New beekeeping cooperatives to improve livelihoods in West Africa

December 21, 2020

By Janey Fugate

4 min read

The natural wax company Koster Keunen is set to establish West Africa’s first organized, regional supply line of smallholder beekeepers, producing organic wax and honey that meet international standards.

Receiving a $1.7 million grant through the U.S. Agency for International Development’s West Africa Trade and Investment Hub, the Togolese company will equip farmers in six countries in the region with beekeeping supplies, provide training and guidance for organic certification and establish market linkages for smallholders’ wax, honey and cashew products.

“Our job is not only to produce and trade beeswax, it is to provide security to our customer in terms of quality and in terms of information around the three pillars of sustainability: economic, social and environmental impact,” says Sylvain Cattin, Koster Keunen’s General Manager for West Africa.

The Trade Hub is one of USAID’s largest grant facilities and aims to address some of the region’s biggest development challenges, such as women’s empowerment, job creation and food security, through unlocking private capital and directing it to high impact projects. Koster Keunen’s beekeeping and wax venture is one of its first grantees. Koster Keunen West Africa is working with Partnership for Natural Ingredients, a U.S. based company that aligns public and private resources to scale up sustainable sourcing in the food and cosmetic industries.

“Through partnership of business and development programs, we can work at the scale required and address the multi-faceted challenges to establishing sustainable supply chains,” says Joseph Funt, Lead of Multi-Stakeholder Strategy at Partnership for Natural Ingredients. “We are thrilled for the Koster Keunen and Trade Hub partnership and believe it can be a model in the region.”

The Trade Hub’s deal with Koster Keunen directly supports Prosper Africa, a U.S. government initiative to increase trade between the continents. Bringing the full range of U.S. Government resources, Prosper Africa connects U.S. and African businesses with new buyers, suppliers, and investment opportunities. Koster Keunen’s beekeeping project is funded through the Trade Hub by Prosper Africa and its exports will go to U.S. buyers.

Beekeepers receive training, equipment and a dependable buyer. Photo by: Koster Keunen

Beekeeping requires specialized skills and steep up-front costs. In addition to trainings on how to safely steward hives and harvest from them, the Trade Hub’s grant will allow Koster Keunen to purchase and distribute an initial 36,000 bee boxes, safety suits and smokers. The firm is committed to strengthening local businesses at each point of the process, with local carpenters in each country contracted to produce the boxes.

“We want to have a long-term commitment to the beekeeper and to show them that this is an activity that can be professional, and they can make good income,” says Cattin. “But to do it the right way… to respect the environment, the bee colony.”

Over the life of the project, Koster Keunen plans to equip over 11,200 beekeepers in multiple countries across the region, connecting a sustainable supply of product with international markets in Europe and the United States.

“Because our partners like Koster Keunen are working in extremely fragile communities, for the Trade Hub, it’s imperative that our investors place people at the center of their business plans,” says Jim Winkler, Creative’s VP of the Economic Growth division. “This gives us even more incentive to work with serious businesses committed to bringing serious change.”

Unlike commercial honey production where companies can rely on huge hives and mechanized harvesting, wax production is better suited to a smallholder model of cultivation. Managing hives for wax makes better business sense, ensuring that this project is sustainable beyond the life of the grant.

Koster Keunen is also paying a premium on traceability and quality. More and more consumers, whether individual buyers or large companies, are demanding transparency in their source ingredients.

Symbiotic relationships: from the hive to the consumer

Creating equitable, sustainable relationships with smallholder producers has been identified as one of the key pieces of the puzzle in overcoming global challenges of poverty, food insecurity and income inequality.

Beekeeping can increase African smallholders’ income by 10-20 times, giving them another way to diversify their earnings. Because Koster Keunen will be working with established shea and cashew farmers’ collectives, having healthy populations of pollinators can also significantly increase other crops’ yields.

“Installing two bee boxes on one hectare of cashew trees can increase the cashew trees’ yield by at least 50 percent due to the pollination service,” says Cattin.

Cattin says that while shea cultivation seasonal, beekeeping can be a year-round activity with the potential to generate a steadier income for beekeepers.

A major goal for the Trade Hub is to ensure that this kind of growth potential for smallholder farmers translates to opportunities for women, especially in rural areas.

In Koster Keunen’s beekeeping initiative, at least 20 percent of the smallholder farmers trained and certified will be women. Though beekeeping is traditionally seen as male-dominated activity in the region, working through established women’s shea cooperatives gives Koster Keunen access to an untapped market.

“For us it is also about involving youth, so that not just the older generation benefit,” says Cattin.

women beekeepers, West Africa, Koster Keunen — Beekeeping gives women an alternative source of income. Photo by: Koster Keunen

Cattin says that Koster Keunen hopes to use its scalable beekeeping model as a way to offer alternative income opportunities to rural communities in a time when more and more young people are forced to migrate to cities for work and services.

“We want… to show that it’s possible to have very strong partnerships, from the beekeeper in West Africa to the customer in Europe and the U.S. We want to bring the right price to ensure a decent life for the farmer.”

Q&A: Responding to COVID and remote learning in Nigeria

December 14, 2020

6 min read

When Nigeria’s schools closed in March due to COVID-19, teachers and students — like many around the world — left their classrooms unsure of when they would be able to return.

The USAID Northern Education Initiative Plus program (NEI Plus) — which has worked to strengthen access and quality of basic education through new and engaging teaching approaches and learning materials, teacher training, nonformal learning centers and more — was faced with the challenge of protecting the progress and learning gained over five years as students faced an indefinite time out of school.

In this Q&A, NEI Plus Chief of Party Nurudeen Lawal breaks down how the program responded to the pandemic and the lessons learned over the past several months.

At the onset of the pandemic, how did the NEI Plus team respond?

Nurudeen Lawal: You know, you dive into something and you don’t even know how big it is. But we had a very good start, because immediately we understood that of course we are in a pandemic, and the best thing to do is to ensure that people are safe.

So, the first thing that we did even before we had the first case in Nigeria was to organize awareness sessions for staff about it and give regular updates. And we ensured that this information was cascaded down to our beneficiaries through SMS and WhatsApp.

Not long after we had the first case in Nigeria, we decided to close the non-formal learning centers that we operate with local civil society organizations at the end of March. We have 1,600 non-formal learning centers with about 50 learners each, so we suspended activities and sent the students home with homework. The government closed the public schools as well, and then we closed our offices and commenced working from home.

We developed a contingency plan with activities that we call pivot activities that helped to mitigate the pandemic and at the same time made sure that project activities continued. These were targeted at making sure that learners continued to learn from home and that the beneficiaries get sufficient messages on how to protect themselves from the effects of the pandemic. We did this with a vigorous communication strategy through social media, through SMS and through WhatsApp in English and Hausa. We also supported the state governments in helping them look at their own contingency plans to see how well it responds to remote learning and prevention from the pandemic.

We also started looking into strategies of radio programming, TV programming, IVR (interactive voice response) lessons and how we can continue our activities in terms of helping community structures such as women’s groups and community coalitions to be able to pass on messages of prevention and mitigation of the pandemic.

As a matter of fact, at the very onset of the pandemic, a video was made of children washing their hands, and that video went viral and was used by our partner project in the Northeast, was televised and sent around on WhatsApp and social media.

I can say that in the height of the pandemic we are able to also continue a major activity: the development of new materials in Igbo and Yoruba for early grade readers in primary grades 1, 2 and 3. Working virtually, we were able to develop a large number of texts stories and vocabularies in both languages. This was a great achievement for us during that period.

How did the project use media to keep students and teachers engaged while they were out of school?

Nurudeen Lawal: Importantly, reducing learning loss was addressed through regular use of the radio and TV programs. We developed materials for remote learning, which are all based on the teaching and learning materials that we use in classrooms, called Let’s Read! in English and Mu Karanta! in Hausa. We developed scripts for radio, TV and IVR based on these existing materials. The IVR messages run for six to seven minutes. They were sent to parents and teachers and reached more than 11,000 people within the first few months. We also infused social emotional learning and COVID-19 prevention tips and information.

We also kept the teachers engaged in continuous professional development through SMS and WhatsApp so that when they resume school, they will be ready and they wouldn’t have themselves lost what they know.

I also want to add that at the federal level, there were resources available online. The federal Ministry of Education opened several online portals for learners.

A family works in their school books and follows along on the radio. — A father supports his children in following along in their school books as they listen to an educational program on the radio. Photos by Nura Faggo.

How is the project helping students get back to classes safely?

Nurudeen Lawal: We developed a checklist for resuming the non-formal learning centers that includes, for example, how students are organized. We used to have 50 students at a time, and now they are divided into three clusters to keep class sizes down. We’ve also provided handwashing stations.

In addition, we created a school reopening framework document and we supported the governments in observing schools resuming in Bauchi and Sokoto states and were able to give them feedback on what we have observed. We were able to hold meetings with them to share the framework and ensure they focus on not just prevention of the pandemic from spreading but also how to gain back the lost learning time that the children have experienced.

Looking back on the past several months, what are some of the lessons learned?

Nurudeen Lawal: There are lots of lessons learned around remote learning during this period. And for me that is something for future research: What are the gaps that we saw in trying to run remote learning during a pandemic? What resources were not available? One thing was that of course we had not trained teachers to be able to develop or support remote learning activities. So, it was quite challenging. Teachers became emergency radio teachers and TV teachers, and everything was deployed in response to the situation. But I think we responded to the situation perfectly. We had the minds of the learners engaged during that period and understood that they can learn from home and should not spend the whole time playing. We were also able to provide them social emotional learning activities that kept them mindful and that helped their general psychological wellbeing.

A nonformal learning center classroom — A teacher leads class at a nonformal learning center with new COVID-19 protocols in place, including masks and fewer students.

I think that one of the greatest lessons learned is also that from now on, when we plan to have remote learning content and face-to-face content, making blended learning standard for education activities moving forward.

I also think that in terms of learning, we need to support governments in ensuring that they have in place remote learning framework. We need to understand that when we program, we need to program in parental support for learning. This could bridge a big gap in remote learning programs. The project depended on community outreach materials, whereby parents were engaged to really support their children. The radio program and the other blended approaches could be much more successful if parental support for learning is further emphasized. We need to come up with approaches whereby parents can to some extent provide enabling environment in terms of discussing with the child what they have learned, playing games or doing activities together, providing radios at home for the kids or making a phone available for instructional messages to the kids.

Another lesson is how much we can actually achieve working online. We see that we can engage our local partners online to the extent possible. We also saw how much we can achieve working from home. We were able to do so much, and I see that as the way to go in the future.

USAID’s Trade Hub announces its first co-investment partnership with Nigerian rice company

December 14, 2020

5 min read

The USAID West Africa Trade and Investment Hub is partnering with Nigerian company WACOT Rice Ltd. to expand its base of rice farmers, with significant emphasis on creating programs that elevate youth and women in its network of growers.

The Trade Hub’s co-investment grant of $1.5 million will directly support WACOT’s $8.6 million investment in its Argungu Outgrower Expansion Project, which aims to onboard more than 5,000 new rice farmers, providing them with supplies and training to cultivate their land. WACOT expects that the investment will lead to a 50 percent increase in yield for the farmers, allowing them to reinvest profits in critical areas to expand their production and improve livelihoods.

“The overall impact is to enhance yield per hectare and help farmers better their livelihoods,” says Habiba Suleiman, Strategy and Business Development Manager at WACOT, which is a subsidiary of Tropical General Investments Group. “I’m so positive that this is a step in the right direction.”

Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Trade Hub is forging unique public private partnerships to unlock capital, create jobs, and catalyze sustainable economic growth in the region. With a major priority to increase food security amidst a rapidly growing West African population, the partnership with WACOT Rice fulfills a core pillar of the Trade Hub’s mission and USAID’s goals in the region.

“The U.S. government is pleased to partner with the private sector in Nigeria to develop market-driven solutions and sustainably improve food security by supporting local rice production,” says USAID Mission Director Anne E. Patterson. “With this new co-investment partnership, smallholder farmers in Kebbi State can increase yields and improve the livelihoods of their families.”

WACOT rice mill — WACOT Rice has the largest rice mill in Africa. Photo by: WACOT Rice Ltd

Meeting local demand, improving food security

Rice is a staple for Nigerian families, who consume more than 7 million tons per year. In what is now known as Nigeria’s “Rice Revolution,” during the last several years Nigeria has gone from importing the majority of its rice from Asia to producing most of it in local paddies.

Though local demand is far from met, companies like WACOT are working to transform arable land into opportunities for communities to enter the rice value chain. Keeping food production local for staples like rice strengthens economies, reduces its reliance on imports and alleviates the environmental impact of the broken global food supply system.

This co-investment grant ties directly with one of the Trade Hub’s major goals: to bolster food security and Nigeria’s self-reliance. Feed the Future, the U.S. government’s initiative to reduce global hunger, funds the Trade Hub’s deal with WACOT. Feed the Future works to increase the poor’s access to nutritious food and transform the agricultural sector.

“Food security is key because of the very serious poverty in these communities,” says Suleiman. “This cycle continues repeating itself. Smallholders are usually the owners of half a hectare of land they inherited, and the farm labor is the wife and children with no mechanization which leads to harvest losses.”

Harvest losses are a critical pressure point for the rice value chain in Kebbi state. According to WACOT, rice farmers lose significant amounts of rice each growing cycle because of the lack of technical knowledge, access to roads and milling and storage facilities and quality inputs. Its Argungu Outgrower Expansion Project plans to stem unnecessary loss of rice through providing high-quality agricultural inputs such as hybrid seed and fertilizer, training and direct access to the market.

Importantly, WACOT also guarantees “offtake” at the end of the harvest, meaning farmers won’t be short-changed by not being able to sell their rice at fair market prices if demand fluctuates.

Technological innovation is another piece of the puzzle in increasing food security while ensuring producers aren’t left behind and are fully integrated into the rice production system. To maintain transparency and good communication between the farmers and the company, WACOT offers access to rice growing apps and employs its Agricultural Management System to track smallholder farmers’ activity, offering timely direction on agricultural practices and monitoring production.

“In terms of their earnings, [this project] helps them send their kids to school, to access better livelihoods, to access better healthcare and to have better nutrition,” says Suleiman.

WACOT rice africa — Investing in the Argungu Outgrower Expansion Project will lead to an additional 20,000 tons of harvested paddy produced.

Investing in women and youth

Because of cultural barriers and other constraints, women and youth are often left out of economic expansion activities in rural areas. In its Argungu Outgrower Expansion Project, WACOT is placing a strong emphasis on elevating these vulnerable populations.

Of the new farmers the project will onboard, 50 percent will be women and 70 percent will be youth. In communities in Kebbi state, youth usually don’t have access to land because ownership is typically determined through inheritance. WACOT will work with youth to bring them greater access to jobs and farming opportunities in their network, aiming to reduce youth unemployment in the region.

“We go down to the grassroots [level] and ensure that these people are empowered for life,” says Suleiman, referring to the skills development WACOT offers its growers.

One of the Trade Hub’s objectives is to dedicate 50 percent of the jobs created through its grants and partnerships to women, closing the gender gap in the workforce in the region.

“Having a strong gender inclusion component in the first grant we announce is a great step for us,” says Chioma Adiele-Okpara, the Trade Hub’s gender specialist, who is developing strategies to include women’s inclusion elements in all of the Trade Hub’s co-investment grants.

Looking ahead

With its first grant designed to impact farmers in an under-resourced state in Nigeria, the Trade Hub is setting the tone for future investments and partnerships. Hand in hand with WACOT’s initiative, the Trade Hub’s mission is to catalyze sustainable economic growth that reaches those at the bottom of value chains as well as competitive businesses.

“We are glad to be partnering with a company that has a track record of impacting thousands of rice farmers,” says Michael Clements, the Trade Hub’s Chief of Party.

Q&A: Violence against women and girls and education in Ethiopia

December 4, 2020

8 min read

Insights from the READ II program’s Bridget Lombardo

Ethiopia has made great strides in increasing girl’s enrollment in school during the past 20 years, but that alone can’t solve pervasive inequalities in education and society at large. Only 53 percent of Ethiopian girls finish primary school, and a quarter attend secondary school, according to UNICEF. Inequalities and social norms create many roadblocks in girls’ path to education.

One major barrier is violence against women and girls, and more specifically school-related violence against women and girls, which happens not just at school, but also on the way to school, at home, in communities and online.

The USAID-funded READ II program in Ethiopia incorporates a sensitive approach in its work to strengthen literacy instruction and student support for 15 million children. The program is implemented by Creative in partnership with Education Development Center, World Vision and the government of Ethiopia.

In this Q&A, READ II Senior Program Manager and Gender Advisor Bridget Lombardo shares her insights on how issues affect girls’ learning in Ethiopia and discusses the program’s work with the Ministry of Education to create equitable learning environments.

Can you tell us a little bit about the issue of violence against women and girls in Ethiopia? What are the risks for girls in particular?

Bridget Lombardo: Unfortunately, violence against women and girls is under researched and thus not well addressed in Ethiopia. The data that does exist indicate that violence against women and girls is highly prevalent. What is also worrying is that, according to the Demographic and Health Survey, 66 percent of women never divulge the violence. Violence against women and girls is a silent issue. I’ve spoken to men in some regions who say violence against women simply doesn’t exist in their region, but when you speak to women it’s an entirely different, devastating story. Women need to be heard and feel supported in seeking help and justice.

Ethiopia’s legal framework has language that largely protects women and child rights, supports equality, and does have laws against most forms of violence against women and girls. However, marital rape is not considered to be a crime. Although there are laws, there seem to be very few convictions of rape.

Research on school-related violence against women and girls is even more scarce. READ II conducted a rapid assessment in 2018, and among female students interviewed, nearly 100 percent said that they fear violence in and around school, and almost all of them said that they have never told an adult. Of course, the COVID pandemic has put more girls and women at risk, although data is still lacking on this. We do know that the incidence of child, early and forced marriage (CEFM) has increased. The Regional Education Bureau of Amhara Region reported that they stopped 500 CEFMs since the pandemic began.

An Ethiopian girl reads aloud to her class. — A girl reads aloud at a reading camp in Addis Ababa established through the USAID READ II program. Photos by Jim Huylebroek.

How do issues and violence against women and girls affect girls’ education?

Bridget: We know from global research that violence against women and girls affects students in many ways, and I want to emphasize that this means both boys and girls. Of course, girls suffer disproportionately from violence, but male students tend to be more susceptible to corporal punishment and physical violence.

Female students are more susceptible to verbal harassment and sexual violence, among others. We know that violence against women and girls to varying degrees affects, both short and long-term, self-esteem, sense of security, and even physical health. Of course, girls who experience sexual violence are at risk of STIs, early pregnancy, HIV, and other health problems. We know that all of this affects attendance, dropouts, and academic performance.

There is some really interesting research in other countries coming out quantifying how violence against women and girls affects academic performance. For example, there was a study conducted in Ghana, Botswana, and South Africa that found that students who experienced bullying scored lower than those who were not bullied by between 13 and 32 points on science, reading and mathematics. That’s significant! According to the UN, violence against women and girls is associated with the average loss of 1 primary grade of schooling, translating to a yearly cost of around $17 billion to low- and middle-income countries. These reasons alone should make Education Officials make violence against women and girls, which is also a violation of human rights, a very high priority.

Why is it important to take a gender-sensitive approach to education?

Bridget: Many people think that if we just get more girls in school, then we’ve done our job. Even if we achieve gender parity in schools, there are so many inequities that make it more difficult for girls to complete school and succeed in school. Putting aside the challenges girls face in the home, curriculums are based on the values of the society, and Ethiopian society is very patriarchal. I have to give the Ministry of Education a lot of credit for numerous initiatives to make schools more gender equitable, but that’s just policy. Educators are still entrenched in their societies and biases, so they must be trained in gender-responsive pedagogy, monitored, and retrained.

To give a better sense of what I mean, some teachers believe that boys are naturally better at math and science than girls. Research shows that our biases can affect performance, something called the Pygmalion Effect. So, even if it’s unintentional, teachers who have this bias will inadvertently lead girls do more poorly and boys to do better in math and science.

Another example is well-intentioned teachers sometimes overly praise girls for small achievements and are a bit tougher on boys. The result of that is that girls understand they don’t have to work as hard to get praised, and maybe not much is expected from them. Another important issue is the sheer lack of female role models. Although women can also be biased in their teaching practices, it’s still so important for women to be equally represented in shaping society’s children. So, unless you look beyond the numbers, girls will continue to lag behind boys in academic achievement.

Two Ethiopian boys do schoolwork in a classroom. — Engaging boys in supporting gender equity is an important piece of ending gender-based violence.

What is the role of schools in preventing violence against women and girls and supporting girls?

Bridget: Everyone has a role in preventing violence against women and girls – the community, parents, the government, students and not least of all, schools. We know that violence happens at school. The UNGEI Global Working Group reports that 1 in 4 girls are never comfortable using the latrine at school. While part of that discomfort might be sanitary conditions, we know that violence around school latrines is common. Schools can take simple steps to mitigate this, such as separating girls’ and boys’ latrines, locks on doors, and ensuring adults are monitoring the area.

Although it is everyone’s responsibility to address violence against women and girls, schools can provide the system for reporting and lead efforts to collaborate with the community to not only raise awareness, but to prioritize students’ safety and wellbeing and to respond appropriately to students’ reports of violence. And, as it’s schools’ responsibility to instill society’s values in students, schools should incorporate human rights, life skills and gender equality into their curriculum. Gender inequality and power imbalance are the root causes of violence against women and girls, so schools need to make sure that their school environment is gender equitable.

How does READ II engage with schools and communities on gender issues and preventing violence against women and girls?

Bridget: The three things that guide READ II’s gender strategy are gender integration in all materials and interventions, supporting the Ministry’s agenda so that all interventions are sustainable, and using a gender transformative approach, meaning that we try to address the deep gender biases, even if it’s not very comfortable.

READ II is an education project, but we know that gender biases and violence against women and girls affect academic performance. So, all of our teacher training workshops and teaching materials address those biases and provide practical solutions for gender equitable teaching practices. We know from our rapid assessment that female teachers sometimes miss out on professional development opportunities due to a lack of childcare. So, READ II responded by providing childcare at all training sites.

Some other ways that we are directly supporting schools to be more gender equitable are supporting girls clubs with training and materials, providing tools to help schools make their environment more equitable, and providing school grants to help them implement them. We’re about to launch a 13-episode radio drama on violence against women and girls in six languages. We piloted it in Amharic already and got some really good feedback and some indication that it’s sparking the right discussions and challenging some harmful gender norms. We’ll know more after the end line survey.

READ II has been supporting the Ministry of Education to strengthen their strategy to address violence against women and girls, but one of the challenges is a lack of data. This has been READ II’s greatest challenge in implementing its gender strategy. We have provided some orientation on violence against women and girls prevention and response, but we need to monitor how well that is working. We have to support the Ministry’s agenda, and violence against women and girls is not given nearly the attention it deserves.

One area in which we’ve started showing some real success in supporting the Ministry’s agenda is addressing the barriers to female leadership in the education sector. READ II conducted the first gender audit in the education sector and followed up with regional and district-level action plans and then a series of female leadership conferences. We built some momentum around this, and the Ministry has committed to continuing the implementation of the action plan.

READ II is currently working with the Ministry of Education to run a small radio campaign around the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. We have developed two radio spots in Amharic, Afan-Oromo and Somali. There are two basic messages. The first is that it is never the victim’s fault when violence occurs. Every human being has a right to have environment which is free of violence and fear, and everyone has a responsibility to make sure others, especially girls, are safe in their community, school, home, public transport and everywhere. The second message states that all children have the right to go to school and encourages people to make sure girls get back to school when it reopens.

Local leadership and travel companions on the journey to self-reliance

December 3, 2020

By Semere Solomon

6 min read

During the past 60 years, several developing countries embarked on the path toward economic self-reliance. Not all of them succeeded in achieving the positive change they aspired to. So how far have we come? Although progress has been made, it has been slow. There is much more left to be done.

Self-reliance is not a new concept in development — it has existed for some time under different names, including economic independence, self-sufficiency, the way forward, relying on local resources, etc. Regardless of the name, these concepts pointed toward one goal: countries framing their own developmental strategy and achieving it in their own way and at their own pace. At the end of this journey to self-reliance, nations would be able to stand on their own with little or no government-to-government development support. Along the way, local and international resources would be mobilized to lead swift and tangible economic and social progress.

Reflecting on the journey to self-reliance in Sub-Saharan Africa in particular, many countries have been challenged to set their own course and stay on it. It’s also clear that the journey to self-reliance can’t be done solo; it requires reliable travel companions.

A community leader in Bauchi state, Nigeria. — In Nigeria’s Bauchi state, local leaders are helping promote girls’ access to education through adolescent learning centers. Photo by Erick Gibson.

Developing countries charting their own path

Achieving self-reliance requires homegrown developmental strategies that build strong economies, efficient institutions, highly skilled human resource assets and robust and inclusive financial systems. Governments need strong political will and discipline to carry out these strategies. However, many countries glossed over their own developmental needs and instead copied other models without giving due consideration to the local dynamics. During the Cold War, for example, Ethiopia adapted the former Soviet Union’s model of economic development following the military takeover of 1974. The nationalization of the private sector brought the economy into complete chaos, the manufacturing and service sector in particular.

To succeed in becoming self-reliant, countries need to engage as many stakeholders as possible and tap into local resources, including the public and private sector, local communities, regional and international partners, small and large business enterprises, local CSOs, etc. However, we have seen several countries promote state-led developmental schemes at the expense of the private sector and other stakeholders. There has been a price to pay for this as well. Eritrea, Guinea Bissau and Mozambique, for example, opted for state-led economies following decades of war for independence. The result is stalled economies or regression.

As much as countries should promote and encourage the private sector, there are pitfalls to focusing only on capital creation and accumulation and disregarding the wealth gap that this economic policy could create. We see wealth inequality common in much of Sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria, for example, is a rich oil-producing country that had 112 million people living in poverty in 2010, according to Oxfam. Over 130 million people are without access to adequate sanitation, 57 million lack access to safe water, and the country has the highest number of out of school children in the world. Oxfam found that poverty and inequality in Nigeria are not due to lack of resources but to the ill use, misallocation and misappropriation of resources. Paths toward self-reliance should not prioritize the private sector gains over the wellbeing of the population.

Countries should aim to ensure no one is left behind as they advance toward self-reliance and remain responsive to the needs of youth, women and other marginalized groups. According to the Brookings Institution, the youth unemployment rate is above 20 percent in Ghana and Zimbabwe, above 30 percent in Botswana and Mauritius, and above even 60 percent in South Africa. This phenomenon could have severe consequences on the stability of these countries as unemployed youth are more vulnerable to join extremist political movements or migrate, denying a country its human resource assets. Responding to this challenge requires an investment in social and economic programs that support the wellbeing of youth, women and other marginalized groups and create an opportunity for them to demonstrate their value to their communities and nations.

A teacher stands in front of a chalkboard in Mali. — Teachers in Mali have helped build their young students’ resilience to violent extremism. Photo by Beyond Borders Media.

Strong and efficient public institutions and private sector entities that practice accountability and transparency and root out corruption are also crucial for the journey to self-reliance. This requires strong regulation, rule of law and good governance that allows people the right to freely express their views, organize, vote without fear of persecution and other civil liberties. Several countries have struggled to build well-functioning institutions or civil service and to fight corruption. According to the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, 34 countries have improved their governance performance over the last 10 years, but 18 countries’ scores have declined.

Of course, one of the biggest obstacles on the journey to self-reliance is destabilization and conflict. According to the Polity IV database, Africa is still home to at least 11 fully autocratic regimes. Three African heads of state have been in power since the 1970s, and five since the 1980s. Since 1996, 11 countries have been embroiled in civil wars. According to the 2020 Global Peace Index, Sub-Saharan Africa registered a slight fall in peacefulness, and the level of peacefulness deteriorated in 24 countries. This decline is characterized by civil unrest and violent protests that broke out in many countries over the past year, which can be attributed to disputes over election results and demands for political change.

In fragile states in particular, grassroots development programs that are contextualized and responsive can build community resilience and mitigate the effects of disaster and conflict.

Supporting players in the journey to self-reliance

While each country must chart its own course, the journey to self-reliance still requires travel companions along the way.

Technology, for example, can help countries find cutting-edge innovations to support their development agenda. Rwanda is utilizing drones to distribute medicine to the rural areas. Mobile money can replace traditional transaction systems to facilitate the smooth trade domestically, regionally and internationally. Expanding internet access can connect people with information. Mobile internet adoption currently stands at 24 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for 40 percent of the global population not covered by a mobile broadband network. Bridging the connectivity gap will require more work, investment and political will.

Building self-reliance calls for regional collaboration and economic integration. It demands the formation of a common front to address the world’s most pressing problems. It should encourage the free flow of people from one country to the other. Pandemics such as COVID-19 and Ebola, climate change and the fight against violent extremism have demonstrated the dire need for regional collaboration.

In all of this, international partners have a role to play not as drivers of self-reliance but as equal partners.

A Nigerian man speaks from a podium — The West Africa Trade and Investment Hub launched in Nigeria in January 2020. Photo by David Rabinovitz.

This approach is effective when several partners jointly lay a foundation based on shared values and vision, where both parties define their strategic developmental objectives and ways of attaining them. This type of reciprocal partnership allows each side to strengthen and complement the other, doing away with the traditional donor-recipient relationship. This is a process of economic empowerment that relies on trust, confidence, the solidarity of vision and approach, and acknowledgment of mutual contribution to a common endeavor.

International partners should have the courtesy to look at the national or local agenda closely and appreciate, respect and encourage homegrown solutions and local ownership. Self-reliance isn’t attainable when international partners create dependency.

However, international partners can be instrumental in supporting the journey to self-reliance by working with developing countries to frame their development agendas and supporting informed decision-making processes based on data and best practices.

International partners have the economic and political advantage to facilitate the exchange of these best practices and promote cooperation, trade and investment. The Comparative International Education Society (CIES) is one example. It provided a forum for the exchange of best practice in international education. The World Economic Forum is also a forum of unconventional multilateralism that recognizes international corporations and other non-state players on par with states. The forum has established a reputation as an independent entity that can provide a flexible and neutral platform for promoting global collaboration and partnership. The trade hubs set up by some bi-lateral and multi-lateral funding agencies aim to incentive trade and investment and strengthen the private sector.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations member states in 2015, also provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.

Many countries around the world have started their journey to self-reliance. By setting their own goals, making a commitment to them and enlisting the support of regional and international partners, they can continue to move forward.

Semere Solomon is a Senior Director with the Africa Center at Creative Associates International.

Six Ways USAID’s BUILD has supported women’s advancement and political participation in Somalia

December 1, 2020

4 min read

Somalia continues to struggle to establish a stable democracy that serves its citizens. In an uphill battle to put democratic institutions in place, Somali women have been largely left behind as their roles in politics and governance continue to be extremely limited, perpetuating gender inequalities across society. But despite these obstacles, recent advances suggest a move towards a more inclusive society.

Inclusivity and women’s political participation are at the forefront of the USAID-funded Bringing Unity, Integrity and Legitimacy to Democracy (BUILD) project. Implemented by Creative Associates International with its partners, including the Rift Valley Institute, Consilient and the International Republican Institute, BUILD provides critical assistance to help build electoral systems, strengthen civil society and encourage civic and political participation in Somalia, with a particular focus on women, youth and other marginalized groups.

Here are six ways that BUILD has worked to elevate women’s participation in civic society:

BUILD has raised awareness around bills that address sexual violence in both Somalia and Somaliland

In Somalia, there are currently no legal repercussions for sexual assault crimes of any kind, and cases of abuse have been on the rise in the last few years. For the most part, crimes of this kind occur with impunity.

In 2018, BUILD supported the passing of the Sexual Offence Bill in Somaliland, a historic law for the country. Since 2019, BUILD has worked with several national partners to support them in advocating for women’s rights, including sexual offences legislation, in Somalia. This November, BUILD facilitated a public dialogue to raise awareness about the controversial Sexual Offenses Bill. Yet to be passed, this bill is currently in danger of being undermined by another, less substantial bill that takes the teeth out of legal consequences for sexual violence.

The dialogue brought together human rights experts, lawyers, doctors and elected officials to discuss and debunk misconceptions around the bill. BUILD has joined the international community in condemning the less substantive sexual assault bill and joined the social media campaign #KilltheBill to bring it to the forefront of Somalia’s civic discussions.

BUILD has worked to institute quotas for women’s participation in political parties

Through BUILD’s efforts, 11 political parties joined the movement to increase the number of election candidates and political party members who are women. The women’s wings from these political parties also signed the Women’s Quota Declaration and participated in an advocacy initiative to increase representation of women in candidate lists and future parliament seats, to encourage political participation of women and to increase the number of women in political parties.

To further support this movement, BUILD led a discussion on Women’s Representation in Electoral Processes and live streamed it through Puntland TV and its Facebook page. The panelists concluded that instituting a 30 percent representation quota is the first step towards achieving parity and increasing women’s political participation in Somalia.

BUILD also supported the Forum of Somali Women earlier in 2020. The Forum is a coordinating body of political party women’s wings that advocates for the representation of women in the future parliament through substantial changes to the National Election Law.

BUILD has worked with women in internally displaced persons camps to help address their needs

In several community outreach events organized in partnership with Somali CSOs New Ways Organization and HINNA, BUILD met with women in the Korsan and Rajo IDP camps outside Mogadishu. Through these events the team worked to enhance meaningful links between IDPs and camp management, with the goal to address challenges particular to vulnerable groups in the camps and devise solutions.

BUILD facilitates mentoring and trainings designed for women

BUILD facilitated several workshops and outreach events for young women interested in politics. These events provided one-on-one mentoring sessions and networking opportunities.

In 2019, BUILD organized a Political Party Fair for aspiring young women and representatives with its grantee HINNA, supporting 100 women to become more politically engaged by joining various political parties. Other events included women’s advocacy workshops, a communication and media relations workshop for a political party’s communications team, and mentoring meetings between young women and female members of parliament.

Nine women and youth who took part in the program’s activities attained a formal role or position within their political parties.

Social media trainings boost women’s digital awareness and online security

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the digital gender divide. In a recent report, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development writes that:

“The switch to online campaigning and voter engagement creates new challenges for female voters and candidates. Globally, women on average have less access to and familiarity with online platforms and social media tools.”

This reality is in part why BUILD not only shares its political dialogues via social media, but through the radio, which more women and IDPs have access to.

Tackling a key area of online influence and access to information, BUILD led a Social Media Safety and Security Training for representatives from CSOs and media organizations. The 24 participants were women representing 15 different CSOs, including several of BUILD’s grantees. These women were trained not only in how to leverage social media platforms as effective tools for outreach and community mobilization, but they also learned how to recognize and respond to disinformation and other security threats common for Somali women seeking to promote women’s rights and voices.

BUILD strengthens skills of female journalists

In a country notorious for its lack of protections for journalists and free speech, BUILD conducted several workshops for CSOs and reporters, nearly half of whom were women. One of the two-day workshops was designed to build their capacity in using social media as a tool for civic engagement and enhanced communication with citizens and government institutions. The training also allowed participants to build their skills to use social media to support advocacy campaign initiatives on issues and priority new laws.

Another training worked with 25 journalists, covering the ethics of journalism and independent news coverage.

Creative’s Ardo Aden discusses the controversial Sexual Offenses Bill in Somalia

November 30, 2020

7 min read

Somaliland women — Voters wait in line at a polling station in Hargeisa, Somaliland, on election day. November 13, 2017

Ardo Aden is a program specialist supporting several activities in Creative’s Democracy, Governance and Electoral Integrity practice area. As a Somali woman, her focus on Bringing Unity, Integrity and Legitimacy to Democracy (BUILD) is as personal as it is professional.

Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, BUILD works with Somali civil society, media, and political contestants, providing critical assistance to strengthen electoral systems and political participation in Somalia. BUILD’s work places a strong emphasis on elevating women’s participation in political processes and governance. In 2018, BUILD also supported the passing of the law that criminalized rape and sexual offences in Somaliland.

Ardo’s most recent work has been to support BUILD as it raises awareness around the controversial Sexual Offenses Bill. Yet to be passed, this bill is currently in danger of being undermined by another, less substantial bill that takes the teeth out of legal consequences for sexual violence. In this Q&A, Ardo gives some context for the bill and its status in Somalia, BUILD’s work on the issue, as well as how it fits into the urgent, global fight for the rights of women and girls.

What are some of the key points the public needs to be aware of with this bill?

Ardo Aden, Program Specialist for Creative Associates International

The Sexual Offenses Bill was carefully crafted over a period of five years in close consultation with key stakeholders including women, CSOs, lawyers and religious leaders, to name a few. It clearly defines and criminalizes violence against women and girls including rape, forced marriage and sex slavery, and increases sentencing for perpetrators if there are accompanying aggravating factors. On the other hand, the Sexual Intercourse Bill reduces rape to a misdemeanor and lessens punishment for other serious sexual offences. For a country already plagued by gender-based violence, the passage of this bill will have devastating effects and essentially normalize violence against women and girls in Somalia.

The SIB has been introduced to legislators in August and since then there has been intense outcry from Somalis and non-Somalis alike from all corners of the globe. A social media campaign called #KillTheBill is urging the federal government to reject the amended bill and pass the original Sexual Offenses Bill. There has also been a corresponding petition circulating which collected over 60,000 signatures. Since there isn’t a lot of visible advocacy around the Sexual Offenses Bill, I would urge the public to continue to take a stand against the Somali federal government and demand its passage.

You’ve been following the controversy around the Sexual Offenses Bill for some time. Why is there a need for it? What have been the main challenges to getting it passed and what’s its current status?

There is an urgent need for this bill because there are currently no laws protecting Somali citizens from any kind of gender-based violence (GBV). News reports show that violence against women and girls has spiked in recent years and is becoming increasingly gruesome and murderous. According to the U.N. Assistance Mission in Somalia, the number of rape cases reported in 2019 in Somalia was 744. 241 of these were confirmed as cases of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence that targeted women and girls. Sexual abuse is widespread in Somalia, but due to the associated stigma, most cases go unreported.

The SOB offers protections against these abuses and sets out clear guidelines for police, investigators and prosecutors to hold perpetrators accountable.

The main challenge to passing the Sexual Offenses Bill has been the misconception that certain articles of the law are anti-Islamic. As a result, the Sexual Offenses Bill has been pending in the lower house of parliament for two years before a heavily amended version of the Sexual Offenses Bill called the Sexual Intercourse Bill was introduced this summer. This new bill, which allows child marriage, doesn’t provide the same kind of protections as the Sexual Offenses Bill and has been condemned by the international community.

Advocating for protections and equal rights for women is seen as a universal cause. In this case, some opponents claim that the bill is anti-Islamic and that is imposes on Somali culture from a Western position. As a representative of a Western organization, respecting a country’s autonomy while fighting for universal protections can be a difficult balance to strike. Can you comment on that tension and how you approach it?

I’m no religious scholar, but I can say with the utmost confidence that Islam is a religion of peace. Islam does not condone abuses against anyone, especially women and girls. The misconception that protecting the rights of women and girls is anti-Islamic is extremely harmful and damaging to the core principles of Islam. Using this falsity to delay passage of a bill is a textbook example of exploiting inaccurate religious ideologies to advance political interests. Here’s a direct quote by BUILD’s partner SHE Associates Inc., a group with experience supporting similar legislation in other Islamic countries. SHE conducted research on the Sexual Offenses Bill in Somalia:

“Upon a technical Islamic review, the Bill in fact does not contradict Islamic teachings, rulings and guidance especially if recommendations with regard to harshening punishments have been taken into consideration. It is in harmony with Islamic teachings.”

I think it’s always important to condemn human rights abuses wherever they are happening, and I commend the international community for doing so in this context. I think there’s a fine line between interfering with a country’s autonomy and actively calling out harmful laws and practices that infringe on human rights.

How is BUILD addressing the sexual offenses bill and what is your role in helping shape the project’s response?

Last year, BUILD worked with several different civil society organizations to first educate them about the content of the bill. BUILD later helped expand these CSOs’ capacity so they could actively advocate for the bill’s passage. This year, I thought it was important for the BUILD project to go further and contribute to the #KillTheBill campaign. By facilitating a discussion to educate the public about the Sexual Offenses Bill and its status, we gave experts a platform to discuss and debunk some of the common misconceptions surrounding the bill.

The event was facilitated by a local Somali woman journalist with panelists that included a lawyer, a medical practitioner and a representative from the Somali government and a CSO. As panelists were very engaged with the Bill and in agreement on most points raised, as a follow up, we’re planning to host a debate and invite folks from both sides of the spectrum, to discuss their opposing viewpoints.

What impact do you hope to see from these political dialogues and awareness events?

I hope these events help raise awareness around the importance of passing the Sexual Offenses Bill in Somalia. As I mentioned earlier, there is not much advocacy or even discussions surrounding these bills on many platforms. A solid first step in this important initiative would be to educate the Somali public about what’s happening before anything else.

In this project, your passion for women’s rights and your job come together. Why is this issue personal to you and what motivates you?

I’ve always been a firm champion and fighter for women rights across the world. This issue hits home for me, as a young Somali woman myself. I have family back in Somalia who are directly affected by these issues. This is and always has been my motivation to continue to speak out and fight against GBV issues, which continue to occur with impunity in Somalia. I have also worked directly with victims of such violence in Ethiopia in the formative stages of my career, and these stories have been as painful as they have been inspiring for me to get engaged.

In this way, supporting BUILD is both personal and professional. I was very happy to hear about success the project has had with similar legislation being passed in Somaliland, even if there have been set backs and was honored to propose and help facilitate the political dialogue event surrounding the Sexual Offenses and Sexual Intercourse Bills at the federal level in Somalia.

How does this bill in Somalia fit into the global narrative around women’s rights and why is that important?

The Sexual Offenses Bill simply protects Somali women and girls from GBV and sets clear guidelines for criminalizing sex crimes. Passing this law would be a win in the collective fight for protecting women and girls from abuse globally. I truly believe that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. You can’t support the idea of human rights and equal protections for all without actively defending those very rights. This is not just a Somali issue. This is a global issue that needs to be addressed on a global scale.

NEI Plus and Nigerian government launch “Big Books”

November 19, 2020

Engaging the private sector for stronger, more dynamic education

November 2, 2020

5 min read

A teacher stands in a class full of students in Nigeria. — Increasing coordination with the private sector could help reduce strain on the public education system. Photos by Erick Gibson.

Education is a social investment aimed at shaping the present and the future. Like other investments, it should abide by the rules of a market that demands quality, relevance, durability and reasonableness of price in order to be attractive and appealing to its users.

In low-income economies, the public sector often struggles to meet its mandate for delivering quality education. Weak systems and opaque operations (and sometimes corruption) contribute to this situation.

Engaging the private sector and private schools and leveraging their strengths in the delivery of education — while adhering to government-set standards — could help bridge this gap, strengthen education and ultimately lead to better learning outcomes for students.

In many places, it is clear where the public sector isn’t living up to expectations for education, as the private sector takes on an increasing share of education delivery. In Nigeria, for example, the 2015 National Education Data Survey showed that private schools account for 28 percent of primary school enrollment in the Southeast and 40 percent in the Southwest. According to Development and Cooperation, 33 percent of Kenya’s primary schools are private, and so are 15 percent of all secondary schools. In these cases, private schools’ prevalence can be attributed to several factors, including struggling ministries, unmotivated teachers and teaching professionals, crumbling infrastructure, lack of teaching learning materials, limited funding and loose relationships between the government and communities.

These are compounded by the fact that ministries do not have a clear policy on how to engage with other education providers. The result is obvious: the rapid deterioration in the quality of education provided by the public sector, creating opportunity for the private sector to fill the gap.

When properly implemented, the private sector’s engagement in education boasts dynamism. It is incentive-driven. It is agile and creative. It can easily adapt to changing market demands or circumstances. And, above all, it has the potential and frequently the means to deliver education as a social commodity to society.

However, there are risks to allowing private schools to operate and expand without regulation. Private schools without sufficient oversight can operate at sub-standard level or even be unsafe. Classroom instructors may not have the requisite qualifications to teach, may not follow the national curriculum or administer standardized tests. They might suffer from scarcity of textbooks, teachers’ guides, supplementary reading materials and teaching aid materials.

And, if solely driven by profit, private schools can promote inequity and marginalize lower-income students. In Somalia, according to UNICEF, the majority of education services are run privately and operate on a fee system under a weak government structure. Without regulation, the result is predictable: poor quality of education.

A man and woman review printed education materials. — Facilitating partnerships with printers is one potential route to increased private sector engagement.

Engaging the private sector

How can public education systems work with the private sector in a meaningful way without losing their important oversight responsibilities? This calls for a new approach.

Governments should create space for all education stakeholders including the private sector to become involved, including in the formulation of education policies, standards, strategic plans and regulatory framework from the outset and on a continuing basis. Above all, governments should be supported by putting in place strong regulatory mechanisms and quality assurance systems for education, not just for the benefit of public schools but private schools as well.

Bilateral and multilateral funding agencies could support governments to understand the benefits of public-private partnerships and assist in the development of tools and mechanisms for how to better engage the private sector. They can also encourage the private sector to invest in education while holding governments accountable for creating better-regulated education systems.

Higher education is where private sector engagement is highly sought after. Investing in higher education can be an expensive venture, and running or managing higher education also requires a greater degree of sophistication. The private sector should be encouraged to take partial ownership of the sub-sector to facilitate access to higher education for students who want to continue their studies. Continuing education through non-residential means such as online learning is also a space in which the private sector has great potential. Additionally, privately owned institutions for higher learning could be sources of innovation driven by cutting-edge research.

Strengthening private schools

As governments create space for the private sector to get involved in public education, the public sector can also work to strengthen private education.

Governments can offer a variety of support to establish and advance high-quality private education, such as simplifying and facilitating licensing for private entities, religious organizations and other interested parties that want to offer education while adhering to government-set regulations.

The government could provide land or other facilities for education delivery. It can encourage the private sector to set up training institutes to train teachers and other education professionals who have the desire to work in private or public schools.

Governments should also provide supervisory oversight to private schools to ensure quality.

Encouraging investment and partnerships

Encouraging outside investment and partnerships with other private sector companies can also strengthen the quality of education.

Governments can facilitate dialogue between private schools and banks to increase access to financing and microcredit to support school improvements and encourage easy access to loans for private school operators or other businesses interested in investing in education. Governments could also partner with and incentivize private publishing houses to make teaching and learning materials available to a wider audience at an affordable price.

By supporting the establishment of private and community school associations, governments can help them bargain collectively with banks, publishing houses, and even the government itself.

It is in the interest of making this social service available to the widest possible segment of society, especially children and youth, that the public sector has to engage or provide space to the private sector to take part in it.

This will first create an opportunity to allow more resources to be allocated to education as well as ease the financial burden the government will have to shoulder in delivering education to a wider segment of the society. Second, it will encourage creativity or innovation, enabling education to be more responsive to the evolving skilled labor needs of the market and society in general. And third, more competition will promote improved quality of education services in the future.

Semere Solomon is a Senior Director with the Africa Center at Creative Associates International.

Creative forms new practice area to deliver on governance, election needs

October 28, 2020

2 min read

Creative Associates International announces its new Democracy, Governance and Electoral Integrity Practice Area, which combines the knowledge, skills and expertise of two existing units to offer holistic and integrated solutions to overlapping challenges facing democratic consolidation, accountable governance and civic activism.

“By combining the individual practice areas into a single, seamless unit,” says Tom Wheelock, Senior Vice President of the Communities in Transition Division, “we can offer even greater benefits to clients, partners and host governments.”

Creative’s new Democracy, Governance and Electoral Integrity Practice Area – comprised of the former Governance and Community Resilience and Electoral Education and Integrity practice areas – will focus on issues of governance, accountability, electoral integrity and security, constitutional processes, legislative strengthening, anti-corruption and civil society development.

Creative President and CEO Leland Kruvant says the new practice area is part of the company’s strategy of continuously evaluating its portfolio of services and how they align with the needs on the ground, as well as their ability to deliver innovative solutions to pressing issues.

Deborah Kimble, who has led Creative’s Governance and Community Resilience Practice Area since 2013, has been named director of the newly constituted practice area.

“Democracy doesn’t begin and end at the ballot box. It is a continuum that embraces the broader issues of good governance and accountability,” she says. “This practice area is how Creative will deliver on those needs and challenges.”

The Democracy, Governance and Electoral Integrity Practice Area will oversee Creative’s current work in Mali, Libya, Somalia and the ECOWAS countries of West Africa, allowing technical experts and staff working across the programs to further collaborate on these interconnected development issues.

“While the formal merger of these two practice areas is happening now, it really is the result of several years of collaboration on several projects that resulted in the marriage of technical skills into a holistic new practice area focused on developments in the democracy and governance space,” Kimble says. “I’m excited to be leading this new, highly collaborative practice area of Creative’s top talent in this field.”

Building on past success

The new practice area better reflects Creative’s holistic and comprehensive approach to democracy and governance thinking, particularly in conflict and post-conflict environments.

In Somalia, for example, the USAID-funded BUILD project focuses on strengthening electoral processes in the country while also expanding knowledge and skills for fostering long-term good governance.

“Somalia was a good case study in how we can support elections more effectively by approaching them as a part of overall governance,” Kimble says. recalling her 2019 visit to Mogadishu.

North East Regional Initiative: A lasting legacy

October 26, 2020

Nigeria: 18 and learning to read

October 22, 2020

1 min read

Aisha married as a teenager before ever attending school. Now, after her divorce, she is learning to read for the first time through an adolescent girls learning center supported by the USAID-funded Northern Education Initiative Plus in Bauchi, Nigeria.