-led coalition, the Syrian “moderate opposition,” Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey and the West to support a negotiated truce between Assad and the moderate opposition. This would enable at least a coordinated effort against ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra and an eventual negotiated settlement to end Syria’s misery.

None of this will be easy, and may well result in the Balkanization of Syria, which has de facto already occurred. But it may be the first, best chance to begin to bring and end to the civil war and get the regional powers to work together to seek a consensual, balance of power that will be to everyone’s benefit. It may not work and it may not last, but it is better than Syria’s bloody stalemate and the rampages of ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra.

James Stephenson is a Senior Advisor at Creative Associates International

Teacher Training, Mentoring and Coaching Brings Learning to Life

September 27, 2014

By Jillian Slutzker

4 min read

The classrooms of primary schools across Tanzania’s southeastern Mtwara region and the islands of Pemba and Unguja in Zanzibar are noisier than they used to be, but students are learning more and learning better. Using innovative tools and engaging teaching methods, freshly trained educators are redefining what learning looks, and sounds, like and, in the process, turning out better-educated kids.

“I hear head teachers telling us about the noises that are coming from classes. To me that’s called an educational buzz because children are learning and those are active learning environments,” says Renuka Pillay, who leads the Tanzania 21^st Century Basic Education Project, also called TZ21.

The project is improving primary education for children in 900 primary schools in the Mtwara region and Zanzibar’s Pemba and Unguja islands by empowering educators to teach reading, math and science more effectively. Working with Tanzania’s Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, the U.S. Agency for International Development-funded program bolsters professional development for teachers through mentoring, peer-to-peer support, teacher learning circles and better training. It is implemented by Creative Associates International.

An education crisis emerges

In a drive to achieve higher rates of primary school enrollment, Tanzania’s Ministry of Education and Vocational Training began offering free primary education in 2002. The surge in enrollment that followed—jumping from only 59 percent of primary-school-aged students enrolled in 2000 to 96 percent in 2010 on the mainland and nearly 80 percent on Zanzibar—overwhelmed a teacher population already struggling to teach critical thinking and foundational science, math and reading skills.

Although Tanzania was filling more classrooms with students eager to learn and seemingly on its way to achieving universal primary education, the quality of instruction lagged behind. Teachers talked, imparting information, and students, for the most part, sat on benches and listened.

But student performance indicated that little learning was actually occurring. In a 2013 study by Uwezo, an East African civil society group that monitors educational achievement, only 53 percent of Tanzanian students over 10 years old could pass a Kiswahili literacy exam, with only 35 percent passing a literacy test in English.

Mtwara, a target region of the program, was one of the most hard-pressed regions in need of an educational reboot.

“Mtwara is one of the underserved regions in the country with very poor infrastructure and overcrowded classrooms,” says Felix Mbogella, deputy chief of party of the project in Mtwara. “We have teachers who have never attended a refresher course or any kind of trainings to sharpen their teaching skills for over 20 years.”

Giving teachers the tools for success

In 27 Teacher Resource Centers in Mtwara and 10 Teacher Centers in Zanzibar, including one national resource center based on the island, primary school teachers receive support from peers and trainers to improve their teaching methods and subject matter knowledge. More than 1,200 teachers in Mtwara and 490 in Zanzibar have been trained as mentors and coaches to date.

The centers’ hands-on training, mentoring and coaching programs focus on techniques that incorporate student engagement and integrate early grade Kiswahili reading across the curriculum in grades one through four.

With previous teaching methods, “teaching was very difficult,” says Blandina Lucas Ndambalilo, a Teaching Resource Center Coordinator in Mitengo in the Mtwara region. Teachers “just used a single technique…and couldn’t identify problems with individual students.”

Using these new approaches, which prioritize and track student progress, Ndambalilo says “the teacher can see what students are missing and where to fill in. We’re now taught to avoid spoon-feeding.”

Coordinators for the Tanzania 21^st Century Basic Education Program observe teachers in action in the classroom to identify gaps and needs in their teaching methods followed by one-on-one discussions with the teachers. This collaborative and individualized approach leads to tailored and effective support for instructors. A cadre of master trainers—teachers and school officials who have been trained as coaches—provide ongoing mentoring to fellow educators.

At the Teacher Resource Centers and Teacher Centers, primary school teachers learn how to effectively manage classrooms full of students with unique learning processes and needs. Trainers provide educators with practical tools for the classroom including incorporating technology and teaching Kiswahili literacy through phonics.

Empowered with these new approaches, teachers are creatively revamping their classroom activities and are noticing a qualitative difference in their work.

“Back in the day it was normal to go in a classroom without the necessary tools to support teaching,” says Mektidis Nguli, a grade one teacher at the Mangowela School in Mtwara. “But now I have access to so many tools….I have so much at my disposal to support my teaching, and teaching therefore is just an enjoyable activity, as opposed to how it was before.”

Witnessing a learning transformation

Teachers are not the only ones feeling a positive change in the school environment. Inside the classrooms, the flurry of student activity displays a much different scene than the one teachers describe before the training program, when tools were limited and knowledge was delivered in a one-way stream from teacher to student.

“Kids now are gathering in groups, playing games in groups, discussing, reading to each other, writing books, singing—in a way that inspires reading,” says Mbogella.

With students more excited by their lessons and more engaged with their teachers, peers and the material, Tanzania is well-positioned to sustain its high rates of primary school enrollment and maximize learning outcomes for its youngest students.

Ali Saher Ali, a parent of a student in a Tanzania 21^st Century Basic Education Program school sees this transformation on a personal level. “As a result of this [program] I can mention that the teachers, they are doing splendid work which should be congratulated, because I can see that result in my son.”

LIBYA: Nascent groups prepare to take on Herculean challenges

September 27, 2014

2 min read

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LIBYA:

Nascent groups prepare to take on Herculean challenges

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Libya’s Revolution ushered in an opportunity for civil society organizations to form, grow and represent their communities. With U.S. State Department support, Creative is working with the leaders of nascent groups to support their efforts to play a substantial role in this country’s developing democracy.

Two important initiatives— the current Community Driven Grants Program and the former the Libyan Voter Ownership and Increasing Civic Engagement (VOICE)—have provided unparalleled support to these transformative civil society organizations.

The following videos provide a look at what these organizations are doing for their communities.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][vc_column_text]

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CIVIL SOCIETY GOES PINK FOR WOMEN

Taking a stand for women’s health, the Pink Movement is educating Libyan women about breast cancer prevention and awareness. Whether in mosques and health clubs or walking in pink hijabs and carrying pink banners, the movement fights breast cancer head on.

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YOUTH-POWERED CIVIL SOCIETY

Civil society may be new to Libya, but it gaining strength and energy—powered to a large degree by youth. The H2O network is drawing in a generation of civic leaders who are launching on-the-ground campaigns for positive change and, in the process, shifting the perspectives of Libyans on what engaged citizenship looks like.

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FINDING MISSING LOVED ONES & A BIT OF HOPE

Nearly 10,000 Libyans are missing—a direct result of the revolution, ongoing conflict and previous decades of authoritarian rule—leaving family members struggling to find answers and cope with loss. The Mafqood Center provides a safe place for family members of missing persons to get support and work together to address shared legal and social challenges.

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WHAT DELAWARE TAUGHT THESE MENA STUDENTS

What can a student from the Middle East and North Africa region learn in Delaware? This group of students gained skills and knowledge on a U.S. trip that will help them to create the positive change they seek in their own countries.

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STANDING UP FOR POSITIVE CHANGE

Libya’s Revolution was about more than just ousting a dictator. It was a chance for Libyans to stand up for better their society. The Free Generation Movement empowers and mobilizes volunteers to take an active role in creating that positive change.

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Morocco: Middle school-aged researchers tackle school dropout head on

September 27, 2014

1 min read

Every year in Morocco, nearly 360,000 students drop out of school, and the problem most acute in middle school, where nearly 10 percent of students drop out. In order to develop solutions, young researchers interviewed their peers to discover the reasons why they leave school, which included a lack of transportation, early marriage and little academic support.