Hello, Developers! Sarah Higgins, your Vice President of Operations here.
While GDO likes to emphasize that “global” development includes local projects, the abundance of development occurring internationally is impossible to ignore. And with these myriad development missions comes opportunities to adapt and scale successful techniques locally, be it in the Ville, Northern Virginia, Southern California, or wherever you call home. So while relaxed summer days still abound and we all have the time to delve deeper into our passion for global development studies, here are a few unique projects currently undertaken around the world, as well as websites to learn more about each.
Bangladesh- The Infolady Social Entrepreneurship Program (ISEP) is a ten-year-old empowerment enterprise operating in Bangladesh. Run under the supervision of Dnet, a Bangladeshi non-profit that sponsors a variety of projects in the country, it currently employs 50 women between the ages of 18 and 35 who travel throughout rural districts to bring the technology needed to access the Internet and perform social tasks. They are trained to administer blood sugar checks for diabetics, recommend legal advice, and provide Skype services, among other abilities. At its core, ISEP is a lesson in shared value. It empowers the Infoladies themselves, none of which stay with ISEP for more than two years and many of whom become successful business women, breaking cultural gender roles. While they become self sufficient and independent, they provide the same freedom to those they serve, connecting rural Bangladesh to services otherwise unavailable.
Read more about the expanding program and plans to spread it to locations around the world:
1. http://infolady.com.bd/
2. http://www.mediaglobal.org/2014/07/15/in-bangladesh-the-internet-arrives-on-bicycle/
3. http://dnet.org.bd/
Ghana- The Kukunansor Women Organization is a Ghana-based, internationally funded organization with a network of approximately 1000 female farmers in Chereponi, Ghana, a northern territory. A majority of farmers in the region operate as smallholder farmers, using traditional cultivation techniques, as availability of mechanization is scarce. While both male and female farmers in the northern part of the country encounter challenges, women tend to be more disadvantaged than men in terms of incurring material capital and training. Launched in 2007, the Kukunansor Women Organization aims to provide female farmers in the Chereponi region with microloans and plowing services. The organization has created a self-sustaining cycle in which members pay a portion of their harvest (usually soybeans) to Kukunansor, who sells them to the Savannah Farmers Marketing Company, and uses the funds from this to generate interest-free microloans for members during the harvest season. It is currently funded by USAID as well as private donors in Germany.
Read more about it and decide for yourself whether you think this flourishing project is well placed, answering the most urgent needs in the region, and if it could be scaled for use in other locales:
1. https://www.devex.com/news/empowering-women-to-improve-farming-productivity-in-northern-ghana-83889
2. http://www.acdivoca.org/site/ID/AtAGlance
3. http://www.acdivoca.org/site/Lookup/ACDI-VOCA-Ghana-ADVANCE-Gender-Impact-Assessment/$file/ACDI-VOCA-Ghana-ADVANCE-Gender-Impact-Assessment.pdf
Israel- A not-for-profit organization in Israel, Paamonim, targets the thirty percent of the Israeli population that lives below the poverty line. Founded, funded, and operated by Israelis, its main goal is empowerment, not simply aid. Paamonium welcomes families currently accepting charity and provides access to education, training, and mentoring that will allow each beneficiary family to sustain itself financially in the long run. Open since 2002, it describes itself as “an effective alternative to charity,” aiming to lift families, many with young children, out of a constant cycle of financial crisis and dependency. Each applicant family is matched with a Paamonim volunteer who helps the family create a personalized long-term plan for stability.
Read more about this native Israeli non-profit. Is development work of this type more efficient when it is locally grown instead of internationally implanted?
1. http://www.paamonim.org/englishwhoweare.php
2. http://makomisrael.org/blog/paamonim/
3. http://www.amotherinisrael.com/paamonimthe-long-shorter-way-to-get-out-of-debt/
Check out smaller start-ups in need of funds at http://www.kiva.org/. Browse, donate, or just check out the countless ideas on the site!
While this post focuses on development projects developed and funded indigenously as opposed to those America-based or USAID-funded, there are so many funded by the US government. Find and read about USAID’s current projects http://map.usaid.gov/. Decide whether you think these projects are achieving the goals they claim to be or how each may be improved.
We hope you all are having a spectacular summer. See you in the fall!
While GDO likes to emphasize that “global” development includes local projects, the abundance of development occurring internationally is impossible to ignore. And with these myriad development missions comes opportunities to adapt and scale successful techniques locally, be it in the Ville, Northern Virginia, Southern California, or wherever you call home. So while relaxed summer days still abound and we all have the time to delve deeper into our passion for global development studies, here are a few unique projects currently undertaken around the world, as well as websites to learn more about each.
Bangladesh- The Infolady Social Entrepreneurship Program (ISEP) is a ten-year-old empowerment enterprise operating in Bangladesh. Run under the supervision of Dnet, a Bangladeshi non-profit that sponsors a variety of projects in the country, it currently employs 50 women between the ages of 18 and 35 who travel throughout rural districts to bring the technology needed to access the Internet and perform social tasks. They are trained to administer blood sugar checks for diabetics, recommend legal advice, and provide Skype services, among other abilities. At its core, ISEP is a lesson in shared value. It empowers the Infoladies themselves, none of which stay with ISEP for more than two years and many of whom become successful business women, breaking cultural gender roles. While they become self sufficient and independent, they provide the same freedom to those they serve, connecting rural Bangladesh to services otherwise unavailable.
Read more about the expanding program and plans to spread it to locations around the world:
1. http://infolady.com.bd/
2. http://www.mediaglobal.org/2014/07/15/in-bangladesh-the-internet-arrives-on-bicycle/
3. http://dnet.org.bd/
Ghana- The Kukunansor Women Organization is a Ghana-based, internationally funded organization with a network of approximately 1000 female farmers in Chereponi, Ghana, a northern territory. A majority of farmers in the region operate as smallholder farmers, using traditional cultivation techniques, as availability of mechanization is scarce. While both male and female farmers in the northern part of the country encounter challenges, women tend to be more disadvantaged than men in terms of incurring material capital and training. Launched in 2007, the Kukunansor Women Organization aims to provide female farmers in the Chereponi region with microloans and plowing services. The organization has created a self-sustaining cycle in which members pay a portion of their harvest (usually soybeans) to Kukunansor, who sells them to the Savannah Farmers Marketing Company, and uses the funds from this to generate interest-free microloans for members during the harvest season. It is currently funded by USAID as well as private donors in Germany.
Read more about it and decide for yourself whether you think this flourishing project is well placed, answering the most urgent needs in the region, and if it could be scaled for use in other locales:
1. https://www.devex.com/news/empowering-women-to-improve-farming-productivity-in-northern-ghana-83889
2. http://www.acdivoca.org/site/ID/AtAGlance
3. http://www.acdivoca.org/site/Lookup/ACDI-VOCA-Ghana-ADVANCE-Gender-Impact-Assessment/$file/ACDI-VOCA-Ghana-ADVANCE-Gender-Impact-Assessment.pdf
Israel- A not-for-profit organization in Israel, Paamonim, targets the thirty percent of the Israeli population that lives below the poverty line. Founded, funded, and operated by Israelis, its main goal is empowerment, not simply aid. Paamonium welcomes families currently accepting charity and provides access to education, training, and mentoring that will allow each beneficiary family to sustain itself financially in the long run. Open since 2002, it describes itself as “an effective alternative to charity,” aiming to lift families, many with young children, out of a constant cycle of financial crisis and dependency. Each applicant family is matched with a Paamonim volunteer who helps the family create a personalized long-term plan for stability.
Read more about this native Israeli non-profit. Is development work of this type more efficient when it is locally grown instead of internationally implanted?
1. http://www.paamonim.org/englishwhoweare.php
2. http://makomisrael.org/blog/paamonim/
3. http://www.amotherinisrael.com/paamonimthe-long-shorter-way-to-get-out-of-debt/
Check out smaller start-ups in need of funds at http://www.kiva.org/. Browse, donate, or just check out the countless ideas on the site!
While this post focuses on development projects developed and funded indigenously as opposed to those America-based or USAID-funded, there are so many funded by the US government. Find and read about USAID’s current projects http://map.usaid.gov/. Decide whether you think these projects are achieving the goals they claim to be or how each may be improved.
We hope you all are having a spectacular summer. See you in the fall!