By Gregg Rapaport, Development Outreach and Communications Program In a packed and conversation-filled room in northern Tanzania, the wheels of microfinance are spinning – quietly and efficiently, yet furiously. Every week, this group of people owning and running small businesses worth less than $700 comes together in Arusha to make payments on microloans received from [...]
Tag archives for USAID
USAID’s Evaluation Policy: Setting the Standard
By: Ruth Levine, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau of Policy, Planning and Learning In a major address today, Dr. Shah will announce USAID’s new evaluation policy, evidence of the renewed emphasis the Agency is placing on evaluation, measuring and documenting program achievements and shortcomings, and generating data on what works to drive decision-making. The policy marks [...]
In the News: 1/10/2011–1/14/2011
January 11: The Washington Post published a story that while many lives were saved after the Haiti earthquake, one year later, many Haitians remain impoverished. However, USAID’s $19 million cash for work program employed 350,000 people after the earthquake. January 11 : AP and The Seattle Times wrote that the Gates Foundation and USAID have [...]
Secretary Clinton Holds Town Hall Meeting at USAID on the QDDR
200 Years of Global Health in 4 Minutes
By: Ryan Cherlin Let’s be honest, statistics can be boring and oftentimes intimidating. It’s unfortunate because behind every statistic there is an incredible story to be told. While statisticians are not generally known for their charismatic personalities, Hans Rosling has done the impossible—he discovered a way to unearth compelling stories that are often lost in [...]
One Man Can
Submitted by Ryan Cherlin There may be one major factor overlooked in the struggle for women’s rights: men. Skeptics are being won over by the preponderance of evidence proving that unless men are actively engaged in supporting the empowerment of women, progress will remain painfully slow and women will remain vulnerable to health threats, including [...]
Promoting Evidence and Action for Respectful Care at Birth
Submitted by Wendy Coursen Exciting. Moving. Powerful. These words are often used to describe childbirth. It can be a time of wonder and joy. In many places, however, the experience is described differently: Humiliating. Frightening. Abusive. Throughout the world, women are abused in subtle and overt ways during childbirth, which is also a time of [...]
The Straight Facts: The Plight of Women
Submitted by Sandra Jordan Women around the globe should be celebrated for their extraordinary contributions in all areas of society – as professionals, as bread-winners, as caregivers and caretakers. But we must also focus on the stark reality that women suffer disproportionately from poor access to health services, discrimination, the effects of war, and, at [...]
The Freakonomics of “The Girl Effect”
Submitted by Ryan Cherlin What would happen if you applied economic theory in an unconventional way to try and understand how a girl might change the course of humanity? At my desk one morning, I watched Nike’s “The Girl Effect” campaign videos on YouTube hoping to find inspiration for new Impact blog topics. The videos [...]
Gender Equality: The Development Community’s Key Ingredient to Realizing a Positive ROI
Submitted by Ryan Cherlin Return on Investment (ROI) is a popular metric used by organizations to determine if what they spend is adding value to their bottom line. For-profit organizations typically measure the bottom line in numerical terms; the bottom line for the U.S. Agency for International Development is measured in progress toward the betterment [...]
