Refugees as “end users” help design tech solutions to refugee crisis in Greece

December 2, 2016

By Ayan Kishore

3 min read

Could a smartphone app make a difference in the lives of some 62,000 refugees and migrants in Greece? Could a mapping tool be part of the solution to the country’s refugee crisis?

A group of technology developers, migration and development experts, refugees and migrants met in Athens in October to try out some tech ideas that could do just that. As part of design teams and as designated assessors of new ideas, unaccompanied refugee minors themselves, a target group for the solutions, evaluated the pitches.

The first in a pair of “hackathons,” Hack the Camp, was an effort to instigate tech-enabled solutions to the refugee crisis in Greece. It is supported by the U.S. Embassy and several local and international organizations including Creative Associates International.

If you aren’t familiar with hackathons, here’s a primer: A hackathon is a several hour event (think marathon) that brings together software developers to use their skills to prototype their ideas or “hack” together solutions in response to a provided prompt.

Popularized in the for-profit tech sector, hackathons are increasingly being held by governments and civil society organizations to spark tech solutions to development problems.

A design that works for the user

“Design with the User,” or “human-centered design,” is recognized as the foremost principle for digital development, increasing the chances of the new tool actually being effectively used by the targeted demographic. Yet this rarely translates into a reality.

At Hack the Camp in Athens, refugees and tech developers worked side-by-side to ensure prototypes of new tools would actually be useful to the end users. Photo by: Ayan Kishore

Beneficiaries or end users should be active participants in hackathons to allow for a rapid user-centered design process.

For instance, one solution that a Hack the Camp team worked on was a platform for refugees’ stories to be told to the greater public. When the team pitched its idea, the panel of refugees asked why that would be of use to them and whether they would get any financial benefit from the publication of their stories—key points the team had not considered.

In another case, refugees unanimously advised one “makerspace” organizer—which sets up collaborative work spaces for hands-on exploring and training, often in tech—to focus on increasing the skills of immediate users of the space and placing them into jobs, rather than attempting to scale up into more camps.

In this way beneficiaries become co-designers and evaluators of assistance programs—something the development and peacebuilding fields have struggled to achieve.

When I asked people why they chose to participate in Hack the Camp, tech participants and others mentioned empathy for the refugee population and a desire to humanize and solve the refugee problem.

When I spoke to Syrian, Iraqi, Afghani and Pakistani refugees, they talked about how they enjoyed playing a key part in the creative and inclusive process.

In total, Hack the Camp teams generated 33 solution concepts—including an Airbnb-type solution to allow people to make vacant spaces in Athens and elsewhere available to refugees. Airbnb is not affiliated with the hackathon. Other solutions focused on education, jobs, health, urban planning and cultural identity.

Human-centered design and product development specialists guided the teams through a rapid design process, and they have now spent the last two months fleshing out the concepts more.

This Dec. 2 to 4 in Athens, 50 members of selected teams will reassemble to prototype and present their solutions.

What we hope to see are the beginnings of solutions that can make a real difference in the lives of those they are meant to serve—the refugee and migrant community. With human-centered design and refugees as part of design teams and feedback panels, the outlook for achieving this is bright.

Ayan Kishore is Director of Technology for Development at the Creative Development Lab.

Morocco: Boosting critical reading instruction, building a culture of literacy

November 9, 2016

1 min read

Middle school is a key time to master critical reading comprehension, but teachers often lack skills and resources to bring struggling students up to grade-level reading performance. See how Creative, USAID and the Moroccan Ministry of Education worked together to boost reading instruction and build a culture of reading.

Once out-of-school or out-of-work, 3 Moroccan girls chart brighter futures

November 3, 2016

By Jillian Slutzker

4 min read

In Morocco’s Marrakesh-Tensift-Al Haouz, up to 14,000 children are already working or are at great risk of becoming agricultural and domestic laborers. When children drop out of school, they are even more vulnerable.

Hayat, Laila and Kaoutar were once among this group of vulnerable out-of-school youth. But with support from the Promise Pathways project they are now on a path to a brighter future that includes education and fulfilling employment.

Funded by the U.S. Department of Labor and implemented by Creative Associates International, the project aims to reduce child labor by working with communities—particularly youth—and the government to promote quality educational and learning opportunities for youth younger than age 15. It works jointly with youth, parents, schools, communities and the government to increase school attendance and mitigate early drop out.

For youth of legal working age, the project provides safe and productive employment alternatives through vocational training and referral assistance that links jobseekers with a network of service providers.

The Promise Pathways project was able to support Hayat, Laila and Kaoutar, and dozens of other youth, in building brighter futures thanks to local partnerships. These local partners include: Entraide Nationale (a Ministry of Social Development agency), the Democratic League for Women’s Rights, Association Haut et Fort, the Federation of the High Atlas Association, Complex Educatif Aghbalou, the president of the Setti Fadma Commune, El Amane Association and Restaurant Letchine.

Hayat: Cooking up a brighter future with new skills as a chef

Hayat was in the sixth grade when she dropped out of school to try to help take care of her mother, sick father and four brothers, one of whom was suffering from cancer. But with little education or training, she found she had few options for a bright future.

Now 18 years old, she is a chef at a top-ranked restaurant in Marrakech, where she also completed an internship. This transformation in Hayat’s life from vulnerable and out-of-school to skilled and employed is thanks to the Promise Pathways project.

“When Promise Pathways reached out to me, I benefited from many things: studying baking and pastries, medical care for me and my family, and getting and ID card and a business card,” she said.

The project provided Hayat with vocational training and the opportunity to access a safe and fulfilling career. It also gave her the psychosocial support needed to chart a new course for her future. Among her fellow chefs and the restaurant manager, Hayat is a star employee. She is self-confident and optimistic about the road ahead.

“Because of this project my life has changed, and I am at a happy place now,” Hayat said.

Laila: Overcoming family difficulty to succeed in the classroom

Fifteen-year-old Laila did not want to leave school. But with nowhere to sleep and no source of income, she knew she had to help her family. She dropped out of middle school and began to sell small goods on the streets with her mother to support herself and two brothers.

“Life is hard on the streets of Marrakech. Due to widespread violence and a lack of safety, every day I live in fear of being assaulted or abused,” Laila said.

But fortunately for Laila and her brothers, there was hope. With support from the Promise Pathways project, Laila was matched with a case manager named Meriem.

With Meriem’s help, Laila and her brothers got off the streets and found a safe home and support at an organization dedicated to children in difficult situations like hers. Through Promise Pathways, Laila enrolled in remedial courses and counseling that allowed her to get back on track for success and reintegrate into school.

“I am able to go back to school and ensure that I succeed in my studies,” she said.

Promise Pathways also provided Laila with life skills training to help her navigate her challenging family situation and chart her own goals for life.

“I feel strong and capable of assuming this positive change for the good of my family…Thanks to Meriem, my case manager, and the Promise Pathways project, our family’s life has changed and our hopes are reborn,” she said.

Kaoutar: Proving that rural girls can achieve with education

The school bus doesn’t travel to 16-year-old Kaoutar’s village in the Al Haouz province of Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains. But even if it did, her family did not have the money to send her to middle school. Instead, she stayed home, helping her mother tend to the fields, feed the cows and fetch wood. This was what her father wanted.

“My dad says that school is not for girls, and girls should work at home,” she said.

But that was before Kaoutar was connected to the Promise Pathways project. The team from Promise Pathways met with Kaoutar’s parents and explained to them the importance of educating their daughter to improve her future.

They encouraged them to enroll her in the Aghbalou boarding school in a nearby town, with a scholarship through the project. Though Kaoutar received tutoring to catch up with her classmates, boarding school proved a challenging adjustment and she soon dropped out—but not for long!

“The team of case managers made a special intervention to support me through counseling. This had a very positive impact on me, and I am back to school now and learning!” she said.

Her performance and attendance have significantly improved, which brings her and her mother pride.

“We are proud of the good student I have become, and we appreciate school and the great results it helps girls achieve. I feel now that I am in charge of my future,” she said.

With reporting by Najat Sarhani.

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.

Dangers to democracy: How election systems may be susceptible to “rigging”

November 2, 2016

4 min read

What constitutes electoral malpractice, otherwise known as “rigging” an election?

It includes a wide range of illegal, illicit and even violent practices designed to influence the outcome of an election to “substitute personal or partisan benefit for the public interest,” according to Sarah Birch, Professor at King’s College London. Such attempts to influence the outcome of an election may be systemic or isolated instances, and the perpetrators are constantly refining their techniques.

While the range of tactics employed to undermine democratic electoral processes remains consistent across the world, the use of violence appears to be more common in Africa and the Middle East, whereas the manipulation of resources appears to be more common in the more developed democracies of Western Europe and the Americas.

One thing is certain, electoral malpractice must be addressed in a timely manner to prevent its spread throughout the system of governance.

Shifting tactics require a holistic approach

What worked for the perpetrators of electoral malpractice in one election might not work in another. They employ a wide variety of tactics to overcome new laws, regulations and practices designed to stop fraud.

Electoral malpractice—a very serious concern during an electoral campaign, voting day operations, vote count and tabulation, among other periods of the electoral cycle—falls into four categories, according to the independent U.S. Election Assistance Commission. These include failures or refusals to act in a wide range of areas from voter registration manipulation to refusal to consider electoral dispute adjudication claims; acts of deception from “padding” voter registers to falsification of results; acts of coercion including violence and intimidation; and acts of destruction from polling station capture to stealing and spoiling ballots.

Efforts to detect and prevent fraud might address one area of malpractice, but perpetrators are constantly shifting tactics. For example, if ballot stuffing and poll worker bribery is effectively being addressed, as it is in many countries, then perpetrators might shift to vote buying, illegal campaign funding or violence.
Therefore, a more holistic approach is arguably required to investigate, understand and address the opportunities for and tactics of fraud employed in a given country.

Deploying electoral integrity agents

While the perpetrators of malpractice innovate so to must the electoral integrity system, which is a critical feature of a functioning oversight system that includes “electoral integrity agents.”

These agents include governmental enforcement institutions, such as election management bodies, investigatory bodies and prosecutorial bodies; social enforcement institutions, including political parties, “watchdog” organizations, nongovernmental organizations and media; and international assistance and electoral observation organizations supporting these electoral integrity agents.

With an understanding of the types of electoral malpractice, the profile of the perpetrators ranging from party agents to organized crime to disenfranchised youth, and the timing of their illegal or illicit practices, electoral integrity agents can prioritize and target appropriate responses and interventions that seek to prevent malpractice through efforts such as stakeholder education and audits of voters’ lists.

They can take measures to mitigate malpractice through initiatives such as developing or enhancing political finance transparency mechanisms, streamlining complaints procedures and undertaking real-time enforcement. They can also deter malpractice through efforts such as introducing or enhancing effective and timely election dispute resolution and post-election prosecution, sanctions and penalties.

Preventing, mitigating and deterring malpractice

Let’s review three examples of how electoral integrity agents can interact to prevent, mitigate and deter electoral malpractice.

First, in the case of preventing fraud such as ballot stuffing, multiple voting or voter impersonation that can stem from an incomplete, inaccurate or falsified voter registry, the electoral management body might take steps to ensure accuracy in the voters’ list through an audit and making the list open to public scrutiny.

This would allow political parties and civil society to conduct their own audits and challenge any inaccuracies or duplications. The judiciary would then play a role in adjudicating these challenges. While ensuring an accurate list makes it harder to conduct certain types of fraud, this effort will also enhance the credibility of the final list.

Second, to mitigate campaign finance abuses, political finance regulators might undertake the regular collection and auditing of campaign financial reports that are disclosed to the public. Media, civil society groups and political parties could then review the reports and could lodge official complaints with the appropriate body.

At the same time, the political finance regulator or other investigatory body could identify any abuses and either handle them administratively or prosecute criminal transgressions through the courts. Such steps could identify and discourage illegal or illicit uses of campaign money by political actors during the campaign period.

Third, the deterrence of future acts of electoral malpractice, according to ACE: The Electoral Knowledge Network, requires active, impartial and timely enforcement of the laws by investigative agencies and investigators free from political interference and with enough independence to initiate and thoroughly investigate allegations of electoral malpractice or other related illegal activities.

Taking these steps in a robust manner that protects the rights of whistle-blowers, witnesses and the accused presents a credible and effective process that will cause perpetrators to think twice before engaging in vote fraud or other illegal activities.

Finally, there is a significant role to be played by the international community, as well as domestic groups, in monitoring the electoral process across the electoral cycle. More importantly international community-led interventions to support electoral integrity agents should augment conventional technical assistance approaches and effectively confront the very different types of challenges facing electoral processes around the world.

Jeffrey Carlson is Director of Electoral Education & Integrity at Creative Associates International.

In new democratic Libya, local governments build leadership & citizen trust

October 26, 2016

6 min read

The municipal offices in Libya’s northeastern city of al-Bayda are bustling. Nearly 100 citizens walk through the doors each day to talk to municipal government representatives. Online, 18,000 citizens follow the city’s Facebook updates.

This steady stream of communication between residents and the local government is new in this conflict-torn city, and it is paying off in the form of increased citizen confidence in their local institutions. Almost 73 percent of al-Bayda residents who have directly interacted with the Municipal Council reported a positive experience, according to a public opinion survey conducted by the Navanti Group in April 2016.

“The Municipal Council is more legitimate and more effective” than the previous Local Council, reported one teacher in al-Bayda.

Across al-Bayda and five other Libyan municipalities—Gharyan, Sabratha, Sabha, Tobruq, and Zuwara—improvements like these in citizen engagement by mayors, councils and civil servants, along with better service delivery and administrative capacity are resulting in stronger local governance.

This boost in governance capacity during the last two years has been achieved with support from the Libyan Local Council Administration and Legitimacy project. The project was funded by the U.S. Middle East Partnership Initiative and implemented by Creative Associates International with local partners the Libyan Transparency Association and the Libyan Policy Institute.

The changes are especially clear to members of civil society organizations, like Ayoub Karnaf of the Sabratha Youth Union, who rely on local government to help carryout activities and support policies that that serve their constituencies.

Karnaf says that before the project there was a basic level of interaction between the Local Council and civil society but no serious collaboration on projects.

But in the last year, he has noticed a “clear change.”

“The relationship between the Municipal Council and civil society organizations is very strong, with constant coordination. As evidence, most activities and programs implemented in the municipality were done through cooperation between the Municipal Council and civil society organizations,” he says.

Transforming the culture of leadership

Democracy is still new in post-revolution Libya, where in 2012 citizens voted in the country’s first election since 1965. Municipal governments and citizens alike are learning how to navigate their new roles.

“For the newly elected municipal officials, understanding how to build relationships based on trust between citizens and council while adapting to different roles and responsibilities that promulgate democratic principles was critical to the program success” says Deborah Kimble, Director of Governance and Community Resilience at Creative.

Local governing bodies in particular are working to improve their responsiveness to citizen needs, which is both a local priority and a key aim of the Government of National Accord.

“We know that municipalities are the tool for building citizen confidence in central government and for providing services. The municipality is our nation,” says Baddad Gonoso Masoud, Libya’s Minister of Local Government, noting that the national government seeks to support municipalities and build stronger coordination mechanisms between the central and local levels.

Through leadership seminars, municipal officials learned new approaches to governance through persuasion, consultation and engagement, rather than through coercion.

Workshops for local officials helped them to master topics like project management, human resources, budgeting and Libyan municipal laws and regulations. In workshops on Law 59 on Local Administration, elected representatives learned about their duties in office, as well as legislated procedures and functions of municipal administrations.

A running theme throughout the trainings was transparency and accountability in governance systems as a means of building trust among constituents and strengthening democratic governance, explains Kimble.

Ramping up communication

A key duty of elected officials is to represent their constituents and develop solutions to meet their needs. For newly instated local officials in a country lacking a history of a vibrant civil society, creating channels for communications between government and citizens was a new endeavor, say project implementers.

Through media and strategic communications training and citizen engagement workshops, the Libyan Local Council Administration and Legitimacy project worked to improve local government capacity to hear and respond to citizens’ concerns. By instituting regular town halls, for example, many of the municipalities created a venue for citizens to engage directly with officials and air complaints.

Mayor of Sabratha, Husayn Khalifa Dayab, describes the new channels of communication, including town halls and a special radio series, as “the most successful activities to engage citizens.”

“This communication with them was direct, which had a great impact on citizens. Direct communication with citizens is what made our activities successful,” he says.

With new communication skills, plus training in service delivery and municipal responsibilities, local officials were primed to step in to address the grievances they heard from constituents.

After citizens in Sabratha reported poor roads and lack of recreation services, for example, the Municipal Council teamed up with civil society organizations to fill these gaps. They established a new family park and inaugurated a road-paving program to expand access to rural communities.

In response to citizen concerns about recent outbreaks of violence in Sabha, the city’s mayor met with local elders to discuss their security concerns and make plans for a joint committee to help stabilize the community.

In addition to town halls and in-person meetings, the Libyan Local Council Administration and Legitimacy project helped municipal governments take their communications efforts online and on the airwaves.

Each city established a Facebook page where they regularly update citizens on city news. Some cities, like Sabratha, have initiated weekly call-in radio shows and e-government portals where citizens can submit queries.

The city of Gharyan now has more than 25,000 Facebook followers and Sabratha, with more than 18,000 Facebook followers, averages 75 calls from residents each week on its radio show. Al Bayda’s council even launched a smartphone app called “Al Baydaoui,” which allows citizens to keep informed on local news, provide input on city services and stay connected with the municipality.

Building bridges, building community

As each municipality improves its own operations and learns the best ways to communicate with and serve their constituents, they are also building connections with each other to share these best practices.

On a quarterly basis and with support from the project, the six mayors gathered to discuss successes and challenges in municipal administration. The cities have also taken their own steps to build bridges among other municipalities as well.

In February, for example, al-Bayda hosted officials of eight other municipalities for a discussion on shared security challenges and solutions. In March, Zuwara held a regional roundtable meeting of seven municipalities to discuss a regional coordination mechanism for security and basic citizen services.

While bridges get built among government offices, citizens and local government representatives are also connecting in meaningful ways.

Through their own funding and with support from project-issued peacebuilding and community action grants, each of the six municipalities has joined efforts with civil society organizations for joint community improvement projects.

“Recently we’ve noticed a clear change in the culture between the Municipal Council and civil society organizations,” says Muhamad Al Fathali, a leader of the Star of Sabratha for Development and Progress organization. “The work they do together is complementary, and they collaborate and meet frequently. This has led to a significant improvement of the relationship.”

In Sabratha, for example, the city teamed up with agricultural and environmental groups to plant 500 trees on national Arbor Day. In cooperation with local schools, the cities of Gharyan, Zuwara and al-Bayda all held community celebrations for Mothers and Children’s Day in March.

Among them, the municipalities have organized volunteer days, traffic safety campaigns, football tournaments, art exhibits, cultural festivals and more—all amounting to a surge in community morale, increased interaction among municipal officials and citizens and a subsequent boost in citizen awareness of and trust in local government.

Where just five years ago an elected government did not exist, there is now a budding and thriving culture of democracy emerging in these six municipalities. It is a transformation local officials are committed to sustaining.

“The impact of the [Local Council Administration and Legitimacy] program will continue to effect municipalities for years because it has contributed to the core of governance in Libya,” says Zuwara Mayor Hafed G. S. Bensasi.

Yemeni Ministry of Education brings phonics-based reading to all first graders

October 24, 2016

By Jillian Slutzker

4 min read

“When children can learn to read—and when all children get that opportunity regardless of social status or wealth—it changes everything for them.”
Joy du Plessis, Senior Reading Specialist at Creative Associates International

First graders across Yemen will have a greater chance at getting ahead in reading this year, thanks to the Ministry of Education’s adoption of the Yemen Early Grade Reading Approach textbook in all first grade classrooms.

Adopted in September by Ministry decree, the textbook, called “I Read and I Learn,” was designed in 2014 by local and international educators, Arabic early grade reading experts, and education officials as part of the Yemen Early Grade Reading Approach project.

“Men and women from all over Yemen contributed to the development of this program,” says Joy du Plessis, a Senior Reading Specialist at Creative Associates International, which implemented the USAID-funded project.

Within the Ministry of Education, multiple teams came together to collaborate on the development of the program and materials, including Ministry sectors focusing on curriculum development, teacher training, mentoring and assessment, psychosocial support and other areas. The rollout and implementation of the approach also involved education officials at the governorate and school levels, as well as parents and community members.

“The textbook ‘I read and I learn,’ which is a product of the program, is not a mere book. It is a national project that brought all the Ministry sectors to work together in harmony for the first time,” wrote curriculum author Najilaa Thiban in an article on the Yemen Early Grade Reading Approach Facebook page.

Based on phonics and active learning methodologies, the approach has proved successful in helping young learners develop literacy skills since its initial pilot phase, in which children’s reading ability jumped from just 5 words per minutes to 25 words per minute.

A national scale-up despite conflict

At the start of the program in 2011, the Ministry was very concerned about poor reading results in the primary grades and from the beginning took ownership of the approach and its national scale-up.

Despite ongoing war in the country, the Ministry of Education has continued to scale up the reading approach into early grade classrooms nationwide for better learning outcomes, most recently with the adoption of the grade one textbook as the official curriculum.

“Educators and the leadership at the Ministry of Education have realized that the early grade reading approach is a comprehensive national project for all educational sectors that requires the synergy and engagement of all departments and centers,” says the project’s former Chief of Party Atia Moor.

Moor explains that the Ministry’s recent adoption of the first grade textbook demonstrates a commitment to improving education in the country and sustaining literacy reform and progress.

“It signifies that the Yemenis are committed to moving forward in building a better future for the next generation,” he says, noting that despite the conflict, educators, officials and communities remain dedicated to this goal.

Spreading the joy of reading and teaching

For teachers, the official adoption of the Yemen Early Grade Reading Approach means simpler, yet more effective lessons. Its systematic approach helps learners develop an understanding of syllable sounds, word reading, listening and reading comprehension step-by-step and with lots of hands-on practice. Teachers meanwhile are supported with a teacher guide and come to be familiar with the patterns of their phonics-based lessons, explains du Plessis.

“In essence, teachers really see the value of this program. They see that if they follow the approach, then children can learn to read. They also understand that when children can learn to read—and when all children get that opportunity regardless of social status or wealth—it changes everything for them,” she says.

The Yemen Early Grade Reading Approach is centered on culturally relevant stories written by Ministry of Education authors so they reflect important social and cultural lessons, including cooperating with others, respecting parents and being honest and fair. Active learning techniques ensure children are constantly engaged in the material.

Du Plessis says these stories “make children think and predict” and encourage “curiosity and love of learning.” The end result: a growing culture of reading at school and at home.

“Over and over during my time in Yemen, parents, teachers and community members told me that children were happy when they were learning to read. Children were more eager to go to school on a regular basis and parents were more engaged with their children at home, helping them with homework and reading with them,” she says.

To continue to spread this culture of reading and promote the recent adoption of the first grade textbook, the Ministry and educators have taken to social media in a public awareness campaign that is engaging teachers, learners and community members across the country.

14 inspiring women in development profiled in new book

September 2, 2016

2 min read

14 inspiring women in development profiled in new book

WATCH VIDEO

Creative shines a light on 14 women from around the world who have made profound contributions to promote positive change in their communities. They have worked through conflict, overcome significant obstacles and broken gender barriers to improve the lives of thousands.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Fourteen women from Syria to Afghanistan and Nigeria to El Salvador who have made profound contributions to promote positive change in their communities are profiled in a new book called “In Her Hands: Stories of Women Shaping Their Worlds,” Creative Associates International announced today.

The release of the book and an awards ceremony will be held on Sept. 13 at the Ronald Regan Building in Washington, D.C. An online version of the Creative-published book and short videos are available now on a special website.

Launched by Creative’s Co-Founder and CEO Charito Kruvant, the initiative seeks to identify and honor women around the world for their vision, energy and results related to the organization’s mission. Six of the 14 honorees will be in Washington for the book release and awards ceremony.

“Today, more girls have gained access to education, vulnerable groups have found a voice and neighbors have joined together to build peace,” says Kruvant, herself a pioneer in the field of locally driven development. “Often the efforts of many women go unrecognized, despite the fact that so many have benefited from their achievements. It is our hope that this inspires others to take action.”

Hailing from Afghanistan, Cambodia, Egypt, El Salvador, Honduras, India, Jordan, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Syria, Tanzania, Yemen and Zambia, many of the honorees have worked through conflict, overcome significant obstacles and broken gender barriers in pursuit of their visions to improve their communities.

But, in their own words, these women are undeterred.

“I am not going to give up because I know at least in my little way, in my little corner…I could make an impact somewhere, somehow,” says Nigerian honoree Rabia Eshak, whose leadership in education has helped thousands of children gain access to quality instruction and return to school, in a country that has highest number of out-of-school children in Africa.

In addition to Eshak, the list of honorees includes: an Afghan woman preparing other women with workforce skills; a Salvadoran mayor fighting to end violence and bring opportunity to her city’s vulnerable youth; and a Syrian student-turned-activist using radio to bring critical news to communities in conflict, among others.

Each honoree has been engaged in a Creative-implemented project, whether as a local staff member, grantee, implementing partner or beneficiary.

Collectively, the 14 honorees have changed tens of thousands of lives as they have transformed education systems, helped to stem crime and violence, expanded opportunities for women and youth, and amplified calls for peace in conflict-plagued areas.

To learn more about this initiative and the 14 honorees, please visit: http://inspirational.creativeassociatesinternational.com/

Syria: A courageous truth-teller

August 23, 2016

1 min read

Hala Khairalla understands the dangers of being a journalist in Syria: while reporting on demonstrations in Aleppo, she was shot in the back and hospitalized. But her experiences have not dampened her passion for accurate, honest journalism that informs, inspires, and empowers.

Morocco: An advocate for the most vulnerable children

August 23, 2016

1 min read

Karima Mkika founded the Al Karam Center in 1997 to help provide vulnerable Moroccan children with education, protection and support. Nearly 20 years later, The Al Karam Center is still providing services to Morocco’s most precious resource and working with a coalition of advocates to combat child labor and expand opportunity.

Moroccan youth map social services to prevent child labor

August 10, 2016

By Jillian Slutzker

4 min read

With clipboards in hand, middle school-aged youth in the Marrakech region are part of an educational program learning how to conduct some very valuable research that may help prevent child labor.

These apprentice researchers, ages 11 to 14, are part of a cadre of 67 trained “youth mappers” in the Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz region helping to create a database, and ultimately visual maps, of available social services in their communities. Using the Creative Mapper approach, they do this after school and as volunteers for local organizations.

As the youth researchers visit health clinics, microfinance institutions, childcare facilities, student dormitories, religious centers and other civil society organizations, they interview staff and catalogue the services offered by each institution. Together, these services can build a social safety net that may provide a family the extra support needed to keep a child in school rather than sending her to work.

“The principal cause for school dropout and child labor is certainly economic and social conditions of the family and accessibility to services,” says Nadia Mannaoui, Creative Mapper trainer and Livelihoods Specialist for the Promise Pathways project, which implements the Creative Mapper initiative.

The Promise Pathways project aims to reduce child labor in the Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz area and reach more than 5,500 youth and 1,000 family members. The project is funded by the U.S. Labor Department and implemented by Creative Associates International, along with several local partners.

Mapping to end child labor

An estimated 92,000 Moroccan children ages 7 to14 are working—often in hazardous labor such as agriculture, domestic labor or artisanal sectors—according to Morocco’s High Commission for Planning.

In the Marrakesh-Tensift-Al Haouz region alone, up to 14,000 children are already working or are at great risk of becoming agricultural and domestic laborers.

The Promise Pathways project is partnering with youth, the government and communities to mitigate school dropout. The project also support vocational training providers and employers in providing safe and productive employment for youth of legal working age.

Simultaneously, the project aims to boost household resilience by promoting families’ access to wraparound social services, micro-lending and saving programs.

“At the same time one works on increasing household revenues, one also has to link them to a plan of service for the development of the family,” says Mannaoui.

But first, the community needs to know these wraparound services exist—which is where the youth mappers play a critical role, mapping what services are available and identifying the gaps in a given community.

“Our main goal is to recognize and identify the services within our town,” says twelve-year-old Chihab al-Zimrani, a youth mapper in the rural, mountainous town of Imintanoute, about 80 miles from Marrakech.

A key to making this exercise successful, explains youth mapper coach Badr al-Din Ait Bin Hida, is raising awareness in the community about the purpose of Creative Mapper and, subsequently, its findings.

Bin Hida coaches a team of youth mappers, including al-Zimrani, in Imintanoute where, he says, poverty is a serious challenge. If a family is poor and cannot afford school fees, he explains, then they feel they must send their son to work.

However, Bin Hida explains that if this family is made aware of services available in the community—micro-lending, for example, or free school transportation—and how to access them, then the family’s economic situation may improve. The more families taking advantage of such a social safety net will ultimately mean fewer children working, which is the goal for Creative Mapper coaches and mappers.

“I will know that Creative Mapper has fulfilled its purpose if we go out and see no more child labor, no more children cleaning shoes,” says Bin Hida. “This will be our indication that Creative Mapper has done its work.”

Empowering young community leaders

As the lead researchers, youth are the driving force behind Creative Mapper. They are also the key to its long-term success, says Mannaoui.

“When a project intervenes, there is a limited duration…We want these youth to gain a consciousness about their environment and develop the skills to change it. They are the women and men of the future,” she says.

Through the Creative Mapper process, the Promise Pathways team is equipping these young Moroccans with those skills to create positive change.

In intensive two-day training sessions prior to hitting the streets for their surveys, youth mappers learn communication and research skills. They practice interview techniques and discuss ways to raise awareness about Creative Mapper and mobilize the community.

When the actual surveying begins, the youth put their training to work—taking the lead in reaching out to community organizations and working together to diagnose problems they find, and then begin to generate solutions so families can better access services.

The end results, says Mannaoui, is a boost in the youth’s confidence and capacity, as well as a benefit to the larger community in its fight against child labor.

“Creative Mapper has a double objective,” she says.

In addition to the obvious benefits of mapping social services, Creative Mapper helps develop self-esteem, responsibility and decision-making skills. These are life skills that you will not necessarily get in school, she says.

For bin Hida, the coach in Imintanoute, supporting these young people and watching their transformation into community leaders is inspiring.

“The youth can do many things and this helps grow their confidence. Even though they are young, they are talented and creative,” he says. “I don’t feel like I’m the one who is giving here because they are really teaching me.”

New app could provide literacy and psychosocial support to Syrian children

July 8, 2016

By Karen Ives

4 min read

For millions of out-of-school Syrian children, a new smartphone app could be key to building literacy and providing psychosocial support.

Creative Associates International is a top-five finalist in a global competition called EduApp4Syria to develop a smartphone application for early grade reading and psychosocial support for millions of out-of-school Syrian children who have been displaced by conflict.

Funded by the Norwegian Development Agency (NORAD), the competition received 78 entries from developers around the world, though Creative was the only competitor from the Americas. NORAD’s aim is to leverage the opportunity to educate out-of-school children displaced by violence using highly accessible smartphones.

For Ayan Kishore, a Senior Associate at Creative in Technology for Development, the EduApp4Syria competition was an opportunity to utilize the organization’s unique talents and expertise.

“This opportunity brought all our skills to the table: our expertise in Technology for Development, our core in education in conflict zones—particularly local language literacy—and our experience in Syria,” says Kishore. “This opportunity was perfect for us.”

Education & psychosocial support through play

Creative’s substantial experience in Education in Conflict and Technology for Development come together in an innovative way to respond to this competition. The app was developed by the Creative Development Lab, which is dedicated to finding innovative ways to apply technology to enhance the scale, reach and cost-effectiveness of Creative’s programs and projects.

Katkooti, which means ‘My Chick’ in Arabic, will provide literacy education and psychosocial support to millions of displaced Syrian children. Katkooti is an interactive pet simulation game where children, ages 5 to 10, help their chicks thrive within safe, interactive learning environments.

Inspired by successful commercial pet games and conceptualized in consultation with Syrian children, Katkooti is designed so users master key literacy skills through sequenced activities that also improve psychosocial wellbeing through caring relationships, active engagement and decision making.

Katkooti increases literacy through incorporating the eight steps of the Integrated Quality of Reading in Arabic (IQRA), a successful systematic approach to reading developed by Creative and used in Yemen.

Dr. Samia Elbassiouny, an expert in Arabic literacy and early grade reading, consulted on Creative’s app.

“The children learn to read from the letter’s sound and shape, which is called phonemic awareness,” explains Elbassiouny. “Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear, identify and manipulate sounds in language, and that is what the IQRA builds on.”

Creative’s IQRA method has been proven to increase literacy in Arabic much more quickly and effectively than traditional methods. It utilizes not only culturally sensitive materials, designed around Arabic culture and heritage, but also leverages recent developments in technology such as tablet or, as this competition demonstrates, smartphone apps.

Creative’s Katkooti app will also foster emotional and psychosocial development in children by using the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning’s (CASEL’s) five interrelated sets of social and emotional learning, including self-awareness, responsibility decision-making, relationship skills, social awareness and self-management.

The future app will track the progress of emotional and psychosocial development of the users, and reports progress to parents through texts and other forms of digital communication. Katkooti regularly checks in with users, asking them how they’re feeling while providing emotional support and positive messaging.

The app is being developed by Creative Frontiers, which has produced award-winning games, apps, animations and children’s storybooks. It will be built as an expandable platform to allow for further development and improvement.

Proven education results in conflict and crisis

Katkooti, draws on Creative’s substantial experience in the development of education programs in conflict and post-conflict communities.

In 2011, Creative launched a highly successful reading program in Yemen, which worked through conflict and instability to revitalize early grade reading curriculum and improve teacher professional development systems. It was supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Currently, Creative is providing educational opportunities and psychosocial support to Nigerian youth displaced by insurgency through the Education Crisis Response program. By leveraging existing research on improving psychosocial wellbeing in children, Creative’s approach supports social-emotional competency development. The program is funded by USAID.

Creative’s responsive e-learning platform, CreativeU, connects relevant courses, resources and professional colleagues, mentors and experts to the people and organizations who need them. CreativeU connects teachers, professionals in development and youth working to improve their lives and communities around the world to high-quality online and mobile content for career improvement and lifelong learning.

Sustained dedication to Syrian beneficiaries

Now that Creative’s prototype has been accepted as a finalist, it has moved into the alpha stage of development, which will flesh out the prototype and receive feedback from potential users.

The feedback received from these alpha testers will go toward improving the app for the beta version. If NORAD selects Creative’s app as a winner in the EduApp4Syria competition, it will move from beta testing to being finalized for rollout.

For Kishore, the project is a huge opportunity to build off the work Creative has already been doing: “This allows us to do more work with refugees, and positions us for post-crisis work since there will be a lot of need in education and other areas.”

Creative and the other finalists will spend the next few months improving their apps, developing and testing them for the phase of the competition. After assessment and testing, up to three finalists will be offered contracts for the final phase.

In December of this year or early 2017, NORAD will select up to two winners.

Syria: Katkooti (“My Chick” ) app offers literacy and psychosocial support to displaced children

July 5, 2016

1 min read

Creative’s submission to the Norwegian Development Agency’s EduApp4Syria competition, Katkooti, (meaning ‘My Chick’ in Arabic), will provide literacy education and psychosocial support to millions of displaced Syrian children. Designed for children ages 5 to 10, the pet simulation app encourages users to help their chicks thrive within safe, interactive learning environments.