American Development Companies: Addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals


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PSC Members Support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

2024 marks the ninth year since the 190 member states of the United Nations unanimously adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This ambitious agenda created seventeen unique Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These goals range from No Hunger and Zero Poverty to Economic Growth and Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure. In the United States, the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief PEPFAR), the Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC), and the Development Finance Corporation (DFC) lead the charge in meeting the SDGs. Implementing many of those efforts are American federal contracting companies – members of PSC's Council of International Development Companies (CIDC).

This compendium highlights the effort and commitment of some of the CIDC members and their dedicated employees as they seek to help the United States and the UN meet these goals.

For over 50 years, PSC has been the voice of the government technology and professional services industry. PSC’s more than 400 member companies represent small, medium and large businesses that provide federal agencies with services of all kinds, including information technology, engineering, logistics, facilities management, operations and maintenance, consulting, international development, scientific, social, environmental services, and more. Together, the trade association’s members employ hundreds of thousands of Americans in all 50 states. 

To learn more, visit www.pscouncil.org. 

 

With Special Thanks



Going Local to Win the Fight Against TB

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the stigma attached to tuberculosis (TB) makes it hard to detect, diagnose, and treat the disease. But the DRC is gaining ground in the treatment of TB patients, even as cases of drug-resistant TB increase, thanks to close collaboration between the National Tuberculosis Control Program and the Abt-led U.S. Agency for International Development’s Integrated Health Program (USAID IHP). Since the project’s inception, it has helped bring more people into treatment. 

One pillar of the approach is a focus on respected influencers. USAID IHP staff trained pastors, teachers, leaders of nongovernmental organizations, women’s and youth groups, and traditional chiefs how to raise awareness about TB and communication techniques to promote prevention and detection. These influencers go door-to-door to identify people with TB symptoms and encourage them to get screening and, if necessary, treatment from a healthcare professional. Then the influencers encourage patients to adhere to their treatment regimen to prevent antibiotic resistance.

Influencers are only part of the community strategy. In alignment with USAID’s localization goals, USAID IHP has awarded nearly $5 million in grants to five local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to identify potential TB patients and ensure follow-up treatment, particularly in small towns and villages where TB can spread undetected. 


International Developments integrated Health program, since it started six years ago, USAID IHP has supported 406,503 patients diagnosed with TB that have initiated treatment, 141 percent of the target. Support includes sputum sample transport, TB case management, and community events.

The five NGOs work with local diagnosis and treatment centers to support patient care through direct clinical follow-up, overseeing grants for doctors, and distributing nutritional support kits. 

One of the grantees, Batwa Bemba, has promoted better health—from HIV treatment to the prevention of COVID-19—in Haut-Lomami for several years. Its national coordinator Biguette Buntu says the organization can now also support an integrated approach to community involvement to combat TB. “This project has enabled us to expand our work in the province, cover a larger geographical area, and spend more time with the community,” Buntu said. “The more you spend time with the community and understand the problem, the more you can find solutions.” 

Since it started six years ago, USAID IHP has supported 406,503 patients diagnosed with TB that have initiated treatment, 141 percent of the target. Support includes sputum sample transport, TB case management, and community events. 

Abt also helps the National Tuberculosis Control Program improve access to diagnosis, decentralize TB testing, and build staff capacity to detect and treat TB. All told, the pieces are in place advance progress in DRC’s fight against TB.



Feed the Future Bangladesh Agricultural Infrastructure Development Activity

SDG 2: Zero Hunger

As the eighth-most populated country in the world and nearly 2.2% of the global population, Bangladesh faces the challenge of nearly 19% of its population living below the national poverty line. However, a significant initiative is underway to address the infrastructure needs of farmers and related value chain actors. The Feed the Future Bangladesh Agricultural Infrastructure Development Activity, initiated by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), aims to address the pressing infrastructure needs of farmers and value chain actors, ultimately increasing incomes, creating jobs, reducing postharvest losses, and improving agricultural productivity and production to enhance economic growth and food security in Bangladesh.



Amentum, the company at the helm of this initiative, is committed to making a lasting impact on rural communities. With a small but highly skilled team of twelve professionals, Amentum is focusing on building vital infrastructure such as rural roads and market centers. Their work goes beyond construction; it aims to empower farmers and improve their livelihoods. 

The Activity focuses on an inclusive and sustainable approach to infrastructure development from site selection to handover which includes comprehensive consultations with government stakeholders, local communities, female entrepreneurs, farmers, and buyers, youth, and disadvantaged groups. USAID/Bangladesh and Amentum relied on local experts such as the Chief of Party, Md. Abul Kalam Azad, who was the Chief Engineer at the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) before joining Amentum. Amentum’s adaptability has also been evident, through its collaboration with USAID to revise the Activity’s results framework in light of changes in governmental support.

The Activity is on track to complete 4 markets, 11 kilometers of roads and a public toilet block by May 2026. Of note, the roads the Activity targets are unique in that they are last mile roads connected to farmlands which are either outside of the jurisdiction the LGED or not prioritized due to limited funding, and therefore usually only developed by local communities in so far as they are able. The road renovations will have a substantial impact on post-harvest losses and farmers’ profitability in addition to numerous social benefits for the communities.

In a nation where agriculture is essential to the economy, the Feed the Future Bangladesh Agricultural Infrastructure Development Activity is paving the way for a brighter future. By investing in infrastructure and fostering community involvement, this program is nurturing a landscape where farmers can thrive, communities can prosper, and food security is within reach for all.



Digital Transformation: A Catalyst for Attainable, Sustainable Economic Growth

SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals
Digital transformation is not just about technology; it’s about creating an inclusive and secure digital future for all. The UN Global Digital Compact emphasizes the importance of closing digital divides between and within countries to fully harness the potential of digital technologies for sustainable development. As technology adoption grows, so does the potential for economic growth, offering pathways out of poverty and advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

At Cadmus, we leverage our global expertise through partnerships to empower governments and communities with technology.
The Digital Imperative
In emerging economies, digital technology offers a transformative opportunity to leapfrog digital development stages. Innovations like mobile banking, which extends financial services to the unbanked, and e-governance platforms that enhance transparency and efficiency, demonstrate how robust, secure, and sustainable digital transformation can drive inclusive growth.

Cadmus employs a multifaceted and interconnected approach to digital transformation, focusing on critical areas such as connectivity, cybersecurity, digital governance, and skills development. Our experts work to build cutting-edge infrastructure and reshape policy landscapes, bridging digital divides and designing systems that promote growth through inclusive digital development.

Digital Transformation in Action
In Southeast Asia, the USAID Better Access and Connectivity Activity (BEACON) in the Philippines exemplifies our commitment to fostering economic growth through improved ICT infrastructure. We are enhancing the country’s digital ecosystem by strengthening institutional capacity, refining policy and regulatory frameworks, and improving cybersecurity protections.

Since its launch in 2021, BEACON has facilitated several key developments, including activating the Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN), which enhances connectivity for the Luzon Bypass Infrastructure—a vital component of the Philippines National Broadband Plan. Additionally, nine community internet networks have been established, connecting remote areas with high-speed broadband. Since the launch in 2021, BEACON has also advanced cybersecurity capacity by training over 14,000 government officials in partnership with the Philippine Department of Information and Communications Technology, providing agency-level training on cybersecurity frameworks and standards.

In the Pacific region, we are pioneering efforts to enhance digital connectivity and cybersecurity through the USAID Digital Connectivity and Cybersecurity Partnership-Pacific. This comprehensive program aims to increase digital access and literacy, improve the delivery of digital services, and strengthen the region’s digital ecosystem. By facilitating investments in broadband connectivity and promoting community-driven solutions, we ensure that more Pacific Islanders can participate competitively in the global digital economy.

In Moldova, through the USAID Moldova Institutional and Structural Reforms Activity (MISRA), Cadmus is driving the modernization of public services and government solutions via digitalization, streamlining regulatory processes, and accelerating financial sector reforms.

In Spring 2024, MISRA partnered with the National Bank of Moldova (NBM) to launch the MIA Instant Payment System, an innovative platform enabling real-time fund transfers between accounts. This initiative aims to enhance financial inclusion, with approximately 200,000 Moldovans already registered for MIA. MISRA continues to support the system’s expansion, including developing business payment modules and leading a widespread communication campaign, marking a significant step toward a more innovative and inclusive financial future for Moldova.

Leaping Forward into Stronger Digital Ecosystems
Through the new USAID Digital Forward activity, Cadmus works directly with USAID Missions and Operating Units worldwide to support the Agency’s first-ever Digital Strategy, which aims to promote open, inclusive, secure, and rights-respecting digital ecosystems.

Digital Forward will enhance digital security and economic prosperity in partner countries while protecting individual rights, freedom of expression, and democratic norms. Drawing on USAID’s extensive digital development experience, Cadmus will implement the Digital Strategy through regional and technical sector activities, conducting diagnostic services and developing tools to drive tangible digital development. Utilizing our in-house technical expertise, Cadmus will assist in strengthening USAID’s current and future digital programs and sharing best practices.

The global digital transformation presents unprecedented opportunities to tackle challenges and build prosperous societies. At Cadmus, we actively shape this transformation, turning digital innovation into tangible outcomes that improve lives and empower communities

USAID Moldova Institutional and Structural Reforms Activity, from the launch event of the MIA Instant Payme

If You Provide It, They Will Come: One Nigerian Nurse’s Role in the Global Health Supply Chain

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being


Nurse Victoria Okwute meets with clients at the Kuchingoro Primary Health Clinic. Credit: Toyin Adedokun, Chemonics

Chief Nursing Officer Victoria Okwute has been working at the Kuchingoro Primary Health Clinic in Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja for the past seven years. On a typical day, she provides family planning counseling, guidance for new mothers, antenatal care, primary health care, and delivers babies. Health workers like Okwute are the last, vital step in the global health supply chain. They put health commodities like contraceptives into the hands of clients and counsel them on proper use.

This is more important than ever in Nigeria, which is expected to be the third-most populous country in the world by 2050. The average unmet need forfamily planning in Nigeria is 18.6% but access varies widely between urban and rural areas, and is influenced by income, education, and religious and cultural beliefs.

Through the USAID-funded Global Health Supply Chain Program– Procurement and Supply Management (GHSC–PSM) project, Chemonics has distributed 12 million family planning products to facilities like Kuchingoroin Nigeria since 2016.



Access to family planning helps more women to avoid unintended pregnancies and space their births, thus helping to avert maternal deaths. Although trending downward, Nigeria accounted for more than a quarter of the world’s maternal deaths in 2020—approximately 82,000—according to the World Health Organization.

Financing to procure and distribute a continuous flow of contraceptives to hospitals and clinics is a key challenge. To address this, Chemonics works with the Government of Nigeria and organizations such as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to identify a sustainable financing mechanism to reduce recurrent commodity procurement funding gaps. This includes providing technical assistance for developing the National Guidelines for State-Funded Procurement of Family Planning Commodities so that Nigeria’s states can contribute funds for contraceptives to help reduce the unmet need.

Through GHSC–PSM and in coordination with UNFPA, Chemonics has also provided support to Nigeria on last-mile distribution of contraceptives and training of service providers on logistics management. GHSC–PSM coordinated with the Nigerian government on tracking distribution to states and service delivery points. Between 2018 and 2021, these efforts led to a seven-fold increase in couple-years of protection based on the number of commodities delivered to health facilities.

Okwute says that the number of clients visiting the family planning clinic has increased in recent years because of the reliability of the contraceptives supply.

“More women are coming, even with spouses, for family planning,” Okwute says. “[Because] the products are available.” 


Three Mothers wait their turn at the family planning center in the Kuchingoro Primary Health Clinic. Credit: Toyin Adedokun, Chemonics.
Healing Through Education as Conflict and COVID-19 Disrupted Learning in Ethiopia

SDG4: Quality Education

In Ethiopia, the education system has faced significant challenges due to various crises, including conflict and the COVID-19 pandemic. The USAID-funded READ II Education Recovery Activity, implemented by Creative Associates International, has been instrumental in addressing these challenges and ensuring that all children have access to inclusive, supportive and quality education.

In 2021, seven-year-old Abel was finishing first grade when war arrived at his home in Ethiopia’s Amhara Region. Abel’s family fled, and he witnessed traumatic scenes that left him too afraid to attend school without his parents. Abel’s new school was among over 1,100 schools and temporary learning centers receiving assistive services under the USAID READ II Education Recovery Activity. The project trained 14,000 teachers, school directors and community leaders to provide psychological first aid and emotional support to students affected by conflict. Abel’s teacher, recognizing his trauma, sought counseling support through a referral system established by the project.

Teachers encouraged Abel and other traumatized children to participate in school life through sports and collaborative activities, praising each improvement in behavior. Abel gradually gained the confidence to sit in class without his parents, walk to school on his own and focus on lessons.

By the end of the school year, he ranked third in his class. In six years, READ II was able to:
    • Distribute 600,000 supplementary reading materials in seven local languages.
    • Train 65,000+ parents on transforming community attitudes toward education.
    • Organize 6,000 reading camps to promote literacy and a culture of reading.
    • Provide 5,000 sports and recreational items to schools and IDP camps to aid in trauma recovery. 



Creative has established itself as a leader in navigating complex political environments and deploying large-scale educational programs even in active conflict zones. READ II, initially launched to improve early-grade literacy, pivoted to address the educational needs arising from the COVID-19 pandemic and, later, the armed conflict in northern Ethiopia. The project’s ability to adapt and provide psychosocial support and emergency education services was vital in helping over 700,000 students and educators navigate the aftermath of conflict and resume their educational journeys.

By promoting education as a life-sustaining activity, the READ II Education Recovery Activity has played a crucial role in ensuring that, even in the most challenging circumstances, children have the opportunity to learn, heal and envision a better future.



For more information, visit: www.CreativeAssociatesInternational.com


Making Blended Finance Work for Climate

Sharon D‘Onofrio, Director of Learning, USAID INVEST 

Blended finance, which deploys public resources to attract private capital for social gain, represents more than just a financial strategy; it’s an opportunity to influence the direction of capital flow in response to a shared global challenge — the climate crisis.

DAI has been managing the USAID INVEST program since 2017, during which time it has become one of the Agency’s largest blended finance initiatives, mobilizing more than $1.4 billion for global development.
Notably, 21 percent of these funds have been channeled into climate-related initiatives, amounting to $301.6 million. Climate investments have been gaining momentum, with more than 50 percent of the project’s climate capital raised just in the past year.

Attracting Diverse Sources of Capital
Addressing the climate crisis at scale requires a diverse ecosystem of investors, including commercial banks, pension funds, venture capital, and other key players. INVEST has had considerable success engaging this investor landscape. The figure below illustrates the capital flow facilitated by INVEST from 11 categories of investors.

We have captured INVEST’s experience in a series of learning resources, but three of the key lessons are:

• Incentivize Risk-Taking: The greatest level of additionality tends to come from new markets, with new investors and new forms of financing. But if the incentive structure for partners requires them to unreasonably accelerate their efforts or is overly focused on the investment targets, opportunities with significant development potential may be overlooked.
• Leverage Private Sector Expertise: Tap into context-specific expertise and ideas during the design of programs and avoid being overly prescriptive when soliciting responses from potential partners.
• Build an Evidence Base Without Burdensome Reporting Requirements: Concerns associated with the burdens of donor reporting have been cited among the reasons private firms give for not responding to donor solicitations. Reporting requirements should align as far as possible with the partner’s own data collection processes.


What Next?
Annual climate finance needs will grow from $8.1 trillion to $9 trillion in the run-up to 2030 and then exceed $10 trillion each year from 2031 to 2050, meaning that climate finance must increase by at least five-fold annually. INVEST has proven the crucial role of blended finance in meeting this enormous challenge. Now is the time to take these efforts to an even larger scale.
Climate Impacts and a Global Response
SDG 13: Climate Action
The scale of recent climate impacts is unprecedented. The last five years have been the hottest on record since 1850, and 2023 saw a record 63 climatedriven billion-dollar disaster events worldwide. The effects of climate change will disproportionately strike low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) as rising global temperatures driven by atmospheric greenhouse gases concentrations create development challenges, including food insecurity, lack of access to energy, and worsening health outcomes. The economic damage caused by climate change also impedes development outcomes in LMICs. Deloitte’s modeling shows that unchecked climate change, where global average temperatures rise by 3°C, hinders growth in every region. Unless the world takes rapid and coordinated action, an increasingly climate damaged economy could become the new normal, with estimated costs of $178 trillion globally by 2070.

Deloitte helps LMICs confront the climate crisis by leveraging our 30+ years of international development experience to provide innovative yet practical approaches to climate change mitigation and adaptation and resiliency. Our work across climate finance, climate equity, green transport, resilient infrastructure, urban sustainability, circular economy, water resources management, and solid waste management mitigates greenhouse gas emissions and help communities and countries adapt to new climate conditions. Our approach puts equity and social inclusion at the center of our work, recognizing that marginalized groups disproportionately bear the impacts of climate change. Deloitte’s approach also incorporates new technologies, like artificial intelligence, to model future climate scenarios, identify pathways to decarbonization, and build more resilient utilities and infrastructure.

Deloitte’s work helping development organizations drive global climate action includes:
    • Advancing inclusive urban sustainability development: Deloitte works with the Government of Indonesia to support the urban planning of Indonesia’s new capital, IKN, and its goal of becoming a 75 percent green space city. In Vietnam, Deloitte advised the government on the development of its Action Plan to Respond to Climate Change.

    • Supporting an equitable and inclusive energy transition: Deloitte has supported Just Energy Transition (JET) principles in various regions, including Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In Southern Africa, Deloitte worked with local universities to support women in municipal governments to become JET change agents and train women engineers to better contribute to the energy transition. In Jordan, Deloitte supported the launch of ASPIRE II, the second round of its Women in Energy Leadership Skills Development Program, targeting female energy professionals to foster career advancement and promote inclusivity in the sector. 

    • Developing tools to enable energy sector stakeholders to access climate finance: Deloitte created an investment review tool and application assistance guide that provides information on options for electric utilities to access climate finance and develop financing applications. Countries like Nepal are now using these tools to better understand and unlock climate finance.
    • Helping international donors and local counterparts understand the impacts of digitalization and cybersecurity: Deloitte hosted a workshop for utilities in Southern Africa to expand awareness of how remote sensing and machine learning can support resilient electrical grids better able to withstand the impacts of climate change.
    • Advancing donor organizations’ responses to climate and biodiversity opportunities: Deloitte has assisted numerous international financial institutions in assessing countries’ exposures to climate and nature impacts, risks, and opportunities.


USAID Power Africa

Deloitte is committed to driving climate action in the developing world across sectors and industries to advance benefits for people and the planet. 

1 IPCC Climate Change Widespread, Rapid, Intensifying
2 Gallagher Natural Catastrophe and Climate Report 2023
3 Climate Change and the Developing World: A Disproportionate Impact
4 The turning point | Deloitte
People-Centered Justice for More Responsive and Effective Legal Systems

SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 16, stresses the need to foster inclusive justice systems worldwide. Widespread lack of access to justice services—activities aimed at upholding and promoting fairness, equality, and the rule of law—impacts both people’s lives and development outcomes. Lack of access contributes to joblessness, loss of property, homelessness, and ongoing grievances that stress individuals, families, and societies.

People-centered justice (PCJ) is an effective approach to addressing the justice gap and fostering inclusive justice systems. While institutional reform is an important and necessary element of justice sector reform, Dexis’ approach to PCJ is defined and driven not by the needs of institutions but by the needs of the users those institutions are meant to serve. Justice institutions thereby are the means, not the ends, of rule of law assistance. When it comes to dealing with crime, a PCJ approach increases access to redress, victim services, and prosecution and adjudication that are bound by due process rights. It increases trust in the legal system, enhances community wellbeing, and ultimately can help reduce criminal behavior.

Dexis is currently pioneering a large-scale PCJ project, the USAID-Funded Independent and Effective Justice Activity in El Salvador. Working with Fundación Nacional Para El Desarrollo (FUNDE), the project will collect data and conduct investigations into political influence on the justice sector. In Central America, where insecurity and low access to justice contribute to people’s decision to migrate, PCJ projects and activities can help respond to the root causes of migration


A community police event takes place in El Salvador.

Operationally, PCJ strategies and approaches can take many forms. They may include community-based, free legal services and referrals; technical assistance to improve handling and use of evidence; strengthening lawyering skills for hearings/trials; introducing trauma-informed skills for interviewing, and specialized training for different types of crimes. PCJ can also include training and coaching defenders on people-centered techniques, including how to engage, interact, interview, and inform clients with empathy. Court user committees (CUCs), which bring together justice users and justice providers by creating space for dialogue, are also an effective PCJ mechanism for building trust between users and courts and bridging the divide between an overly formalistic and distant justice sector and users who yearn to be heard and validated. This, in turn, creates accountability that is based on solidarity and mutuality—accountability that is more voluntary than it is enforced.

Ultimately, PCJ reframes the justice sector as a service provider. While more data are still needed, by incorporating PCJ approaches in a way that is responsive to the unique conditions present in each national and subnational context, development actors can help transform justice services for the better. Closing the justice gap is an immense task. People-centered approaches are a key part of the solution.

Creating an Easier Way for Businesses in Kosovo to Finance Exports


SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
With growth in manufacturing and continued expansion of Kosovo’s exports, firms have seen an increased need to finance export contracts (i.e., to pay for the inputs, production, and shipping of exported goods before receiving payment in turn). The USAID Kosovo Compete Activity, implemented by DT Global — which promotes resilient, self-sustaining market systems and improves the private sector’s competitiveness in local, regional, and global markets — has worked to strengthen exporting businesses since launching in 2020. This includes exploring additional financing options that broaden coverage and are structured to meet exporters’ needs, such as cash flow agreements that provide bridge funding to exporters so that they have access to capital while they wait for buyers to pay invoices.



Because traditional banks often require high collateral (not affordable for many Kosovar businesses) and apply low property valuations, up to 60 percent of Kosovar businesses in sectors such as wood processing, food processing, and information and communications technology, choose to use their own financial resources to fund their export contracts.

This places constraints on exporters’ abilities to meet large orders, or to invest funds in fixed or human capital enhancements to grow their businesses. It also excludes a portion of firms from exporting if they are unable to afford self-financing their export orders.

In response, the USAID Compete Activity worked with the Kosovo Credit Guarantee Fund to develop and launch a new loan guarantee mechanism called the “Export Window.” Through the Export Window, banks can receive guarantee coverage (akin to insurance) for up to 50% of the value of loans to exporters. This reduces banks’ risks in loaning funds to exporting businesses, enabling them to relax loan conditions and associated costs. In turn, this unlocks borrowing for a larger number of micro, small, and medium enterprises — which account for around 99 percent of Kosovar businesses — to be able to finance export contracts.

The Export Window opens up a world of possibilities for Kosovar businesses to expand their production capacities and products, further increasing their competitiveness in regional and international markets. It is an important step in expanding export-oriented financing for Kosovo entrepreneurs and is projected to generate at least 6,000 new jobs for Kosovars. In its first 15 month of operation alone, the Export Window provided guarantee coverage for over €7.8 million in loans to exporting businesses in Kosovo.
Promoting Sustainable Development Through Gender Integration

SDG 5: Gender Equality

ECODIT is a women-owned small business (WOSB) working across sectors throughout the world to meet Sustainable Development Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. The company works to advance this goal in the environment, energy, climate, resilience, and governance sectors, among others. “We have seen that by adopting a gender focus throughout implementation, we not only advance gender equality but also amplify and sustain development impact,” said ECODIT President Roula Attar.

In the land tenure and property rights field, for example, Liberia is advancing women’s rights and strengthening secure land tenure. Through the USAID Liberia Land Management Activity, ECODIT provided training on land tenure to more than 300 community leaders, youth, members of marginalized groups, and town criers-- half of whom were women. Participants engaged with each other in open discussions that ended up changing deeply held beliefs. For example, at the beginning of one training, 90% of participants expressed their view that women are not entitled to land rights. After the training, 85% of those same participants changed their mind and supported women’s land rights. This shift in attitudes paved the way for the emergence of new female leaders in the sector and ECODIT is now supporting these leaders with leadership tools and mentorship opportunities, as well as training on dispute resolution and land tenure processes.

Taking active steps to engage women can also lead to improved economic and environmental outcomes. In Zimbabwe, for example, ECODIT is working with communities to boost their incomes and enhance their resilience, with a strong focus on women’s meaningful participation. For the USAID Resilience ANCHORS Activity, ECODIT trained primarily female community members in the mid-Zambezi valley on new environmentally sustainable livelihoods, organized them into producer groups, and connected them to markets. There are now 500 more households to which women contribute income for the first time. To further build on this progress, ECODIT introduced savings and lending groups in communities without access to financial services, so women and their families can directly invest in their future.

ECODIT has found that engaging women and girls is particularly critical for moving the needle on social and environmental issues. In Cambodia, ECODIT is mobilizing youth in a wide-ranging campaign to change behaviors impacting the environment. For the USAID Green Future Activity, ECODIT organized high school and college students into “Green Groups” that design and implement social media campaigns and events in support of environmental conservation. An impressive 80% of these groups’ members are women. 



The Green Groups have helped usher in wide ranging change in Cambodia. The project’s endline Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) survey showed that showed that 83% of youth now believe that biodiversity conservation, forest protection and sustainable natural resource management are important, compared to just 45% at the project’s start in 2020.

The survey also showed that young people are now more than 2.5 times as likely to engage in frequent discussions with their friends about environmental issues, and nearly six times as likely to engage in discussions with family members about these issues.

In Lebanon, where ECODIT is promoting sustainable solid waste management (SWM) solutions through the USAID DAWERR Activity, women have also played a key role in mobilizing communities to address long-standing challenges in the country’s SWM sector. ECODIT encouraged women and youth to join local Municipal SWM Committees, which advise municipalities and influence decision-making, and the committees now have equal representation of women and men across target municipalities. In addition, DAWERR engages women, youth and marginalized groups in co-creation workshops, town hall meetings, and community events.

These examples all demonstrate the importance of gender integration to advancing development outcomes and to ensuring sustainability. Building on this work, ECODIT is now working with USAID to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment across the Agency’s Program Cycle. Specifically, for the USAID Gender Leadership, Equity, and Advancement for Development (LEAD) Program, ECODIT and its partners provide collaborative, multisectoral gender integration technical assistance to USAID Missions and other Operating Units; promote thought leadership and the development of knowledge products and learning; build connectivity and enhance knowledge sharing platforms for Agency and external stakeholders; and support learning and partnership through small grants to local and underutilized partners focused on promoting gender equality and deconstructing harmful social norms and behaviors.

The future of development is bright, and women have a critical role to play in realizing their countries’ full potential. ECODIT is proud to have partnered with USAID and local communities to support women’s meaningful engagement across development sectors and looks forward to amplifying these partnerships and continuing to work towards SDG 5, and beyond. 


Empowering Angola: Advancing Financial Inclusion Through Mobile Money and Female Empowerment

SDG 1: No Poverty

About half of Angolans are unbanked, and despite approximately 70 percent owning a mobile phone, the mobile money penetration rate is just six percent. Mobile money allows people without bank accounts to safely spend, transfer, and manage their money. Therefore, in Angola, where access to traditional banking services is limited, increasing the availability of financial services is a pressing issue.

It is also an issue intertwined with Great Powers competition, as some mobile money providers use technology coming from the People’s Republic of China and some do not—a context in which the United States seeks to promote financial inclusion particularly through growth of providers not using such technology.

The United States Agency for International Development funded Dinheiro Digital é Melhor (DDM, “Better than Cash”) Activity, operated under the IDG implemented five-year, $58 million Technical Assistance Project for Economic Growth, partnered with Africell Group — a mobile money technology company—to improve the financial inclusion of Angolans as well as promote cybersecurity and counter malign influence in the digital sphere.

Through two components, the Activity targets the underbanked and unbanked. First, DDM provides technical support to the Africell Group and its local partners to streamline digital payment implementation within a rapidly expanding user base. Second, DDM aims to create an ecosystem in Angola where mobile money is widely accepted and that fosters radically expanding financial inclusion. DDM also prioritizes gender inclusivity, exemplified by the recent launch of the first training for Female Empowerment for Inclusion and Financial Literacy, where 500 women were trained to become mobile money agents. Through the training initiative, 150 Africell Group brand ambassadors will be onboarded to support the mobile agents in spreading awareness and knowledge of digital payments in local markets in Luanda, Angola. The Activity empowers participants by providing them with phones and financial literacy knowledge—this two-pronged approach offers participants with the information needed to develop their businesses and successfully market to new users.


Recently, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Angola and met with some women agents and brand ambassadors who attended the training. Sandro Luis de Sousa Mangueira, a brand ambassador with the program said, “I made some demonstrations of how the agent service works, and Secretary Blinken seemed impressed.”

“I enjoyed taking part in the Financial Inclusion training by Dinheiro Digital é Melhor. I learned the importance of saving and using digital money. I have shared the experience with my colleagues in the market and have been working with Afrimoney to expand the use of digital money in the market. I encourage the cause of continuing to emancipate women to become agents, supporting them to also be agents, inside and outside Luanda,” said Conceição da Costa André, one of the participants in the training.

DDM is a two-year, nearly five million project supporting the Government of Angola’s objective to increase financial inclusion and the U.S. Government’s contribution to the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment. DDM builds on President Biden’s commitment at the 2023 G7 Summit to support the sustainable economic development in Africa by breaking down barriers and reaching those previously excluded from the formal financial system.


Financial Inclusion Specialist, Vania Gomes, pictured with the participants of the Female Empowerment for Inclusion and Financial Literacy training
USAID Funding Can be Catalytic; Here's How

SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals
Ricardo Michel, Palladium co-CEO

How can you use $35 million of USAID funding to mobilize $650 million of private sector investment? This is what the Kenya Investment Mechanism (KIM) achieved over five years, and the impact on Kenya’s economic landscape, entrepreneurship, innovation, and beyond will be felt long after the life of the project. 

We must achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, but the funding gap to do so is enormous; far too big for the public sector alone to tackle, and nor should it. Instead, by providing seed funding through investment mechanisms like KIM, USAID and other development agencies can leverage the right finance and investment tools to foster systemic changes and ensure catalytic impact.

My belief is that the intentional use of the right tools will lead to good, sustainable development, and we’re seeing this firsthand in our work at Palladium.

So, how did we do this in Kenya? KIM started by incentivizing and strengthening the ecosystem of local financial institutions and business advisory service providers (BASPs) through training and technical assistance. These targeted interventions across the financial ecosystem helped facilitate private finance and investment for the working capital needs of smallholder farmers and micro, small, and medium enterprises, which were both vastly underfunded and largely ignored.

KIM helped financial institutions to develop new products, making it easier for them to engage in future transactions with little to no technical assistance. For example, using KIM’s technical training, Absa Bank adopted a venture capital approach as part of their agribusiness lending strategy.

The innovative ‘pay for results’ incentives introduced by KIM reduced the perceived risk associated with small business financing. As a result, 122 transactions were successfully closed between BASPs and financial institutions, demonstrating the strength of the partnerships established through KIM. At the same time, the team led policy reform efforts which were laser-focused on removing barriers to large scale investments into these sectors, helping to unlock even more finance in a sustainable way.

From the agricultural technology company that received an investment from John Deere to scale up its tractor financing product, to the small macadamia nut farmers matched with business advisors and entrepreneurial coaching so that they could receive financing, KIM’s work is forging lasting relationships and systemically improving small businesses’ access to finance across the country.

The capital raised across the Kenyan financial ecosystem, which was invested in more than 400 businesses, shows that through smart incentives and demand-driven technical assistance, you can facilitate private finance and leverage investment to bolster whole sectors of an economy.

And the impact hasn’t gone unnoticed.

At last year’s AmCham Business Summit, Kenya’s President Ruto heralded the work USAID and other organizations have done to create an operating environment for Kenyan businesses and acknowledged several KIM-supported companies helping to boost agro-industrial productivity and food security.

Now, it’s time to double down. While development agencies can’t achieve all this alone, they have the keys to unlock greater sustainable impact.  
Strengthening Global Health Security Through Localization

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being

As we know all too well, diseases can spread quickly across the globe, resulting in pandemics that overwhelm health systems and upend lives and economies. We also know that local communities must be involved from the outset for global health security interventions to be successful in the long-term.

Through the USAID Localize Global Health Security (LGHS) project, Panagora Group, together with partners PATH and Itad, is supporting local organizations around the world to address prioritized health security gaps and strengthen their capacity to protect their communities from infectious disease threats.

Thinking globally, acting locally
Through LGHS, we localize global health security, working in each country to identify local organizations who can most influence better detection, response, and prevention of infectious disease outbreaks and support local communities to address outbreaks where they occur. 

As a woman-owned small business with deep experience in global health and a long-term dedication to locally led approaches, Panagora is right-sized to take on this role; we easily work with smaller local health actors and can quickly pivot as needs evolve.

For this project, we are building on the work of other USAID global health programs by working with local actors to 1) address critical health security gaps identified in national health security capacity assessments through grants and technical assistance in prioritized technical areas, 2) strengthen organizational capacity of local entities to effectively manage implementation of health security interventions, and 3) expand the global knowledge base of approaches and best practices.

As of March 2024, LGHS countries include Cameroon, Jamaica, Kenya, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Zambia, and we will expand to a total of 15 countries across Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Expanding capacity and knowledge
LGHS complements the multisectoral, cross-technical approaches of other Global Health Security (GHS) programs to move countries closer to achieving Global Health Security Agenda targets. A $14.4 million flexible grants program aims to address subnational gaps in global health security, accompanied by technical assistance in GHS and capacity strengthening to support organizational growth.

Grantees will participate in local and global peer networks to share their experiences, lessons learned, and best practices—including in-person and virtual events and capacity-building workshops—and have access to resources to increase their GHS knowledge and skills.

Through this groundbreaking project, we are thrilled to be achieving our mission of “making our world a better place for good” by helping USAID meet its localization goals and increase health security at a local and global level.



Water For the World: The Critical Role of Water Security for Sustainable Development

SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
By Jonathan Annis, Director of Water Security, Sanitation, and Hygiene, Tetra Tech

Water security underpins economic development, human health, food systems, ecosystem services, peace, and national security. Yet, across the world, freshwater resources and sustainable access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene services (WASH) have never been more threatened. Climate change, poor resource management, and decades of underinvestment have made freshwater resources a flashpoint for conflict, migration, and growing inequality.

The 2014 Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act  and the 2022 U.S. Global Water Strategy  elevated the United States Government’s (USG) commitment to improving water security and increasing access to WASH services in the world’s most fragile contexts. The results of these investments have been transformative. Over the past decade, the USG has increased sustainable access to safe water to over 21 million people, conserved vital ecosystems, mitigated water-driven conflict, increased food security, and reduced infant malnutrition in many of the world’s most impoverished countries.

Tetra Tech is proud to be a major USG partner in this area.

We’ve partnered with thousands of communities in over 20 countries to develop and deliver inclusive and innovative water security and WASH programming that has transformed lives, strengthened local capacity, and increased communities’ economic and social resilience. 

A leading implementer of the U.S. Global Water Strategy Action Research Initiative, Tetra Tech’s applied research through USAID WASHPaLS  and USAID URBAN WASH  has influenced governments, development partners, and the private sector to identify, adopt, co-finance, and scale global best practices. Our programs in East Africa, Central Asia and Central America have strengthened transboundary water governance and diplomacy by elevating the mutual benefits of water cooperation across borders and the application of state-of-the-art science to manage water sustainably and adaptively.

In all contexts, Tetra Tech uses water issues as an entry point to empower women, girls, and other marginalized groups. We partner with water utility leaders to increase workforce gender equality in male-dominated sectors , with 75% of our partners reporting business improvements. We expand access to WASH services  at schools and health care facilities to keep girls in school longer and promote safe maternal health. We systematically target women’s participation to empower them as WASH decision-makers in their household.

Recognizing the massive funding gap needed to achieve universal access to safe WASH services, Tetra Tech has developed partnerships to mobilize over $126 million in private sector, domestic and other non-USG investment in expanding and strengthening water and WASH service delivery systems.

 

Despite these notable gains, continued USG investment is critical to close the water management gap, invest in resilient water and sanitation systems and address climate change. Given water security’s intersection with foreign policy, national security and human development, the USG’s continued global leadership in this fundamental area is critical to shape a more prosperous and livable world.

About PSC
The Professional Service Council (PSC) is the premier trade association for federal contracting companies to advocate, educate, and create public-private dialogues on behalf of American contractors and their U.S. government customers. PSC’s membership of more than 400 U.S. companies provides critical support to every federal agency and department in the United States and around the globe.

About CIDC
PSC’s Council of International Development Companies (CIDC) creates a dynamic and sustainable advocacy platform for U.S. development companies to pursue thought leadership and high-level dialogue with USAID, the Department of State, Millennium Challenge Corporation, PEPFAR, the Development Finance Corporation, and other foreign assistance organizations. CIDC aims to educate audiences on the vital role international development companies play in achieving accountable, transparent and sustainable development results in support of U.S. national security, economic, and humanitarian goals overseas.

Learn more at www.pscouncil.org.