MONDAY

DEVELOPMENTS
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Out Ock
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ectio
Page 2
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The Latest Issues and Trends in International Development and Humanitarian Assistance

3ie: More Bang

for Your
Efficiency Buck
Kidnapped!
Repercussions
What is
Without Borders:
Social
Marketing
Could Island
Nations Disappear?

(Really)?

Academia:
Shaping the Next
Generation of
Development
Professionals
November
2009
Vol. 27, No. 11
 MONDAY
DEVELOPMENTS

Managing Editor/Art Director

Chad Brobst

Copy Editor
Kathy Ward

Advertising & Sales

Katherine Delaney

Communications Department
Nasserie Carew, Public Relations
Tawana Jacobs, Public Relations
Chad Brobst, Publications 23

Contents
Katherine Delaney, Publications
Tony Fleming, New Media
Leslie Rigby, Writer/Editor
Margaret Christoph, Admin Associate

Editorial Committee
Cover photo: Dan Preston 8
InterAction Communications Team November 2009 • Vol. 27 • No. 11

InterAction
Features
1400 16th Street, NW
Suite 210
Washington, DC 20036 Cover Story:
12
Tel: 202.667.8227
publications@InterAction.org
What is Social Marketing
(Really)? | 8
ISSN 1043-8157 An honest look at how social Technology Benefiting Adapting to
marketing can and does Humanity | 16 Climate Change in
Monday Developments is published 11 support development. Tech Awards Laureates from Sub-Saharan Africa | 23
times a year by InterAction, the larg- around the world tackle Insights on options, obstacles,
est alliance of U.S.-based international
Water Conservation Radio complex problems to improve what works and why.
development and humanitarian non- life for countless people.
governmental organizations. With more Makes a Splash | 11
than 170 members operating in every Radio novella attracts listeners
Education for Without Borders? | 25
developing country, InterAction works to to drama on the environment. For some island nations,
overcome poverty, exclusion and suffer- Development: changes in climate can literally
ing by advancing social justice and basic
Kidnapped! The State of Play | 18 mean the end of their existence.
dignity for all.
Universities strengthen their
Repercussions | 12
InterAction welcomes submissions of programs in international
The final article in a series Country-led
news articles, opinions and announce- development.
ments. Article submission does not guar- covering a fictional kidnapping Development | 27
antee inclusion in Monday Developments. scenario and how an NGO Heads of State from the
We reserve the right to reject submis- might respond. A Stable Future for developing world discuss
sions for any reason. It is at the discretion Humanitarian Jobs | 19 country-led and people–
of our editorial team as to which articles
More Bang for Your Candidates with analytical centered development during
are published in individual issues. framework to back up field
Efficiency Buck | 15 the recent UN General Assembly.
All statements in articles are the sole
experience will be sought.
Efforts to help aid groups
opinion and responsibility of the authors. improve and demonstrate
Changing Trends in Departments
Articles may be reprinted with prior per- effective impact.
mission and attribution. Letters to the
Development Inside This Issue | 3
editor are encouraged. Education | 21
Students’ course selections offer Inside Our Community | 4
A limited number of subscriptions are insights into future trends in Inside InterAction | 4
made available to InterAction member
agencies as part of their dues. Individual
subscriptions cost $80 a year (add $15
21 the field.
Step By Step Advocacy | 6
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Samples are $5, including postage. the Challenge | 22 Events | 28
Additional discounts are available for
bulk orders. Please allow 4-6 weeks for
Preparing international
delivery. Advertising rates are available development staff through social Employment
on request. work education. Opportunities | 29
 INSIDE This Issue

Unique
Opportunities for
Engagement
S
eptember and October always prove to be
very busy months in the life of any NGO concerned
with international development, humanitarian, envi-
ronmental, or other global work. InterAction and its
members were no exception, sending a delegation to engage
leaders and our members and partners at the G20 Summit
in Pittsburgh at the end of September. At that same time, I
was in New York to attend a number of events surrounding
the UN General Assembly and the Clinton Global Initiative.
While in New York, InterAction co-hosted an event with the
Millennium Challenge Corporation focusing on country-led
development (see page 27).
As I write this, I am preparing to travel to Istanbul, to rep-
resent the U.S. NGO community at a number of events taking
place as part of the World Bank and International Monetary
Fund annual meetings. InterAction and the U.S. NGO com-
munity has been given a number of opportunities to speak
directly with Bank and Fund leadership on the importance of
development assistance efforts focused directly on the poor-
est people around the world and the need to ensure active
civil society engagement in policy formulation and program
implementation. Earlier in September, I was pleased to par-
ticipate in the first joint World Bank-InterAction press con-
ference with World Bank Group President Robert Zoellick on
the impact of the global economic crisis on the world’s poor.
The community of U.S. NGOs currently faces unique
opportunities to shape the overall direction of U.S. foreign
assistance (ODA) and the evolution of private development
flows (PDA). InterAction is actively engaged in helping our
community as it navigates these waters and we are involved
in senior-level conversations to shape a policy environment
that is supportive of community-based development efforts
and the missions of our members.
As always, there is a tendency in Washington to defend
the status quo as it pertains to individual interests. However,
rarely has the InterAction community seen the potential to
positively affect how U.S. foreign assistance and development
efforts are structured for decades to come as the opportunity
promised by the current House Foreign Affairs Committee
and Obama administration processes, with the White House
Presidential Study Directive on development and the State
Department’s Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development
Review. Our aim is to embrace consensus goals and prin-
ciples, which will be reflected in the new legislation and in
the new policy documents.
Each of these reforms could shape the direction of U.S. for-
eign assistance and the role our community plays as a U.S.
government implementing partner or in influencing policy. It
is crucial that InterAction and its members are able to pro-
vide clear and effective input into these various policy and
legislative initiatives. The door to engage with the administra-
tion and Congress is wide open and our biggest challenge is
the ability of our community to reach a bold consensus that
focuses on the reality, needs and rights of the world’s poor.
Finally, in this month’s issue of Monday Developments we
focus on working with academia and how it is shaping a gen-
eration of development workers. Development assistance has
rapidly become a hot topic on college campuses and courses
on development and humanitarian issues fill up rapidly as
the next generation takes hold of the mission to serve the
poor and work to build a better world. InterAction and its
members need take this opportunity to develop stronger rela-
tionships with colleges and universities, to collaborate on
programs and to teach the best practices we develop in our
field programs. We also need to look more closely at the most
appropriate space for American citizens in development
work—the majority of people who make up InterAction orga-
nizations are not from the U.S., but local nationals working
in a U.S. NGO to help their own people. How the U.S. inter-
national non-profit community manages and balances the
strong interest of students in global engagement across many
universities and ensures the primacy of local national staff-
ing remains a real challenge. MD
Sam Worthington
President and CEO
InterAction

MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS November 2009 3

 INSIDE Our Community

EXIT) campaign, sponsored by the U.S. Agency for Interna-

PATH Wins 2009 Hilton Humanitarian Prize tional Development (USAID) and the MTV Europe Founda-
PATH has won this year’s Hilton Humanitarian Prize. tion raises awareness about human trafficking. The cam-
Path received the prize on September 21st at an awards paign is online (www.mtvexit.org), on air and on the ground.
ceremony that featured keynote speaker, Nobel Peace MTV EXIT concerts have been staged in Cambodia, Nepal,
Prize laureate, Muhammad Yunus. Other InterAction Thailand, Laos and the Philippines. More are scheduled for
members who have been awarded the prize include: BRAC Indonesia.
(2008), Women for Women International (2006), Heifer Nepali concert hosts Ashish Syangden and Malvika Subba,
International (2004), African Medical and Research the narrator of the MTV EXIT documentary “Sold,” told
Foundation (1999) and International Rescue Commit- crowds to read and heed the wallet-sized MTV EXIT anti-traf-
tee (1997). ficking cards they received as they entered the concert
The Conrad N. grounds. Segments from “Sold,” with victims’ testimonials
Hilton Humani- were blasted over loudspeakers in each city. MD
tarian Prize was
established by
the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation in 1996. The annual
$1.5 million dollar award honors a charitable or non-
governmental organization that has made extraordinary
contributions toward alleviating human suffering any-
INSIDE InterAction
where in the world.
The prize is the world’s largest humanitarian award
and ranks as one of the largest monetary prizes in any InterAction Creates NGO Hub at G20 Summit
category—equal to the Nobel Prize. The warehouse at Brothers Brother Foundation (BBF)
typically stores medical supplies prepared to be shipped to
developing countries. But for the week of September 21,
Concerts Raise Awareness of Human Trafficking it hosted over 18 NGOs from the U.S., UK, Canada, South
They came, they heard and they took home a message: Africa and Zambia.
Don’t be a victim of human trafficking. InterAction and BBF created an NGO Hub with over 50
More than 20,000 young work stations, internet connectivity, printing capability and
Nepalis wedged shoulder- food. The space was used by NGOs that were in Pittsburgh
to-shoulder inside a foot- for the G20 Summit to spread their message that the world’s
ball field in Kathmandu to twenty largest economies must do their part to eradicate
hear Indian singer Suni- global poverty and stop global warming.
dhi Chauhan and a slate The NGOs included Action Aid (UK), Christian Aid (Zam-
of Nepali artists perform bia), Bread for the World, CAFOD—Catholic Agency for
while warning about the Overseas Development (UK), GCAP—Global Call for Action
risks of trafficking at a Against Poverty (South Africa), Global Health Council,
USAID-sponsored MTV GreenPeace, The Hunger Project, InterAction, Jubilee
EXIT Live in Nepal concert
in September.
Another 15,000 boogied
in the foothills of the Hima-
layas as Australian pop
star Kate Miller-Heidke
and a slew of Nepali solo-
ists repeated the message
a week later in Pokhara.
Thousands more cheered
Nepal’s top pop artists who
warned about human traf-
ficking in the cities of Het-
auda and Dharana, gate-
Australian pop star Kate Miller- ways to neighboring India,
Heidke performing at USAID- at the end of the month.
sponsored MTV EXIT concert in The MTV End Exploita-
Pokhara, Nepal. tion and Trafficking (MTV NGO representatives in the G20 Media Center.

4 MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS November 2009

USA, Make Poverty History (Canada), Oxfam (U.S., UK,
Canada), Save the Children, UN Millennium Campaign and
World Vision. Many groups received credentials to attend
the summit, giving them access to media in attendance. The
InterAction alliance is grateful for the wonderful hospitality
and kindness shown by BBF, its staff and its partners.
InterAction Launches Best Practices &
Innovations Initiative
In September, InterAction launched its Best Prac-
tices and Innovations (BPI) Initiative, which in its first
phase will focus on agriculture and rural livelihoods. The
purpose of the initiative, which was made possible with
the support of the International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD), is to improve practice standards
by boosting the efficiency and impacts of field programs
and promoting information sharing on effective program
approaches. Through the BPI Initiative, InterAction
hopes to document and disseminate information on the
contributions and potential of NGO agriculture and food
security efforts. The findings will be used to support our
alliance’s advocacy on behalf of strong policies and pro-
gram models and increase the visibility of the NGO com-
munity’s work among donors and other development
agencies and actors.
The BPI Initiative invites InterAction member organiza-
tions and members of IFAD’s Agriculture and Rural Pov-
erty Working Group—an informal network of U.S. NGOs
concerned with rural poverty reduction—to submit exam-
ples of development practices they feel merit designation
as a best practice or promising innovation. Submissions
will be evaluated by a Selection Committee of experts in
agricultural development, who will assess submissions
against five criteria: evidence of effectiveness/success; effi-
ciency/cost-effectiveness; equitable outcomes for women
and men; sustainability; and replicability/adaptability.
The deadline for submissions is November 20, 2009.
For more information, please visit the Best Practices
Initiative page at www.interaction.org/best-practices-
innovations, or contact Laia Grino, Senior Research
Associate, at lgrino@interaction.org.
InterAction Welcomes New Members
In their September meeting, InterAction’s board of direc-
tors unanimously voted for seven new member organizations
to join the coalition. InterAction welcomes the following new
member organizations:
Easter Seals is the leading non-profit provider of services
and advocates for individuals with autism, developmental
disabilities, physical and mental disabilities and other spe-
cial needs. The organization offers help, hope and answers to
children and adults with disabilities and their families in the
United States, Puerto Rico, Australia and Canada.
Easter Seals has also expanded its activities to developing
countries over the past few years. Among those countries that
have  directly interacted with Easter Seals in some way on
issues relating to disability are: China, Dominican Republic,
Egypt, Iraq and Iraq/Autonomous region, Jordan, Morocco,
Namibia, Peru, Sri Lanka and Turkey. The vast majority of
Easter Seals services to individuals with disabilities and their
families are provided locally by affiliates and global partners
of Easter Seals, Inc.
Education Development Center (EDC) designs, delivers
and evaluates innovative programs to address some of the
world’s most urgent challenges in education, health and eco-
nomic opportunity. Working with public-sector and private
partners, they harness the power of people and systems to
improve education, health promotion and care, workforce
preparation, communications technologies and civic engage-
ment. EDC conducts 350 projects in 35 countries around
the world. They design fresh approaches and innovative tools
to improve teaching and learning worldwide for both in- and
out-of-school populations of all ages. Their work combines
local resources and expertise with the latest research to
achieve concrete results. Whether they are developing ESL
radio lessons for primary school children in remote Pakistani
villages; producing unbiased news programming for conflict-
torn South Sudan; writing an HIV/AIDS curriculum in Zam-
bia; or empowering young entrepreneurs in Macedonia; EDC
is committed to in-country partnerships, deep respect for local
knowledge and culture and collaborative decision-making.
Friends of ACTED provides adapted responses to support
vulnerable populations worldwide and to accompany them in
building a better future. Friends of ACTED support ACTED
programs worldwide that aim at saving lives, assisting vulner-
able people and bringing hope for a better future to those in
need with a specific focus on emergency relief, food security,
health promotion, education and training, economic devel-
opment and livelihoods, advocacy, institutional support and
regional dialogue, microfinance and cultural promotion. The
programs implemented by ACTED, in Africa, Asia, the Middle
East, Latin America and the Caribbean aim at addressing
the needs of populations affected by wars, natural disasters
and/or economic and social crises. Their interventions seek
to cover the multiple aspects of humanitarian and develop-
ment crises through a multidisciplinary approach which is
both global and local and adapted to each context.
Project Concern International’s (PCI) mission is to pre-
vent disease, improve community health and promote sus-
tainable development. They envision a world where abun-
dant resources are shared, communities are able to provide
for the health and well being of their members and children
and families can achieve lives of hope, good health and self-
sufficiency. Project Concern International works in disad-
vantaged and isolated communities to bring health and hope
to those in greatest need by preventing disease, respond-
ing in emergency relief situations and providing access to
clean water, nutritious food and economic opportunity. PCI
reaches 4.5 million people annually with programs in Africa,
continued on page 29
MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS November 2009 5
 Step By Step Advocacy
Increasing Your
Influence and
Power
By John Ruthrauff, Senior Manager of Member
Advocacy and Sarah Farnsworth, Senior Manager of
Government Relations, InterAction
Note: This is the eighth installment in a series of articles on
developing an effective advocacy strategy. The series began
in the March 2009 edition of Monday Developments. Previous
installments have examined selecting an issue, defining your
goal and “asks”, conducting a power analysis, building
strategic alliances, developing objectives and advocacy
activities.
A
s a strategy, advocacy has the advan-
tage of intending to increase the power avail-
able to organizations and alliances by win-
ning measurable victories. As explained by Lisa
VeneKlasen and Valerie Miller in their book A New
Weave of Power, People & Politics, “Power can be
defined as the degree of control
over material, human, intel-
lectual and financial resources
exercised by different sections
of society. The control of these
resources becomes a source of
individual and social power. Power is
dynamic and relational, rather than abso-
lute.” Advocacy organizations find they get only
as much change as they have the power to compel.
Understanding power, its strengths, obstacles and uses
is critical to the success of an NGO in its effort to influence
decision-makers. To understand how to wield your power you
must know how much influence you have (self-evaluation),
identify what your goal is, identify who you want to influence
and then conduct a power analysis of who can influence that
person. You also need to take stock of your resources, tools
and contacts.
Your self-evaluation will include an assessment of your
board members, donors and staff, all of whom are the pri-
mary elements of a NGO’s powerbase which should be
deployed strategically with careful planning. Research and
identify other NGOs with similar goals and advocacy aspi-
ration and building coalitions, including organizations and
individuals on issues which will expand and broaden your
powerbase. But there is one tool, one critical piece that an
NGO and only an NGO has: An NGO can directly increase its
power by bringing to bear its field experience and field based
and tested knowledge. NGOs and their staff are on the cut-
ting edge of assistance planning and implementation, work-
6 MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS November 2009
ing directly with the people we all aim to help and can provide
information and evaluation results in real time.
Make sure you conduct a power analysis before moving
forward with actual advocacy efforts. This will help you to
assess your strengths, identify new opportunities and targets
and build the base of your organization with other influen-
tial people and decision makers (See the May 2009 Monday
Developments).
When analyzing the decision-maker you want to influence,
ask yourself:
• What board/boards does he or she sit on or did sit on?
(Perhaps the spouse or significant other sits on the
board of an organization with people your NGO leader-
ship or board knows.) Who are their donors (large and
small) and do you know any of those donors? Who has
endorsed them (unions, environmental groups, women’s
groups, parent-teacher associations, etc)?
• Are they members of groups with which you are
affiliated or which people from your staff or board have
joined? Who advises them and who are their main
endorsers?
All of this information is publicly available and
will help you to build the list of people you need to
influence so that they in turn can influence your
target individual. Be realistic about the time and
effort required and the contacts
that you have with these influ-
encers—better to talk to three
you know really well than with
ten with whom you have sporadic
“hi-bye” relationships while waiting
in the carpool line at school.
NGOs have a core constituency that can
be engaged in outreach and advocacy through
letters, phone calls and emails sent to their respec-
tive congressional offices. Identify and inventory your
resources:
Poll your board members:
• Do they know the decision-maker?
• Do they know someone who knows the decision-maker?
• Do they support the same political candidate in an
upcoming election? Attend the same meetings? Par-
ticipate on a PTA with the decision-maker? This is an
important inventory that should be re-visited from time
to time as people change their affiliations and build up
their circle of relationships over time.
Photo: Oleksandr—Fotolia.com
Poll your staff. Develop a database of your staffs’ home con-
gressional districts. Operational NGOs have the ability to bring
their field experience to influence key decision-makers. This
may involve a recently returned field staff member or a partner
from the field who can brief a key actor or his/her staff. When
your staff members return from the field, ensure they meet
with their Congressional representatives to speak about their
continued on page 29
 Staff Care Corner
Family Matters:
The importance of
strong families in stress
management
By Lisa McKay, Director of Training and Education
Services, Headington Institute
“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a fam-
ily. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.”
– Jane Howard
W
hen I run workshops on resilience and
stress management for humanitarian workers I
sometimes ask them to identify what they most
value, or to think of times that have been filled with joy.
Family almost always features prominently in their answers.
People’s most cherished and meaningful memories usually
involve time spent with those they love. We all know relation-
ships are incredibly important, yet our actions and attention
don’t always reflect what we say we most value. In the face of
the competing pressures of humanitarian work, our families
can get shortchanged.
Few careers can impact an entire family like humanitarian
work. Everyone in the family can be enriched by the diverse
experiences and opportunities to help others that come with
this work. But humanitarian work also shoves us into close
quarters with violence and suffering and can bring many
stressful challenges—personal risk and vicarious trauma,
the ongoing challenge of maintaining sustainable work-life
boundaries in the face of endless and acute need, exposure
to extreme experiences we can never completely convey to
those back home and frequent travel. These challenges can
test relationships and the stability of the entire family unit.
“Frequent travel”, for example, might seem innocuous in
light of the other things listed above, but it is not. “Separa-
Consider this…
• What else would you add to this list of traits that characterize
thriving families and why?
• Think about your own family. In which two of the seven traits
above are you naturally strongest right now? In which two are
Photo: deanm1974—Fotolia.com
you weakest?
• Which of these do you think are particularly helpful in coping
with the pressures of your work?
• Which of these traits do you think is most negatively impacted
by your work?
• What are two specific things you can do to invest in your fam-
ily in the next month? How and when will you do this?
tion from family” is often listed by humanitarian workers as
one of the most stressful aspects of their job. This is not just
in our heads; being separated from family shows up in our
health. Humanitarian workers who spend a lot of time away
from home and those without strong family or friendship net-
works are much more likely to get physically sick and experi-
ence other symptoms of stress.
Consistently prioritizing work over family is not good for
our families and it is not good for us. Ultimately, this means
that it is not good for the people we wish to assist either. For
many reasons, it is worth spending time and energy investing
in our families and important relationships.
Where to start? Most family strengths are built not born,
but every family is different as are the precise challenges
they face. There is no single right approach to building family
strengths. Below are seven traits that research suggests often
characterize thriving families. Also, in the box are some ques-
tions for you to think about and discuss with your family.
Use these as food for thought as you consider your unique
family and situation.
Seven traits of thriving families include:
1. Communication. Speaking and listening that is open,
clear, affirming, mutual, consistent, empathetic and
honest.
2. Commitment. Working toward shared goals and an
environment of trust and dependability.
3. Connectedness. Receiving support from and contribut-
ing to extended family and friendship communities.
4. Cohesion. Fostering emotional closeness and practical
interdependence, but balancing that with respect and
support for each member’s uniqueness.
5. Adaptability. Balancing stable roles and traditions with
the flexibility to change course and adapt to changes.
6. Spirituality. Believing in and acting on a positive sense
of purpose and meaning and a value system beyond self-
interest.
7. Resource management. Managing time, money and the
pursuit of personal and family goals in a manner that is
balanced, competent and coordinated. MD
MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS November 2009 7
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S ocial marketing is an old term,
originally coined in the 1970s by marketing gurus
Philip Kotler and Gerald Zaltman. In the develop-
ment field, however, it is often misunderstood. A quick
Internet search yields myriad uses and definitions of the
term, but most of these do not represent the concept as
it is practiced by today’s social marketers. Despite the con-
fusion, there is one definition that can be agreed upon by
social marketing practitioners: As explained by the National
Social Marketing Centre, social marketing is the systematic
application of marketing principles to achieve specific behavioral
goals for a social good.
In practice, this means that social marketers use concepts from
Photo: This page, Dan Preston; Opposite page, zagorskid—Fotolia.com
commercial marketing in their work on social change projects.
Historically, the development field has exhibited some uneasiness
around the use of marketing principles and even the word market-
ing, as marketers are often perceived as “manipulative.”
“The practice of social marketing is fundamentally consumer-
centric and focused on meeting the needs of the people we serve,”
said John Strand, Vice President and Director of the Center for
Social Marketing and Behavior Change at AED. “At its heart, mar-
keting is about exchange—what arrangement can marketer and
consumer reach that leaves them both satisfied?” In the commer-
cial world, this translates to a marketer providing a razor blade so
that consumers can have smooth, hair-free skin. In the develop-
ment world, this means designing social change programs that
treat the audience as an equal partner in the exchange. For exam-
ple, a program increasing access to mosquito-repelling bednets so
that individuals can lower their chance of catching malaria.
With the fundamental exchange in mind, social marketers
design their programs using the “4Ps” of marketing: product, price,
place and promotion. In the commercial exam-
ple of razor blades, the product is the razor
blades themselves. The price is the $3.99 that
the consumer must give up to purchase the
razor blades. Place refers to the location at
which the razor blades are purchased – per-
haps in a drug store. And finally, promotion
represents all of the promotional efforts,
often including advertising and sampling
that the company engages in to create
awareness about the razor blades.
Thus, in the practice of good
marketing, razor blade ven-
dors constantly con-
Social Marketing
sider the 4Ps and to use them to
maximize sales. If, for example,
consumers are not purchasing
the razor blades because the
price is too high, the market-
ers must lower the price. In turn,
this may mean that the marketers
are forced to change the product
when a reduced price forces cuts in
production quality. Or, it may mean that
they have fewer funds available for promo-
tion. But in essence, it is through finding the balance of the 4Ps that
the marketers maximize their profits.
“These terms may cause some discomfort for a social change
professional,” warned Strand. “After all, social change isn’t about
profit; it’s about improving lives.” Yet, if the terms are translated to
more familiar development language, marketing provides a useful
framework for social change. To begin, profit is simply the measure-
ment tool of the business world. The earning of money represents
success. In substituting “behavior change” for “profit” the paradigm
smoothly shifts to development. Development practitioners cer-
tainly use measurement tools to assess their programs’ efficacy;
they simply express them in different terms, such as “500,000 fewer
cases of malaria in 2010 than in 2009.”
So too, can development professionals consider the 4Ps in
their program design. In the case of a program selling insecticide-
treated bednets with a goal of reducing the incidence of malaria,
the product is the bednet itself. The price may be roughly equivalent
to $1. However, in the practice of social marketing it is important
to think of price beyond the typical monetary constructs. Rather,
price represents what must be “given up” in order for the product
to be used. With bednets, the sleeping area becomes hotter as air
circulates less freely around the sleeper, so the consumer gives up
or pays for malaria protection with a warmer night. Perhaps (for
illustrative purpose) the users of bednets are viewed in an unfavor-
able way in their communities. In cases such as this, the consumer
gives up favorable peer impressions, a social cost and another way
of thinking about price.
The issue of place is also vital to development professionals. It
answers the question, “Where will people go to receive my inter-
vention?” If, for example, all of the bednets are in the capital city
but they need to go to rural areas, social marketers need to develop
systems of distribution to ensure that the people in rural areas have
access to the bednets. They also need to ensure that vendors in the
villages have bednets available for sale.
Finally, a social change program can use promotion to raise
awareness or to change perceptions about their products and pro-
grams. Through the use of radio advertising, for example, a social
marketer can attempt to increase demand for bednets. Promotion
could also be used to drive a change in the perceptions of the peo-
ple who use bednets. A character in a radio drama who uses bed-
nets could be presented as the most prosperous, thereby increas-
ing the social status of the nets.
MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS November 2009 9
 Social Marketing
“It is critical to note,” said Strand,
“that promotion alone is NOT social
marketing. This is because promotion
is fundamentally used to affect aware-
ness and perception, and NOT behav-
ior change.” A campaign that uses
advertising to inform people about the
importance of bednets is a commu-
nications campaign and is measured
not in the number of lives affected by
malaria, but in the number of people a
message reaches.
It is also important to note that in our
bednets example, all of the framing logic
assumed that bednets were the correct
solution. However, just as marketers
must be willing to change their prod-
ucts, social marketers are also forced to
examine their products and programs.
If bednets were found to be ineffective
at preventing malaria, or if no combi-
nation of the other three “Ps” resulted
in an increase in the use of bednets, a
social marketer would be forced to reex-
amine the program’s logic and goals.
Promotion is fundamentally
used to affect awareness
and perception and NOT
behavior change.
In this case, the social marketer
would perform research to determine
what a more appropriate solution
would be. Indeed, as traditional mar-
keters know, it is not possible to make
consumers purchase things they do
not want. Nor can social marketers
coerce their audiences into changing
their behaviors if the desire to do so is
not present. Rather, social marketers
must work with the people they serve to
ensure that an exchange is made, one
that is fair and attractive to all parties.
Indeed, it is this reliance on fair
exchange that makes social marketing a
truly successful framework for develop-
ment work. Without working closely with
the target audience to carefully consider
their actual needs and preferences, a
social marketing program is destined
for, if not failure, a very rocky road. It is
this close interaction with people a social
marketer serves that makes the relation-
ships and programs constructive and
genuine. Which, in turn, creates suc-
cessful programs that change lives. MD
10 MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS November 2009
Decade-long Project Builds Thriving African
Mosquito Net Industry
Data finds combined approach of selling bednets and giving vouchers
for subsidized and free nets to be effective, sustainable, replicable.
NetMark, a decade-long, USAID-funded,
public-private partnership to protect mil-
lions of families from malaria in sub-Saha-
ran Africa, helped sell 50 million bednets in
seven countries, crafted a voucher system
to allow the poor to receive them for free or
partial cost and created enough incentives
for private companies that they invested
$88 million to expand their businesses.
NetMark ended on September 30, but
the bednet market continues to thrive in
seven countries where it operated: Ethiopia,
Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda and
Zambia. Not only did the U.S. investment
help spur major spending by private com-
panies (for every $1 in public funds, African
and international businesses spent $1.30), it
also helped create a new commercial sector
that now stands on its own. “We worked ourselves out of a job. They don’t need us any-
more and I’m proud of that,” said Juan Manuel Urrutia, AED’s Johannesburg-based deputy
director of NetMark. “There are now 41 African distributors who will continue to sell thou-
sands or millions of nets in those seven countries. The voucher system is now entrenched.”
The project, which started in 1999, worked like this: It formed partnerships with interna-
tional net and insecticide manufacturers and African distributors to create retail markets.
The parties then all worked together to launch the commercial marketing of insecticide-
treated nets. The distributors put the nets into retail outlets. And the stores, most of which
hadn’t been selling bednets, soon found a demand for them in part because of NetMark’s
national awareness campaigns on the benefits of using insecticide-treated nets.
Later, NetMark created a discount voucher system in which people who could not
afford the nets brought the voucher to a retailer, who was later reimbursed by the pro-
gram. It fulfilled two goals: making sure families in poverty would get the nets free or at
low cost and ensuring that the storeowners’ business was not undercut. The results were
indisputable. For example, awareness of insecticide-treated nets among Ugandan women
grew from 23 percent in 2000 to 98 percent in 2006; and 2.1 million African families used a
voucher for a net from a commercial outlet. Other groups, embracing the concept, started
voucher systems of their own.
An estimated 70 to 80 percent of all bednets in Africa are giveaways, according to stud-
ies. AED’s experience shows, though, that a commercial market can thrive side-by-side
with public handouts, becoming an important complement to the free distribution. Not
only does the market offer choice of different types of nets to Africans who can afford
them, but analysts believe it is vitally important to keep the market alive: It creates a new
commercial sector and it provides a backup system for net distribution if donors’ funding
drops due to the current global financial crisis or to other emerging health threats.
Jeffrey L. Sturchio, President and CEO of the Global Health Council, praised the initia-
tive for creating a model that will last. “This project shows the surprising results that come
Photo: John Rae
from combining creativity, commitment and commercial innovation on global health
issues,” he said. “It also shows that novel partnerships, bringing the public and private
sectors together, can achieve impressive improvements in public health in a way that is
reliable and sustainable.”

Water Conservation
Radio Makes a Splash
Radio novella attracts listeners to drama on the environment.
By Lindsey Wahlstrom, Programs Associate, PCI-Media Impact
R
osita is on a perilous mis-
sion: raging forest fires caused by
illegal slash-burning threaten to
consume the forests surround-
ing her highland village. She must find
a way to stop these devastating fires,
because if the forests go up in smoke,
so too will the livelihood of her people.
If five year-old Rosita does not
accomplish her imperative mission
before the angel of water fades from
the façade of the town’s quaint chapel
—as the angels of land and fauna have
already done—the village’s last vestiges
of hope will vanish forever.
Realistic? Maybe. Dramatic? Defi-
nitely. Did it get your attention? Abso-
lutely.
Rosita is one of several characters in
the Honduran radio soap opera, Angel
Water, written and produced by Red de
Desarrollo Sostenible (RDS)—Hondu-
ras (Sustainable Development Network
—Honduras). RDS is a not-for-profit
organization that promotes sustainable
development through information shar-
ing technology and project development.
This year, RDS adopted a new strategy
to disseminate their message in Valle de
Ángeles, Honduras when, in May, they
employed drama to creatively address
threats to the local eco-system and way
of life in the country’s first environmen-
tally-focused radionovela and radio
magazine, From the River Basin.
According to RDS Project Coordinator,
Victor Avila, the initiative was born out
of the organization’s desire to inform and
engage local residents in the campaign
to end destructive behaviors such as
agricultural forest burning and dumping
household waste into the local river.
“People from the city come here to
relax and don’t realize they are a part
of this system,” he said. “We are doing
this program so that the people take
responsibility [for the environment].”
RDS and a team of local partners
use over-the-top drama, colorful char-
acters and intriguing plot twists to
captivate 1.5 million listeners and keep
them tuning in each week, providing
RDS regular opportunities to inform
and excite the audience about local
conservation efforts.
Every Friday night, a pair of vol-
unteer hosts puts the soap opera in
context by interviewing local environ-
mental experts, discussing the issues
with listeners via phone calls and text
messages and by interacting with the
program’s mascots, who have become
local celebrities themselves. The team
has also sponsored a variety of com-
munity events from listener groups to
street theater to grab listener attention.
According to Balbina Olivera, of Con-
cejo de Cuenca, a Honduran organiza-
tion working to conserve, protect and
recuperate natural resources, more than
10,000 people participated in events at
a recent street fair, including a recycled-
materials fashion show, tasty traditional
foods and exaggerated characters that
towered over guests on stilts. The proj-
ect team hosted the two-day fair as one
of several events associated to promote
the radio show and its messages.
A number of local organizations
including Focuencas, La Casa de
Cultura, the Secretary of Natural
Resources and Radio Nacional de Hon-
duras provide technical and financial
support for Angel Water. Local volun-
teers between the ages of 12 and 70
(including Olivera) write, record, pro-
duce and host the show.
“People identify with the stories
since they have been taken from prob-
lems and situations that are common
not only in Valle de Ángeles but in all of
Honduras,” said Olivera. “It’s interest-
ing to hear the voice of someone you
know and even better when it’s about a
Radio Novella
topic that interests us.”
The team has also corresponded with
an organization that wants to rebroad-
cast the program in Panama.
It is still too early to know the exact
effect Angel Water is having (impact will
be measured through baseline and final
assessments and focus groups through-
out the program), but it has quickly
become the talk of the town, said Oli-
vera. “People are learning very difficult
concepts through the show,” she added.
Michael Castlen, Executive Director
of PCI-Media Impact, the primary orga-
nization providing technical assistance
and financing for the project, said it is
extremely important to create a project
that involves community members and
that refers to the local context. As he
explained, this means listeners “can
identify the service providers used in
the storyline or know the actor por-
traying their favorite character and not
only is listenership higher, but demand
for services and overall impact is sig-
nificantly greater.”
He also noted that radio drama is
effective in mobilizing community mem-
bers because the audience connects
and sympathizes with the characters.
“When listeners tune in to find out what
will happen with their favorite charac-
ter, they also hear the educational mes-
sages repeated over and over and, after
a while, those messages begin to influ-
ence their attitudes and behavior. The
trick to getting them hooked is creating
dramatic tension in each episode.”
RDS succeeded in creating this ten-
sion in the last episode when Rosita
became trapped in the middle of a for-
est fire and no one could find her.
So what happened? You, just like
everyone in Valle de Ángeles, will have
to tune in next week to find out. MD
Update
Since this article was written, Agua de
Angel was taken off the air because of
complications that arose from the military
coup. An online awareness and fundrais-
ing campaign by PCI-Media Impact has
brought attention to the tenuous situa-
tion of media in Honduras and raised the
funds needed to get the show back on
the air when the political situation allows.
For up-to-date information about Agua
de Angel, visit www.mediaimpact.org.
MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS November 2009 11
 Kidnapped!
Continuing Series: Kidnapped!
Repercussions
By Josh Kearns, Associate Security Coordinator, InterAction
This is the last in a four-part series
detailing a fictional kidnap scenario.
The purpose of the series has been to
highlight appropriate and inappro-
priate responses that organizations
might take and resources that are
available, when faced with the kidnap-
ping of staff. The scenario is based on a
recent hostage incident management
training conducted by the InterAction
Security Unit, in conjunction with Inter-
Action’s Security Advisory Group. All
events and characters are entirely ficti-
tious, as are all organizations with the
exception of United Nations Depart-
ment of Safety and Security, the Fed-
eral Bureau of Investigation and Over-
seas Security Advisor Council.
12 MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS November 2009
F
our NGO workers—Tony,
Wali, Sally and Hamid—were
kidnapped 72 hours ago. They
worked for two separate NGOs.
As NGO Alpha scrambled to respond to
the incident, the driver Hamid’s dead
body was found with a note stating
“no negotiation policy.” Patricia, Sally’s
mother, has landed in Nairobi, from
where she hopes to contact the kidnap-
pers herself. Meanwhile, both NGOs
have made statements to the media in
the hopes of softening the kidnappers’
treatment of their victims.
Sally’s mother Patricia, a wealthy
widow, was intent on finding a way to
Mogadishu to deliver a large cash pay-
ment to her daughter’s kidnappers, in
return for Sally’s release. Her plan was
to pay for a charter flight, make contact
with the kidnappers and then exchange
a suitcase full of cash for her daugh-
ter – just like in the movies. This poorly
thought-out plan was a disaster waiting
to happen. NGO Alpha immediately dis-
patched Laila, their office administrator
to Nairobi to try to control the damage.
They also contacted the U.S. embassy
there to enlist their help. Thankfully, it
wasn’t needed. Laila convinced Patri-
cia to meet her for coffee at her hotel
and prevailed upon the distraught
mother to let the professionals do the
job. NGO Alpha had a top tier consult-
ing company, with years of experience
in kidnapping incidents under its belt,
handling the case. It was not a matter
of money, Laila explained, but rather of
ensuring a quick and peaceful end to
the crisis. Patricia traveling to Mogadi-
shu would only create confusion and in
all likelihood another hostage situation.
At the worst, someone could be killed.
Patricia relented, feeling reassured
that Alpha was indeed handling the
situation. She agreed to wait in Nairobi.
Laila would stay also, spending time
with Patricia and updating her on new
developments.
Abdi, NGO Alpha’s security focal
point in Mogadishu, had just spent an
exhausting night on back and forth
phone calls between himself, headquar-
ters and the negotiating team assigned
to the case by the organization’s con-
sulting firm. He felt elation despite his
fatigue. The negotiators, in close coop-
eration with NGO Alpha, had come to
an agreement with the kidnappers. The
next step was for Abdi to meet with the
kidnappers at a neutral site to retrieve
the three remaining hostages. He had
been told to arrive alone by car and
park at the designated site, get out of
his car and wait. Though nervous about
the impending meeting, he felt confi-
dent that the ordeal was nearly over.
He placed a final call to headquarters to
let them know he was leaving. He’d call
them from the car as soon as he and the
hostages had safely arrived at the office.
In New York and Los Angeles, a ner-
vous energy had set in while the Crisis
Management Teams waited for Adbi’s
phone call. Though the hostages had
not yet been freed, there was little more
anyone could do to secure their release.
However, that did not mean that there
was nothing to do. NGOs Alpha and
Bravo had discussed in detail with
their consultant what they could
expect in the wake of this incident. The
period of initial response to the kid-
napping was now nearly over. But the
Photo: Eric Cote—Fotolia.com
repercussions and their responsibility
to respond to them, could go on for
years. Kidnap victims often experience
a range of after effects. Not only had
they been held hostage and possibly
beaten, they had also lost one of their
compatriots. They may even have wit-
 Kidnapped!
nessed his murder. The psychological
trauma was likely to be severe. It was
now the duty of the employing NGOs to
arrange for post-incident care.
Post-incident care begins the moment
hostages are freed. Their immediate
needs must be met in order to set them
on the road to recovery. Food and water
must be ready for them right away. The
opportunity to shower and change into
clean clothes should be provided. Hav-
ing family members present to meet
with the victims when they arrive in a
safe place is also crucial. In this case,
Patricia’s arrival in Nairobi turned out
to be a blessing in disguise. NGO Alpha
would be able to ferry Sally to Nairobi
as soon as possible after her return,
where her mother would be waiting
for her. Finally, having psychological
counseling available immediately after
the incident is crucial. (Most kidnap,
ransom and extortion insurance poli-
cies cover this expense.) In many cases,
post-incident care becomes a life-long
effort, especially in cases where post-
traumatic stress disorder is evident.
Back in Mogadishu, Abdi pulled into
14 MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS November 2009
the NGO Alpha compound with his
badly shaken passengers in tow. He
had made the necessary arrangements
for their immediate comfort, with food,
water, showers and other amenities
waiting for them. Wali’s wife was wait-
ing in the office, as were a handful of
staff from both NGOs. An experienced
representative from the consulting firm
was there as well to guide and advise
NGO staff on handling the situation.
There had been no time to get coun-
selors in place, but arrangements had
been made in Nairobi, where all three
would be flying later in the day. The
kidnap victims would be accompanied
on their flight by trusted friends and
family. They were now out of danger,
but their ordeal was likely to continue
for years to come.
The NGOs were not out of the woods
either. There are costs associated with
kidnappings. Care must be provided not
only for the staff who were held hostage,
but for others involved in the incident
as well. Staff in the Mogadishu offices,
particularly those who were close to the
victims, may be suffering some form
of stress, possibly severe cases. These
symptoms can be difficult to detect as
field staff may try to “tough it out,” so
it is important to know what the subtle
outward signs are. (Many of the better
security trainings can help with man-
aging this aspect of a hostage incident.)
Organizations also tend to take an
unexpected financial hit during kidnap
incidents. Key staff may be diverted to
crisis management roles, causing busi-
ness continuity to suffer. Increased
travel by staff may be necessary. Legal
fees may be incurred, especially if the
situation is mishandled. Kidnap, ran-
som and extortion insurance policies
often cover family counseling, rehabili-
tation, rest and recreation and other
costs associated with these incidents. It
is important to check with your provider
to find out exactly what is covered.
The truth is that NGOs are increas-
ingly being targeted by kidnappers. It
is crucial that the NGO community be
prepared. MD
For resources on kidnapping inci-
dents, please email Josh Kearns at
jkearns@interaction.org

More Bang for Your
Efficiency Buck
Efforts to help aid groups improve and demonstrate
effective impact.
By Christelle Chapoy, Advocacy and Communications Officer, International
Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie)
H
ow to cut school absen-
teeism by one quarter and
improve children’s learning? In
Kenya the answer was through
a school based de-worming program.
Is free distribution of insecticide
treated nets both more effective and
more cost-effective than cost-sharing?
In Kenya, programs that gave away
insecticide treated nets saved more
lives than ones that required recipients
to pay a small fee for the nets.
Does replacing dirt floors with
cement significantly improve the health
of young children in slum houses? In
Mexico, doing so helped significantly
decrease parasitic infections, diarrhea
and anemia, while also improving chil-
dren’s cognitive development.
Improving the effectiveness of anti-
poverty programs is crucial. And these
are the types of questions for which
political leaders and development
practitioners want answers as govern-
ments around the world increasingly
seek assurance that tax payers’ money
is well spent and achieves the desired
changes in people’s lives.
A country like Mexico for instance
has been at the forefront of ensuring
that its government was not spending
money on policies that did not work and
that social interventions were instead
based on solid evidence. It is the first
country to introduce mandatory impact
evaluation for all its social programs.
The Evaluation Gap Working Group
convened by the Centre for Global
Development issued a bold report three
years ago stressing the fact that “it is
deeply disappointing to recognize that
we know relatively little about the net
impact of most of these social programs”
and made an urgent call for more and
better impact evaluations.
3ie
tor patients’ compliance to tuberculo-
sis treatment. Through the program,
in which patients by text their daily
urine test results to a central database
in exchange for phone credits, we are
hoping to help stop the pandemic. 
In Mozambique, the findings from
the evaluation of Early Childhood
Development Centers will better
inform the Government national strat-
egy to strengthen children’s learning
and create a pre-primary school year
for five-year-olds. And there are many
more promising projects and informa-
The International Initiative for tion on how research can translate into
Impact Evaluation (3ie) is a new initia- action at www.3ieimpact.org.
tive that responds to demands for bet- The key question is how to build the
ter evidence. It works to improve the political buy-in for impact evaluation
lives of people in the developing world and ensure that we learn from what
by supporting the production and use has happened to make informed deci-
of evidence on what works, when, sions on future actions.
why and for how much. Last June, 3ie will be financing 50 new stud-
3ie announced its first round grants ies each year and engaging in advo-
of $4.3 million for better evidence and cacy with partners such as InterAction
development effectiveness. that share a commitment to improving
More than half of the 18 funded development effectiveness.
studies are in Africa, featuring inno- In this effort, a fundamental step is
vative and rigorous evaluation that to build alliances to support the use
tracks the impact of technology, in- and production of rigorous impact
kind and financial incentives and the studies and show how a donor and/
level of community participation on the or implementing agency can guarantee
effectiveness of interventions in educa- “more bang for its efficiency buck.”
tion, health, agriculture, social protec- An impact evaluation clinic will be
tion and the environment. organized for international NGO mem-
For example, 3ie is financing the eval- bers of InterAction early in 2010 and
uation of a mobile phone based health more joint initiatives to promote better
project in Karachi that helps to moni- studies for bigger impact are to come. MD
Join 3ie
Membership of 3ie is open to institutions that implement development
programs. To read more about benefits and download the application
form at www.3ieimpact.org/joining.
Free services available to all:
• Free access to 3ie knowledge services including its impact evaluation
database, expert roster and seminar series.
• Receive information on upcoming calls for proposals, events and
new research and publications through 3ie’s emailing list ‘3ie news’
and website
• Access to www.3ieimpact.org and 3ie social network at
http://3ieimpact.ning.com/
• Experts who have conducted rigorous impact evaluations are
encouraged to apply to the 3ie expert roster and the pool of external
reviewers for 3ie grant programs.
MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS November 2009 15
 Technology
The Tech Awards 2009:
Technology Benefiting Humanity
Tech Awards Laureates from around
the world tackle complex problems to
improve life for countless people.
By Peter Friess, Ph.D., President, The Tech Museum and
David Whitman, Director, The Tech Awards
Nokia Health Award 2009
mPedigree, (Ghana). Counterfeit drugs are ubiquitous in the
developing world; up to 80 percent of drugs in pharmacies are
fakes with little or no active ingredients. Pharmaceutical man-
ufacturers label packages with an alphanumeric code, which
is later confirmed when consumers send free text queries in
to the mPedigree database. This low-cost, instant method for
reducing drug counterfeiting is expanding from Ghana to
India, Nigeria and Rwanda. http://www.mpedigree.org/home/
PATH (Brazil, Colombia, India): More than a billion people in
developing nations suffer from dietary deficiencies in crucial
micronutrients, including iron, zinc, folic acid and vitamin A.
Ultra Rice is an affordable, nutrient-fortified additive to standard
rice, tailored to satisfy deficiencies common in the region where
it is distributed. http://www.path.org/projects/ultra_rice.php
VillageReach (Mozambique). Poor countries bear the great-
est burden of infectious diseases and have the least infrastruc-
ture for public health programs. VillageReach worked closely
with the Mozambique Ministry of Health to implement sup-
ply chain logistics management systems, utilizing portable
USB drives to automatically update and share information to
improve the delivery of vaccines, drugs and critical medical
supplies to rural clinics. http://www.villagereach.org/
16 MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS November 2009
E
very autumn, The Tech Awards, a major pro-
gram of The Tech Museum in San José, California,
honors visionaries whose work profoundly benefits
humanity through technology. The Laureates selected
for this ninth year of The Tech Awards are fascinating in their
ingenuity, compassion, drive and diversity. While many of
their projects are based on state-of-the-art technology, most
Laureates have developed and deployed technology that is
relatively simple yet dazzlingly effective in confronting com-
plex problems—locally, regionally and globally.
Intel Environment Award 2009
Dr. Joseph Adelegan (Nigeria). Slaughterhouse waste is
one of the most significant sources of water pollution and
greenhouse gas emissions in most developing economies. The
anaerobic fixed film reactor used in the Cows to Kilowatts proj-
ect decontaminates the waste stream from slaughterhouses
and turns this organic waste into methane that can be used
to generate electricity or as inexpensive cooking gas. http://
www.un.org/esa/sustdev/publications/africa_casestudies/
kilowatts.pdf
GRUPEDSAC (Grupo para Promover la Educación y el Desar-
rollo Sustentable) (Mexico). Poor quality of life in rural Mexico
includes loss of soil fertility, lack of access to clean water, ade-
quate shelter, nutrition and health resources. The customizable
Eco-techniques Toolkits for Self-Sufficiency combine old and
new sustainable technologies from cisterns to solar ovens to
fit the needs of each community. http://www.grupedsac.org/
Sean White (USA). Plant species are disappearing at an
alarming rate; mobile identification and classification of plant
species may aid in conservation and cataloguing. The Elec-
tronic Field Guide uses mobile-augmented photo identification
of leaves based on virtual reality and situated visualization.
http://herbarium.cs.columbia.edu

Presented by Applied Materials, The Tech Awards now
annually honors 15 Laureates in five categories: environment,
economic development, education, equality and health. Since
the first awards ceremony in 2001, the program has awarded
$2.25 million and honored 215 Laureates worldwide.
This fall, during a week of activities designed to aid their
projects through the considerable resources of Silicon Valley,
the Laureates will be celebrated at The Tech Awards Gala
on November 19 at the San José McEnery Convention Cen-
ter. Their compelling stories will be told at The Tech Awards
Showcase by the Laureates themselves and through intro-
ductory films being created by the acclaimed Hollywood
director Sandy Smolan.
Also that evening, the James C. Morgan Global Humani-
tarian Award 2009, sponsored by Applied Materials, will be
given to Nobel Laureate and former U.S. Vice President Al
Gore for his unswerving efforts to focus international atten-
tion on climate change. Past recipients of the Global Human-
itarian Award include Muhammad Yunus, Gordon Moore,
Bill Gates, Kristine Pearson and James C. Morgan, for whom
the award is named.
The Tech Awards’ independent panels of judges, coor-
dinated by Santa Clara University’s Center for Science,
Technology and Society, were impressed with the quality,
technological brilliance and impact of the 15 Laureates they
selected this year from among hundreds of competing inter-
national projects. The chairs of the panels, all professors at
Santa Clara University, wrote the brief descriptions of each
Laureate’s work presented in the following boxes. MD
Microsoft Education Award 2009
Akshaya Patra Foundation (India). High quality, nutrient-
rich meals are key to the education process in poverty stricken
areas. The School Meals Program uses integrated and adapted
high-performance kitchen technology and food delivery sys-
tems to serve millions of Indian children a nutritious daily meal.
http://www.akshayapatra.org/
GeoGebra (International). Dynamic Mathematics for Every-
one is a free, open-source software to display and practice
geometry and mathematics that will help achieve rapid dif-
fusion of information and quicker comprehension. GeoGebra
created this web-based, open-source software to visualize and
practice geometric-based mathematics. http://www.geoge-
bra.org/
Khan Academy (International). High school students
around the world need informal, clear explanations that can be
reviewed at a leisurely pace to supplement their formal learning.
The Khan Academy created hundreds of free educational videos
in math, statistics, physics and finance using drawing software.
The “blackboard” style videos are accessible via the internet and
hosted on YouTube. http://www.khanacademy.org/
Technology
BD Biosciences Economic
Development Award 2009
AEDC (Alternative Energy Development Corp.) (South Africa).
Fuel cell use largely avoids the lead-acid waste of solar or wind
installation batteries. Inexpensive, zinc-air fuel cells can be
used in poor communities lacking access to grid power. Fuel
cell anodes can be removed manually in about 15 minutes and
zinc oxide waste recycled as fertilizer. www.aedc.co.za
Solar Ear (Botswana, Brazil). Standard Western hearing aids
cost an average of $750, with battery costs typically $1 per
week. Solar Ear, an inexpensive hearing aid, suited to local
conditions and manufactured by deaf workers who train one-
another, costs $100 and is paired with a solar recharging unit
for the batteries. www.solarear.com.br
Driptech (India). Hundreds of millions of people in the
developing world face water shortages in crop production;
drip irrigation delivers precisely the right amount of water and
not more. Driptech’s unique laser technology drills holes in one
main line, thereby reducing the number of parts and the cost
of a drip irrigation system. www.driptechnologies.com
The Katherine M. Swanson
Equality Award 2009
World of Good Development Organization (International).
Handicraft workers around the world are generally paid per
piece, often at low hourly rates. World of Good Development
Organization’s Fair Wage Guide software provides localized
pricing evaluation of handmade goods to improve wages of
informal workers. The free web-based platform encourages
ethical trade by comparing wages worldwide. http://www.
fairtradecalculator.com/index.php
kiwanja.net (International). kiwanja.net’s FrontlineSMS
allows for SMS (Short Message Service) technology to be
used by hundreds of NGOs worldwide, for activities as diverse
as election monitoring and dissemination of agricultural
prices. This free software for non-governmental organizations
deploys two-way SMS messaging and provides easy-to-use
communications infrastructure for outreach in rural and urban
areas. http://www.frontlinesms.com/
Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha (Bangladesh). Providing
mobile solar lighting can alleviate health problems due to
smoke and CO2 emissions while establishing social enterprises.
Retrofitting existing kerosene hurricane lanterns with compact
flourescent or LED lights can provide lighting for transient
settlers in flood and hurricane-prone areas. SuryaHurricane
also establishes infrastructure for women establishes women-
oriented infrastructure for recharging lantern batteries using
boats equipped with photovoltaic modules. http://www.shid-
hulai.org/afftechnology.html
MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS November 2009 17
 Academia
Education for
Development:
The State of Play
Universities strengthen their programs in
international development.
By Carol Lancaster, Interim Dean and Professor of
Politics, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service
U
niversities are beginning to respond to
the large and growing demand among students in
the United States and abroad for minors, certifi-
cates and degrees in international development. This
demand, which became evident as early as the 1990s, likely
reflects not a wariness about careers in finance in the wake
of the recent crisis but something more basic and longer run:
a sense among many young people that they have an obliga-
tion as the most fortunate rich of this world to make it a bet-
18 MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS November 2009
ter place for those not so fortunate—the world’s many poor.
What is also evident in the last several years is the expand-
ing numbers of both undergraduates and graduates with
some experience in poor countries. Ten years ago, if a pro-
fessor asked a class of 100 undergraduates how many stu-
dents have even been in a developing country, only a very few
hands would go up. Now (at least at Georgetown University)
20 or 30 hands would be in the air. Some of these students
are immigrants or children of immigrants and so have spent
time in their parent’s countries of origin. But many have
sought out opportunities to visit Africa, Asia or Latin America
and not a few have found ways to provide some sort of social
service in these countries during their summers.
Graduate students enrolling in programs involving inter-
national development often bring extraordinary, rich devel-
opment experiences to the classroom, whether in business,
humanitarian relief, com-
munity development or a
Ten years ago, if
host of other activities. One
wonders just what they a professor asked
are looking for in a gradu-
ate degree with their often a class of 100
impressive backgrounds.
They want, of course, to
undergraduates
be able to see how it all how many
fits together—their own
development experiences students have
within the entire picture of
international development
even been in
today. They also want a a developing
graduate degree—essen-
tial for advancing their
country, only a
professional career. Until very few hands
recently, undergraduates
wanting to learn about would go up.
international development
had to put together their own program of classes from those
offered in their universities. Several years ago, however, at
least two universities—the University of California at Berke-
ley and Georgetown University—created minors or certifi-
cates in international development to offer these younger
students the relevant foundation. Now even more universi-
ties are beginning to offer coherent sets of courses in this
area and are supporting student summer internships in
developing countries. But more impressive are the recent ini-
tiatives at a variety of universities to create new, professional
masters’ degrees in international development. A number of
universities already have “concentrations” in international
development as part of masters’ degrees in international rela-
tions or public policy. These include Columbia, the Johns
Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, the
Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and Georgetown. And
a number of universities have for some time offered dedicated
masters’ degrees in development—for example, the Kennedy
School at Harvard University (its degree is strongly econom-
ics oriented), Duke University (its degree is quite flexible) and
American University.
A number of universities in the U.S. and abroad are now
turning their attention to creating new, dedicated mas-
 Academia

ters’ degrees in development to respond to growing student

interest and intending to draw on that interest among both
American and foreign students. One major new initiative has
come out of the International Commission for Education in
Sustainable Development Practice, led by Columbia profes-
sor Jeffrey Sachs and supported by the MacArthur Founda-
tion. This commission, which included a number of interna-
tional experts (based mainly in universities and international
organizations) proposed a new template for a degree in sus-
tainable development that has now been implemented by
Columbia University. The key concept on which this degree
is based is that development practitioners should have some
familiarity with the broad range of issues they are likely to
confront in the field, including challenges based in the natu-
ral as well as social sciences—most two-year development
degrees focus primarily on the social sciences. Students are
required to take a broad variety of courses in such areas as
agronomy, engineering, nutrition, health and education, as
well as courses in the more traditional areas of economics.

A Stable Future for

In addition to the Columbia master’s in Sustainable Devel-
opment Practice, the MacArthur Foundation has funded
planning grants for nine universities worldwide (and possibly

Humanitarian Jobs
more later) to plan for their own new master’s degree mod-
eled on the Columbia model. This group includes two U.S.
universities (Emory and the University of Florida) and oth-
ers in Australia, Botswana, China, India, Ireland, Nigeria and
Singapore. Within several years, we can expect to see new Candidates with analytical framework to
degrees up and running in most of these places. back up field experience will be sought.
Other U.S. universities are creating their own develop-
ment masters’ degrees. For example, Georgetown is plan- By Chris Herlinger, Communications officer and editor,
ning a degree in Global Human Development, built around a Church World Service
summer field project that students would design, implement

and assess (to the extent possible) with a curriculum shaped
around this experience—including courses on designing
and implementing development interventions as well as
monitoring and assessment. The curriculum would also
include foundation courses in development, an opportunity
to specialize in a particular development sector (e.g., health,
democracy and governance, environment) and courses and
skills needed to work in the numerous new types of devel-
opment actors, including venture capital organizations, cor-
porations with development activities, foundations and, of
course, non-governmental organizations and public sector
development agencies.
The Georgetown degree’s core idea is that real field experi-
ence is not only an important part of development education,
it is also a focal point for organizing a degree. It exploits the
long recognized principle that many learn from doing and
that courses linked to “doing” are more interesting and com-
pelling. If I were to guess where the next big effort in educat-
ing graduate students for development would be, it would be
in the business schools. Many business schools provide stu-
dent with hands-on experience through consultancies—an
Photo: Thiekoro Coulibaly
D
espite uncertainty during a national and
international economic downturn, several promi-
nent humanitarian education and training programs
based in New York City see no letup in the number of
students wanting to study relief and assistance issues.
“The humanitarian aid enterprise is rather stable,” said
Dirk Salomons, director of the Humanitarian Affairs Program
at Columbia University’s School of International and Public
Affairs (SIPA). He cited continued international emergencies
and commitments by donor governments to respond to cri-
ses as two signs that humanitarian work is one area where
careers are stable and even expanding.
Brendan Cahill, the administrative director of Fordham
University’s Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs,
agrees, saying: “The work is always there,” and there is clear
“movement” in the field. “All the time, people are getting jobs.”
While there may be some current or aspiring relief workers
enrolling in graduate or training programs as a way to “wait
out” the current recession, both Salomons and Cahill said
continued and expanding interest in humanitarian work for
those already with a college degree is largely due to demands

adaptable approach for development education as well. And
more and more development actors are business organiza-
tions. Moreover, the interest in development among young
people is increasingly evident among this cohort of students.
In education for development as with so many other things,
“The times they are a’changing.” And it’s all good. MD
in the field for specialization and increased professionalism.
“NGOs don’t want to take a chance on someone not tested
or tried, so there is a need for specialization,” said Cahill, who
directs a humanitarian-worker training program at Fordham
he describes as “humanitarian boot camp.” The program,
taught at both Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus in Manhat-

MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS November 2009 19

 Academia
“Students in the next 20-30 years will
be focused on...‘humanitarianism-
plus,’ the transition from aid to self-
sufficiency. That’s where the future is;
that’s where the funds will be.”
tan and in different international locales, is about to expand
to incorporate a master’s degree component.
Some drawn to Columbia and Fordham’s programs are
young and hoping to break into the field. Others have some
international work experience but need time to re-tool,
rethink and “evaluate their place within humanitarian assis-
tance,” Cahill said. Among the common refrains of those
returning to the classroom are questions like, “Am I following
the right career path?” and affirmations of the need for fur-
ther study and training. “Many say, ‘This is what I needed to
keep going,’ ”Cahill said.
An overall refrain in the field is the need for specializa-
tion and a deeper understanding of the humanitarian field.
Salomons said as humanitarian work evolves from focusing
on immediate relief to the more complex dynamics of early
recovery, there will be a need for specialization and training
that takes into account a fuller and more complex reality.
“Humanitarian assistance is not just about providing things
like meals and tarps,” he said. “That’s maintenance.” Given
20 MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS November 2009
the scandal that the displaced people in Darfur have been in
camps for six years, Burmese refugees for two decades and
Palestinians for more than a half century, the real challenge
for humanitarianism, Salomons said, is all about long-term
recovery efforts. “Humanitarian action should not stop until
their (the displaced) lives are back. It can therefore also not
be detached from political action.”
Put in practical terms for those looking ahead to specialties
within the profession, he said, “stabilization is hot.”
“Students in the next 20-30 years, the next generation of
professionals, will be focused on this—on ‘humanitarianism-
plus,’ the transition from aid to self-sufficiency. That’s where
the future is; that’s where the funds will be.”
Those working in conflict zones, Salomons argues, quickly
realize that NGOs “become a substitute government” in
places where governments and states “are not taking care of
those who are malnourished or are struggling. So, you can’t
separate these issues, narrowly providing humanitarian aid
and responding to broader challenges of endemic global pov-
erty. It can’t be done.”
SIPA graduates have found work at, among other places,
the United Nations and at NGOs such as CARE, Church
World Service and the International Rescue Committee.
Two of those now working for the UN in New York who have
had extensive field experience since graduate school and who
worked in humanitarian and development jobs previously,
praise their graduate training and foresee a field where prac-
titioners with formal academic training will be sought out.
“There will be a significant demand for people in this area,”
said Kimberly Lietz, a humanitarian affairs officer with the UN
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
and whose field experience includes work in Sudan, including
a one-year stint in Darfur. She said that within the UN sys-
tem, master’s degrees, once seen as merely “advantageous,”
are now becoming mandatory for a number of positions.
Lietz also said critical thinking about the humanitarian
profession, instilled while she was a graduate student, has
proven exceedingly valuable. “For a long time it was assumed
that if we were merely doing something good—if the intent
was good—then it was good, the product was good. There’s a
slow and creeping acceptance that that is just plain wrong.”
Michal Ullmann, who works as a humanitarian policy officer
for OCHA, said that kind of critical thinking, also a gift from
her graduate education, has proven invaluable in her work for
the UN and other agencies, including assignments in Sudan.
While characteristics that can serve an aid worker well—
like empathy—cannot be taught, Ullmann said her graduate
training made her understand the problem with theory.
“It provided me with interesting skill sets and under-
standing ‘the history of the questions,’ and their solutions is
invaluable to creative and quick problem-solving” she said.
That in particular helped her understand that there is “a wild
card in these things and what you know in theory doesn’t
always translate into practice.”
“It’s about people; it’s about relationships,” she said.
“Without these, you can’t do the work.”
Susannah Friedman, who has worked for several large
global NGOs in Sudan and Somalia since graduating said
continued on page 29

Changing Trends
in Development
Education
Students’ course selections offer insights
into future trends in the field.
By Peter Uvin, Henry J. Leir Professor of International
Humanitarian Studies and Academic Dean, The
Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
S
tudents have come to The Fletcher
School of Law and Diplomacy for decades to
prepare for all kinds of international careers,
including careers in development work.
Today, approximately one quarter of all our stu-
dents ends up working in this field and that pro-
portion has not decreased in recent decades,
notwithstanding much hand wringing
about the “me generation.” Distinct
from other graduate schools however,
The Fletcher School has never had a
fixed development studies degree or
track: students simply choose those
courses that they think are relevant as
they prepare for a career in this field. As
a result, looking at what students con-
cretely chose to learn over the years
provides a fascinating window into
a new generation’s perspectives on development careers.
The two main trends I have seen during the last decade are
really not that surprising; they are also admittedly related to
changes in what Fletcher has been offering. One trend is a
dramatic increase in interest in various dimensions of con-
flict. Students who think of themselves as future develop-
ment workers now take far more courses than they did, say,
15 years ago in fields such as conflict resolution, terrorism
and war, complex emergencies, law of war and peacekeeping.
We ourselves have also begun offering new courses such as
“development and conflict resolution,” and “monitoring and
evaluation of peacebuilding and international development.”
These courses are now amongst the most popular courses at
the school, bringing together students who wish to work in
development with those who seek to pursue careers in for-
eign policy and diplomacy or the military.
Photo: Arto—Fotolia.com
A second trend is the growth in interest in business. There
are two aspects to this. One is that a far larger number of stu-
dents than before wish to possess good business management
skills. They end up taking courses in accounting, manage-
ment and even marketing, all with the explicitly stated aim of
being better and more careful managers in whatever they end
Academia
up doing as development professionals, whether in NGOs or
elsewhere. A second group chooses business-type courses not
so much because they want to be better managers of tradi-
tional development programs, but because they want to move
beyond those programs and use the force of the market as a
tool for empowering social change. These are students who
are very interested in new courses in social entre-
preneurship, micro-credit, alternative finance,
community economic development and the
like. As a matter of fact, we don’t manage to
offer enough courses in these areas to follow
student interest.
For the rest, there are, as always, many
distinct subgroups within the group of
students interested in development
careers. Some seek to acquire as
many “hard” tools as they can in
such areas as project evaluation,
cost-benefit methodology, finan-
cial management and so on.
They often dream of large bilat-
eral and multilateral agencies or
big consultancy firms as their
preferred places of employ-
ment. Others have very differ-
ent visions of what a career in
development looks like, placing
greater emphasis on promot-
ing social change and con-
centrating their studies more
on issues such as political
dynamics, gender, youth,
human rights and the like.
They frequently wish to work
for NGOs. Rather than a deep
ideological chasm or a fine
understanding of true market
conditions, I think this reflects personal predi-
lections for more managerial-technocratic approaches or more
empowerment-political approaches to social change. It is a mat-
ter of temperament and personal style more than ultimate aim.
Students generally seem un-interested in grand narra-
tives that dominated past development debates. Compared
to when I was a graduate student in this area in the 1980s,
they seem distinctly cool towards the grand left narratives of
Marxism and dependency theory. At the same time, even if
they generally put higher hopes in the power of markets, they
are frequently not free-market zealots in any way. Even the
presumably important Easterly-Sachs debate does not pro-
voke much passion. Maybe this is because the average age of
our students is 28 years: many of them have been out there
trying to make social change happen for some years and they
realize all too well that grand narratives do not capture the
complicated, messy nature of social change on the ground.
Despite being distinctly un-ideological, however, they are not
cynical or passive or disengaged: I find in them as much pas-
sion for social change, as much of a sense of global citizen-
ship and a desire for justice as I felt in myself and my peers
25 years ago. MD
MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS November 2009 21
 Academia
Social Workers:
Ready for the Challenge
Preparing international development staff through social
work education.
By Luisa López, Director of Human Rights & International Affairs Division,
National Association of Social Workers and Eileen Ihrig, Director of
International Programs, Tulane University School of Social Work, Council
on Social Work Education-Council on External Relations
S
ocial work is a global,
human rights based profession
with a central but often over-
looked role in the provision of
equitable, transparent and effective
humanitarian aid. Its schools train
students in problem assessment, com-
munity outreach and participatory
planning, which make social work
graduates ideal candidates for jobs in
the international arena. Grounded in
holistic, participatory approaches cen-
tered on human behavior and systems
theory, social work programs inte-
grate classroom learning with practical
internships.
An education in social work prepares
professionals to act in multiple capaci-
ties such as:
• providing psychosocial support
services to individuals and families;
• promoting community participa-
tion through utilizing community
22 MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS November 2009
organizing skills;
• building capacity of communities;
• managing projects and programs;
• advocating for services; and
• developing policies and building
social protection systems.
For social workers, working across
disciplines with professionals from
education, health and justice systems
is standard practice.
NGOs employ social workers glob-
ally in a widening range of projects and
tasks ranging from staff care to devel-
oping community-based alternatives to
institutional care for children without
parental care. For example, in Tanza-
nia a large, international NGO paired
a social worker and a water/sanitation
expert who worked together with village
leaders to create effective water councils
to ensure the lasting value of the NGO’s
work to the local community. Social
workers also provide mental health and
psychosocial support to communities in
crisis or those recovering from trauma.
In Liberia, social workers from interna-
tional NGOs worked alongside UNICEF
to develop guidelines for the psycho-
social care and support of demobilized
child soldiers in interim care settings.
They also provide critical staff care and
support in complex emergency settings.
Social workers have expertise in net-
working, community organizing and
coordinating among a variety of assis-
tance efforts in a given location. In
Jamaica, a social worker providing com-
munity training in disaster risk reduc-
tion engaged community members
in learning how to improve construc-
tion techniques. Because of the social
worker’s emphasis on participation, the
community reported a greater sense of
community building and cohesion. Sim-
ilarly, a social worker hired by a consor-
tium of leading international humani-
tarian aid organizations coordinated
a process to create policy guidelines
for the construction of safe schools in
disaster-prone areas. She invited broad
participation across disciplines and as a
result, disability advocates ensured that
the guidelines addressed the accessibil-
ity needs of disabled students who oth-
erwise would have been marginalized.
The employee
qualifications that
humanitarian aid and
development agencies
seek correspond closely
to social work skills.
As a 2009 study by Martha Bragin
and Monica Garcia demonstrated, the
employee qualifications that humani-
tarian aid and development agen-
cies seek correspond closely to social
work skills as defined by standards
adopted by the International Associa-
tion of Schools of Social Work (IASSW)
and International Federation of Social
Workers (IFSW) in 2004. For example,
U.S. social work programs require all
Photo: Kelley Lynch
students to have coursework and field
experience in cross-cultural work,
problem assessment, community out-
reach, administrative skills and par-
 Adaptation

Adapting to
ticipatory planning. The standards
also recognize the importance of ethi-
cal principals in working with indi-
viduals and communities. Guidelines
and principles have been developed
domestically and globally including the
National Association of Social Work Climate Change in
Sub-Saharan Africa
(NASW) Code of Ethics (U.S.) and the
Ethics in Social Work Statement of
Principles developed and adopted by
the IFSW and IASSW.
The global network of schools and Insights on options, obstacles, what works and why.
professional social work associations
worldwide mirrors the aid and develop-
By Sarah Johnson, Communications Division, International Food Policy
ment community’s need and desire for
Research Institute
global perspectives and coordination.
This global community in the social
work profession allows graduates to
work effectively with their counterparts
in other countries. In an emergency set-
ting, staff hired from local schools of
social work are often well-prepared and
well-situated to immediately provide
and coordinate services.
This network extends to the InterAc-
tion community, as social work pro-
grams in the U.S. and abroad collabo-
rate with InterAction members around
the globe. Social work professionals in
NASW and the Council on Social Work
Education (CSWE), both U.S.-based
professional organizations, are actively
engaged with a range of INGOs and UN
agencies.
Additionally, there are many opportu-
nities for the international community
to learn from and connect with social
workers. One such forum is the June

2010 Joint World Conference on Social
Work and Social Development in Hong
Kong that will bring together over 2,000
social work and social development
scholars and practitioners to examine
international social work issues.
Social workers bring a strong commit-
ment to social justice and human rights,
deep ethical convictions and a wealth of
experience working across cultures and
disciplines to address a range of issues
and challenges confronting urban and
rural communities worldwide. From
humanitarian work and emergency
Photo: iQoncept—Fotolia.com
I
n recent years, Takie Baru-
sha and other poor African farm-
ers have started to see their crop
yields decline due to global warm-
ing, making it difficult for them to feed
their families. Climate change threat-
ens agricultural production through
changes in temperature and precipi-
tation and increased occurrences of
droughts and floods.
As the December 2009 meeting of
the 15th Conference of Parties of the
UN Framework Convention on Cli-
mate Change approaches, the develop-
on rain-fed agriculture, severe poverty
and poor infrastructure, among other
reasons. Because agriculture and land
use change in the developing world
currently account for about 22 percent
of annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emis-
sions, changes in agricultural technolo-
gies and land management practices
could lead to huge reductions in GHGs.
By recognizing and financing these miti-
gation opportunities through carbon
credits and the like, developed countries
would also provide poor farmers with the
economic resources they need to adapt.

disaster preparedness and relief, to
capacity building and community orga-
nizing, social workers contribute to
international development through sys-
tems and networks that ensure long-
term sustainable development and the
protection of human dignity. MD
ment community should demand that
agriculture be front and center on the
agenda—especially since poor farming
households in developing countries will
likely bear the brunt of climate change.
African countries are particularly vul-
nerable because of their dependence
Farming communities will certainly
need such support to weather the chal-
lenges of climate change. A recent study
conducted by the International Food
Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in the
Limpopo and Nile River Basins of South
Africa and Ethiopia, respectively, finds

MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS November 2009 23

 Adaptation
that while the vast majority of farmers interviewed perceived
long-term changes in temperature and rainfall, most of them
did nothing to adapt to these changes. This begs the question:
What options do farmers have to adapt to climate change and
what is hindering their adoption of these solutions?
Options for climate change adaptation
Participants in stakeholder discussions in Ethiopia identi-
fied several ways in which they had seen farmers adapt to
climate change including diversifying their crops, finding
off-farm employment, selling their possessions, trying new
water management systems and resettling elsewhere. Farm-
ers in South Africa cited a similar array of options. They also
adopted new crop varieties and built water-harvesting sys-
tems in response to declining rainfall and rising temperatures.
For every farmer in the Limpopo Basin who reported adapting
to climate change, however, two farmers stated that they had
done little to react to the more hostile and volatile climate. It
seems that for most farmers, the barriers to adapting to climate
change are simply too high. So how can policy-makers help
smallholder farmers better face climate change challenges and
minimize their risks? Action is necessary in a number of areas,
including climate change awareness, access to credit, secure
land rights, agricultural technology and communication.
Overcoming obstacles to adaptation
Awareness. IFPRI research shows that awareness of climate
change is a crucial determinant of whether farmers adopt
Master’s degrees
for Global Social Change
MA in Sustainable Development
MA in Conflict Transformation
MS in Management of Nonprofits and NGOs
and
NEW: Fall 2009
in the Sultanate of Oman
Master of Global Management
www.sit.edu/graduate
24 MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS November 2009
adaptation measures. Quite unsurprisingly, if farmers do not
understand climate change or how to adapt to it, no amount
of resources will do any good. In Ethiopia, farmers with access
to information about climate change and appropriate adapta-
tion responses were more likely to change their farming prac-
tices. In both Ethiopia and South Africa, farmers with access
to extension services were more likely to adapt. In some areas,
differences in knowledge about adaptation may fall along gen-
der lines. For example, female-headed households in South
Africa are more likely to consider adaptation methods than
are male-headed ones, probably because women do most of
the agricultural work and thus have more experience with
or information on land management practices. Policies that
facilitate farmers’ access to extension services, particularly
those targeting women’s associations, could thus significantly
promote adaptation to climate change.
Access to credit. Access to credit also has a significant
impact on the likelihood of adaptation. In a companion study
on southern Africa, 29 percent of farmers in South Africa, Zam-
bia and Zimbabwe cited lack of credit as the greatest barrier
to implementing adaptation measures. Policies ensuring access
to affordable credit for all farmers could broaden their range of
adaptation options, including the adoption of new technology. 
Secure land rights. In South Africa, farmers who own land
or have secure property rights have a greater incentive and
ability to invest in adaptation options such as water conser-
vation. By safeguarding tenure arrangements, even in com-
munal farming systems, governments can help maximize
the benefits of adaptation measures. Policy-makers must
also consider regional differences in vulnerability to climate
change. In Ethiopia, for example, the lowlands face greater
climate change-related stress than do the highlands, meaning
that many lowland pastoralists may seek to resettle elsewhere.
Technology. Farmers who can afford electricity and agri-
cultural technology are better able to switch to new crops or
diversify, vary planting dates and make more efficient use of
water. Providing incentives for agricultural technology could
make adaptation far easier for many farmers, giving them
access to small-scale irrigation systems or enabling them to
plant high-yielding or drought-resistant crop varieties.
Cooperation and communication. As climate change
continues to worsen farming conditions in sub-Saharan
Africa, governments will need to improve monitoring sys-
tems to provide early warnings so farmers can prepare for
potential crises. While it is important that governments share
information and communicate with rural communities, this
information must be provided in a way that is useful to farm-
ers. Greater communication between smallholder farmers,
policy-makers and development workers will ensure that the
information provided is relevant and useful on the ground.
Conclusion
In the scramble to fight climate change, policy-makers and
development practitioners should remember that these initia-
tives do more than help African farmers like Takie Barusha
produce food for their households despite increasingly adverse
climatic conditions: they also help promote overall develop-
ment and reduce the poverty, hunger and malnutrition still
plaguing the African continent. MD

Without Borders?
For some island nations, changes in climate can
literally mean the end of their existence.
By Rajyashri S. Waghray, Director, Education and Advocacy for International
Justice and Human Rights, Church World Service and Pamela Sparr, Enough
For All, Campaign Liaison, Church World Service
T
he Alliance of Small
Island States (AOSIS) is call-
ing for a significant reduction
in global emissions so that the
world’s temperature does not rise more
than 1.5 degrees centigrade above pre-
industrial levels. “It is about our sur-
vival,” noted the chair, Leon Charles,
for the AOSIS negotiating team. AOSIS,
whose members are among the most
vulnerable to climate change, “cannot
live with” global temperature rises of 2
degrees, a possible target mentioned in
the recent Bangkok climate meetings.
An AOSIS statement issued after a pre-
liminary meeting earlier in New York
said members were “profoundly disap-
pointed” by the lack of will in negotia-
tions to protect small island developing
states from changes in climate. There-
fore it is not surprising that Pacific and
island nations are urging preparation
for the worst-case scenario: permanent
displacement from their homes. Yet the
Prime Minister of Tuvalu, Mr. Apisai
Ielemia, told delegates at the interna-
tional climate negotiations this spring
in Poland that his nation will not
accept defeat and reminded delegates
that Tuvalu has a right to exist—with-
out migrating.
These comments illustrate one of
the deepest political and ethical chal-
lenges posed by complexities of chang-
ing climate: i.e., human rights and
the right to self-determination. The
right to self-determination is a funda-
mental principle in international law
and is enshrined in the Charter of the
United Nations. According to Article 1,
Paragraph 1 of both the International
Covenant on Economic, Cultural and
Social Rights and the International
Covenant on Political and Civil Rights,
this right is understood as people col-
lectively being able to “freely determine
their political status and freely pursue
their economic, social and cultural
development.” The permanent disap-
pearance of a nation would represent
both a collective loss of the right to
self-determination and the loss of the
individual human rights of each one
of its citizens—who must rely on their
national government for the guarantee
of their rights.
Just how far is the global commu-
nity—particularly the major green
house gas emitting nations—willing
to go in practice to ensure the right
to self-determination is indeed a real-
ity for even the most vulnerable small
island states that perhaps have little
or no leverage to help their perspective
prevail in the ongoing climate change
negotiations? The answer is yet to
emerge from the haze of ongoing nego-
tiations. By way of precedent, there
are no UN conventions or interna-
tional treaties that recognize the right
to a safe and healthy environment—
although many UN bodies that moni-
tor and interpret treaties (often called
“UN treaty bodies”), such as the UN
Commission on Human Rights, recog-
nize the inherent connection between
the enjoyment of particular rights and
the environment. Is the right to self-
determination dependent on physical
location, on geographic specificity and
integrity? Do communities have any
rights to relocate collectively in order
to preserve their integrity and culture?
There are no final answers as the dis-
course continues to evolve.
The UN High Commissioner for Ref-
ugees (UNHCR) wrestled with these
questions in its submission to the
Bonn climate negotiations in June.
UNHCR noted that the permanent loss
of territory is without historical prec-
edent and “there is no internationally
agreed upon definition of what consti-
tutes a State.” Nonetheless, it laid out
Climate Effects
hypothetical options for preventing
statelessness. One option would be for
a country to cede territory to the dis-
placed people. The international com-
munity would recognize the continued
existence of that country (sometimes
referred to as a “State”), albeit in a new
location. Another would be union of
the displaced population’s State with
another. UNHCR encouraged diplo-
mats to approach any specific situa-
tion using the principle of family unity
to enable “affected populations to pre-
serve their identity as a people, includ-
ing their language, culture, history and
traditions.” The question of self-deter-
mination is just one of many thorny
challenges to human rights posed by
climate change.
A recent 2009 report by the UN High
Commissioner on Human Rights laid
out four areas where human rights law
does not apply or is undeveloped with
respect to climate change:
1. The impact of climate change can
make it more difficult for many
people to enjoy certain fundamen-
tal human rights—to life, water,
health, adequate food and hous-
ing, for example. These threats
often are disproportionately borne
by groups that are particularly
vulnerable or marginalized in soci-
ety (such as children, women and
indigenous peoples) where special
international human rights protec-
tions apply. Yet, tracking physical
impacts to claim a human rights
violation is easier said than done,
if not completely impossible. The
harmful consequences are caused
by a complex web of factors and
cannot be explained, for example,
“simply” as a matter of government
abusing the rights of its citizens
either by an act of omission or
commission.
2. Climate change can bring about a
gradual deterioration of living con-
ditions, such as a slow-onset of
disaster through creeping deserti-
fication, the sinking of coastlines
or of salt-water intrusion in fresh
water supplies. In this situation,
there are no clear guidelines for
assessing whether the movement
of people is forced or voluntary
and therefore how they are viewed
legally.
MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS November 2009 25
 Climate Effects
UNHCR, the International Organiza-
tion for Migration and other international
human rights bodies have asked that
the terms “climate refugees” or “environ-
mental refugees” not be used because
they have no standing in international
law and their use could weaken the
“legal regime” for legally-recognized refu-
gees. So what do we call people forced
to migrate by climate-induced changes?
What protections can they have, if any?
When people move legally across
national borders, they are eligible to
receive the same rights as recognized
within the country in which they relo-
cate. Whether and to what extent do
States give right of entry to climate-
induced migration? What rights do
receiving countries and populations
have with respect to their cultural or
social integrity and self-determination?
While the UN Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotia-
tions aim to produce a new agreement
with strong, binding mitigation targets
and significant international adaptation
funding, it may not be possible to fully
address the complex issue of climate-
26 MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS November 2009
displaced persons in the agreement, as
of yet, for the very reasons discussed
above. Currently, the negotiating text
contains sparse not-agreed upon text
related to rights. For example, draft
text in the preamble (entitled “Shared
Vision for Long-Term Cooperative
Action”) refers to the fact that climate
change affects human rights, including
the right to self-determination, state-
hood and the right of a people not to be
deprived of their own means of subsis-
tence. One draft version of the section
on national adaptation plans includes
measures to “protect people displaced
by the impacts of climate change.”
Finally, paragraph 161 concerning the
possible negative impact of mitigation
measures on least developed coun-
tries includes bracketed text related to
“compensation for the lost opportuni-
ties, resources, lives, land and dignity
as many will become environmental
refugees.” It is far from certain that any
of this language will make it into the
final document. It may not be the most
likely outcome that we see agreement
on the issues of human displacement
by the time parties meet in Copenha-
gen—partly for the very reason that
makes it so urgent: i.e., its complexity
and its immense political implications.
As we enter the home stretch of
international negotiations leading to
Copenhagen in December and as the
U.S. Senate crafts its version of a cli-
mate change bill, it is important for all
who care about sustainable develop-
ment to consider a two-pronged strat-
egy: (1) to advocate for a more robust
treatment of human rights concerns in
these twin political processes; and (2)
to spur the legal and ethical conversa-
tion forward, through various chan-
nels—including within the relief and
development community itself and the
faith community, etc. As non-profits
who wrestle with the ethical impera-
tives and legal parameters of relief and
development work, Inter Action mem-
bers have much to offer and much to
gain by more fully participating in the
international dialogue on protecting
and advancing human rights as we
grapple with the ways climate change
is transforming our world. MD

Country-led
Development
Heads of state from the developing
world discuss country-led and people–
centered development.
I
n September, the U.S. Government’s Millennium
Challenge Corporation (MCC) and InterAction hosted a
public dialogue on “Country-Led Development: Proven
Partnerships in Fighting Global Poverty” during the week
of the United Nations General Assembly meetings in New
York. The symposium featured an unprecedented high-level
discussion among world leaders on the importance of coun-
try-led development, country ownership and people-centered
development as keys to meaningful and impactful poverty
reduction and development assistance.
The UN General Assembly offers a rare occasion for devel-
oping countries, donor countries and NGOs to participate
in public discussions about critical issues impacting their
countries. Recent high-level policy speeches—including Pres-
ident Obama’s recent speech in Ghana and Secretary Clin-
ton’s speech at the Brookings Institution—raised important
questions about climate change, the global financial crisis
and the need for strong local leadership in economic develop-
ment that helped inform discussions during the UN General
Assembly and the Pittsburgh G20 Summit.
Joining in the discussion were President Blaise Compaoré
of Burkina Faso, President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania,
Prime Minister Sali Berisha of Albania, Foreign Minister
José Brito of Cape Verde, Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidi-
ane Gadio of Senegal, Minister of Mining and Political
Affairs Alpha Kanu of Sierra Leone and President of Afri-
care Julius E. Coles.
Below are excerpts from a few of the speakers:
“As we look for ways to chart the future of foreign aid
and make it smarter and more effective, approaches that
deliver results, approaches that place countries in charge
of their own development will help inform this conversa-
tion. And such an honest conversation demands that we
also examine the challenges of country ownership and
how to overcome them.”
Photo: Millennium Challenge Corporation
—Darius Mans
Acting Chief Executive Officer,
Millennium Challenge Corporation
“Under this initiative, this process, we have shared
responsibility between Americans and Africans. And this
process should take into account our own visions of devel-
opment and our own aspirations.”
—His Excellency Blaise Compaoré
President, Burkina Faso
Partnerships
MCC’s Darius Mans and InterAction’s Sam Worthington.
“We see ourselves as a partner with governments, a part-
ner that must work within a country’s strategy, a part-
ner that tries to bring voices to be heard, a partner that
encourages local civil society actors and NGOs to make
sure that their presence is heard as we go forward in a
joint development effort.”
—Sam Worthington
President and Chief Executive Officer, InterAction
“The NGO community has gotten the message that [to
effectively] work in a country...you’re going to have to
develop a relationship with that government, understand
its strategy and what it wants to do, but at the same time
be cognizant of the fact that there is a need in the commu-
nity...in areas where government may not be reaching.”
—Julius Coles
President, Africare
“The MCA is an excellent innovation, an effective [method
of] aid delivery and it needs...to continue to be supported.
And we must even now begin to consider the possibility
of not only original compact, but successful compacts as
well, because needs will remain even after the conclusion
of the first compact.”
—His Excellency Jakaya Kikwete
President, The United Republic of Tanzania
“Fifty million U.S. dollars granted three years ago in a
threshold program were used in several projects which
really changed my country. The first one was business
registration. ...We succeeded [in coming] from a very hec-
tic, bureaucratic, protracted, corrupted procedure of busi-
ness registration to [having] a one-stop shop [for] business
registration in 30 minutes for one euro.”
—His Excellency Sali Berisha
Prime Minister, The Republic of Albania
MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS November 2009 27
 Events
October 17-18 November 7-18 December
HIV/AIDS Capacity Building Summit United Nations Climate Change
12-16 October National Press Club Conference
Progress Against Poverty Week Washington, DC Copenhagen, Denmark
InterAction Offices Contact: HIVsummit@pactworld.org www.en.cop15.dk/
Washington, DC
Contact: tjacobs@interaction.org November 18 January 2010
Action Against Hunger Benefit Gala
October 17 New York City, NY 9-29 January
International Day for the Eradication World Learning
of Poverty ALL OF NOVEMBER Policy Advocacy Seminar
Stop Hunger Now Emergency Food Kit Washington, DC
24 October Packaging Events Contact: policyadvocacydc@
UN Day 2009 Various locations throughout the month worldlearning.org
www.stophungernow.org
29 October
OFDA/PRM/InterAction December
Monthly Meeting
National Press Club, 7th Floor December 1 Promote your
Washington, DC
Contact: ebellardo@interaction.org
World AIDS Day upcoming events!
7-9 December
30 October InterAction CEO Retreat Send event details to:
OCHA / InterAction Washington, DC publications@interaction.org
Monthly Meeting Contact: dheiberg@interaction.org
UN Secretariat Building
New York, NY
Contact: Lpoteat@interaction.org

November
November 1-3
Global Symposium of
Peaceful Nations

Online Job Board

Washington, DC
Contact: info@peacefulnations.org

November 2
SEEP Network Annual Visit: careers.interaction.org
Conference 2009:
Powering Connections Talk about interacting!
Arlington, VA
To compliment Monday
Contact: long@seepnetwork.org
Developments’ popular monthly
November 3 job section, InterAction’s new
The 2009 Africare Bishop John T. online job board instantly
Walker Memorial Dinner connects you to the latest
Washington, DC international development jobs
Contact: ajackson@africare.org
as they become available. Search
2-7 November by job sector, level, region and
Network of African Youths country—or post your resume
for Development (NAYD) and let the hiring managers
Summit 2009 come to you!
Nairobi, Kenya
http://www.nayd.org/Summit_2009.htm

28 MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS November 2009

MONDAY Developments
EmploymentOpportunities
Senior Legislative Specialist
Washington, DC
Catholic Relief Services seeks a Senior Legislative Special-
ist to join CRS’ Advocacy Team. Based in Washington, DC, the
Senior Legislative Specialist will advance CRS’ social justice
vision by managing and conducting a range of advocacy ef-
forts with staff, members of Congress, foreign affairs agencies
of the USG and the US administration. The ideal candidate will
have 5+ years demonstrated success in and knowledge of Hill
advocacy and/or legislative strategy, foreign policy and assis-
tance issues and working in a complex environment. To apply
for this position please visit www.crs.org/about/careers. 
Inside InterAction
continued from page 5
Asia and the Americas.
Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation missions focus on
providing material aid to the needy and inspiring love and
humanity to both donors and receivers. The foundation’s
guiding principle is to “help the poor and educate the rich.”
Volunteers have provided humanitarian aid and medical ser-
vices in Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Columbia, Gua-
temala, El Salvador, Peru, Mexico, Haiti and Afghanistan.
In 2005, volunteer doctors traveled to Sri Lanka to provide
free medical care for tsunami survivors. In 2007, Tzu Chi
members from all over the country engaged in disaster relief
efforts in Bolivia, Peru and Dominican Republic.
Planet Aid is committed to peace and to humanity and
cares deeply about the Earth as the home we share with mil-
lions of other species. Reusing discarded items from the rich
part of the world as a vehicle to increase income and improve
lives in other parts is good for the Earth and thus benefits all.
Through their actions, Planet Aid seeks to inform and to pro-
mote cooperation and understanding between people across
countries and continents. They support organizations and
communities in Southern Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Planet Aid works though local implementing partners in the
following areas: HIV/AIDS education and prevention; sup-
port for people with HIV and AIDS orphans; child aid and
community development; organization and training of small-
scale farmers; education of primary school teachers; voca-
tional training; programs for child laborers; environmental
programs; malaria prevention; food aid and various in-kind
donations (computers, books and the like).
Medical Emergency Relief International (Merlin) USA’s
mission is to raise awareness, support and resources for Merlin
programs throughout the world. Merlin specializes in health,
saving lives in times of crisis and helping to rebuild shattered
health services in fragile states in Sub-Saharan Africa, South-
east Asia and the Middle East. Merlin works within existing
health systems to realize everyone’s right to accessible, appro-
priate, affordable health care. Merlin’s vision is of a world that
provides basic health care to all, responds immediately to save
lives in times of crisis and looks beyond emergencies to safe-
guard long term health. Merlin has worked in 39 countries and
has responded to many of the most serious humanitarian emer-
gencies in recent history, including the Rwandan genocide,
Hurricane Mitch, the 2003 war in Iraq, the Indian Ocean tsu-
nami, Darfur and the Myanmar cyclone. Merlin country pro-
grams include delivering basic health care, training community
midwives, emergency obstetric care, providing medical services
to remote areas and nutrition programs. MD
Step By Step Advocacy
continued from page 6
work and make sure you provide them guidance in advance
to help them feel comfortable and effective in those meetings.
NGO staff and allies can volunteer on political campaigns,
serve on policy advisory groups for a candidate, donate money,
or set up an independent Political Action Committee (PAC) in
support of an idea or candidate. NGOs can offer to hold a can-
didate debate or propose questions for a candidates’ debate to
the organizers. Staff can, as private individuals, volunteer for a
candidate or attend candidate forums and ask questions.
Place op-eds or arrange for the local paper to interview
your staff member to highlight the work he/she is doing. This
helps build a base of power by using press coverage to high-
light the work of your NGO. It also helps to build name recog-
nition and therefore increases influence and power.
Policy briefs. NGOs can use well-documented, clearly writ-
ten policy briefs and talking points, of no more than two pages,
to provide new information or to buttress your position.
Building power takes time and is always an on-going effort.
New decision-makers appear on the horizon, new people to
influence and to inform. Done in a steady, coordinated and
consistent manner, an NGO and its staff can wield enormous
power over the issues that it cares most about. MD
Part nine, the final installment of this series, will discuss
research and evaluation and will appear in the December edi-
tion of Monday Developments.
A Stable Future
continued from page 20
that as the aid industry has professionalized, the require-
ments for positions have increased.
“Where experience alone used to be enough,” she said,
“many positions now require candidates to have an academic
background in humanitarian aid or international relations to
successfully enter into more senior level positions.”
While the current job outlook is perhaps not as robust as
it used to be “because of the general economic downturn,”
she said, “there are still a number of good jobs out there for
dedicated aid workers.”
“Though a graduate degree in international affairs is not
the most critical criterion for hiring, it seems increasingly
important to agencies that potential employees, especially for
certain positions, have an analytical framework to back up
their field experience.” MD
MONDAY DEVELOPMENTS November 2009 29
 Winrock International is a non-profit corporation whose global
mission is to empower the disadvantaged, increase economic opportunity
and sustain natural resources. Program areas include rural enterprise and
employment, agriculture, clean energy, forestry, natural resource management
and women’s leadership. Winrock International is currently recruiting applicants
for various USAID funded positions in South Sudan. All positions are contingent
upon receipt of project funding. Applicants should go to www.winrock.org, click
on the Jobs link and follow the online application process by Friday October 21,
2009. Winrock would like to graciously thank all applicants for their interest but
only candidates who meet requirements and are short listed will be contacted.

Chief of Party
The Chief of Party for the Food, Agribusiness and Rural Markets Program will manage all aspects of project activities: improve
agriculture and livestock production; develop and strengthen business development services; increase local and regional trade;
improve capacity of producers as well as public and private actors; increase efficiency of processing and marketing and improve
market access. He/she will provide comprehensive technical oversight, assume primary responsibility for project implementation
and management, and ensure the quality and effectiveness of overall program. Minimum Qualifications: Advanced degree in
agriculture, agricultural economics, business, finance, or related field; Minimum of 15 years experience in agriculture/micro-
enterprise development; Experience managing complex agriculture and micro-enterprise development programs in East Africa,
preferably Sudan; Expertise in agriculture, value chains, and business development in East Arica/Sudan; Demonstrated understanding
of legal, regulatory and policy issues affecting agricultural market efficiency; Demonstrated prior success as Chief of Party or Team
Leader (minimum 7 years); Experience managing multi-year projects valued at USD $10 (ten) million or more.

Value Chain and Private Sector Expert

The Value Chain and Private Sector Expert for the Food Agribusiness and Rural Markets Program will identify and develop high
potential agricultural value chains consistent with and expanding upon current agriculture production in southern Sudan. He/
she will use innovative approaches to increasing efficiency and competitiveness of value chains. He/she will develop strategies to
strengthen existing value chains leading to a stronger and more productive agricultural system. Minimum qualifications: Advanced
degree in agriculture, agri-business or related field; Minimum 10 years experience in a mix of economic growth, trade, value chain
development, competitiveness and agricultural development programs; Demonstrated success in implementing programs aimed at
increasing the efficiency, competitiveness and inclusiveness of agricultural value chains; Demonstrated knowledge of best practices
in value chain development and USAID’s value chain approach; Experience with value chain analysis, design of implementation
interventions and monitoring fledgling value chains and under challenging circumstances.

Agriculture Strategy Expert

The Agriculture Strategy Expert for the Food, Agribusiness and Rural Markets Program will work to develop new and innovative
agriculture strategies consistent with and expanding upon current agriculture production in Southern Sudan. He/she will assist with
developing strategies to increase production in the food crop and livestock sectors. He/she will develop strategies to strengthen
the capacity of government, private sector value chain stakeholders and producer organizations, build market access, enhance
producer competitiveness and related activities. Minimum qualifications: Advanced degree in agriculture, agri-business or
related field; Minimum 10 years experience in agricultural development programs; Experience working with diverse sector actors
including government, private sector, and smallholder farmers; Proven experience in strategic planning, capacity building and
training; Experience managing grant, micro-enterprise or business development related programs in East Africa, preferably Sudan;
Experience building capacity of local organizations through micro-enterprise loans or grant programs; Thorough knowledge of
agricultural business issues; Superior management, organizational, conceptual, strategic and analytical skills.

Innovative Grants Facility Manager

The Innovative Grants Facility Manager for the Food, Agribusiness and Rural Markets Program will manage and oversee all
aspects of the project grant component including the proposal evaluation, awarding and disbursement of funds, monitoring and
evaluation of grant funded activities. He/she will serve as the principal point of contact with prospective and awarded recipients.
Minimum Qualifications: Degree in business administration, economics, agricultural economics, or closely related field; Five years
of progressively responsible work experience in managing small grants, grants under contracts or sub-contracts with international
agricultural organizations or NGOs, preferably in Africa; Demonstrated knowledge of USAID financial and management systems,
regulations and reporting requirements; Superior management, organizational, conceptual, strategic and analytical skills;
Demonstrated understanding of value chain competitiveness and/or private sector development.
Job Openings Director,
Communications
& Advocacy
Arlington,VA

Preservation
Director, Cultural
Heritage Program
Baghdad, Iraq

Grants/
Subcontracts
Manager
Kabul,
Afghanistan

Chief, Compliance
Arlington,VA

Director,
Compliance
Kabul,
Afghanistan

1621 North Kent Street For more

Fourth Floor information,
Arlington,VA 22209 contact Christine
P: 703.248.0161 Dalpino at
F: 703.248.0194 703.248.0161 or
www.ird.org visit www.ird.
org and click on
“careers.”
1400 16th Street, NW, Suite 210
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 667-8227
Fax: (202) 667-8236
publications@InterAction.org
www.InterAction.org

InterAction is the largest alliance of U.S.-based international

development and humanitarian nongovernmental
organizations. With more than 180 members operating in every
developing country, we work to overcome poverty, exclusion
and suffering by advancing social justice and basic dignity for all.