Blog

This blog is written by Anila Behramaj.

In early 2022, the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia) started to emerge from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic, boasting rising industrial production, exports to the European Union (EU), increases in wages, and credit growth. The region is ripe for investment, but Russia’s war against Ukraine threatens this recovery, through higher energy and food costs, disruption in supply chains, and interruptions in trade.

By Rob Henning, Technical Director, Finance and Investment, Palladium, and Aubrey Hruby, Transaction Lead, Finance and Investment, Palladium

USAID’s $1.5 million Women’s Global Development Prosperity: Expanding Women’s Labor Force in Lebanon (EWLFL) Project (2020 – 2023) identifies women business owners or entrepreneurs. The Lutheran World Relief-led project enables women to enhance their skills, and affords opportunities to benefit from mentoring relationships and support networks.

Third in a series of five blogs on the factors that contribute to sustaining and scaling private sector partnerships from the Enduring Results Study 3.0

(Second in a series of five blogs about the drivers of sustainability in USAID partnerships with the private sector based on the Enduring Results Study 3.0)

Worldwide, the private sector is playing an unprecedented role in shaping opportunities that improve the lives in the countries and communities that USAID supports. For six decades, USAID has partnered with the private sector to solve the world’s most complex development challenges and to help countries accelerate development progress. 

To strengthen economic prosperity in the Kingdom of Jordan, bolster female employment. 

Frenki Kozeli, Julian Guelig, and Dany Khy share three approaches to forming private sector engagement partnerships that can be replicated and tailored across development contexts.

At first sight, Lebanon and Uganda might not have a lot in common. Yet when it comes to hosting displaced persons, some similarities start to emerge: together, the two countries host an estimated 2.7 million forcibly displaced, making them two of the largest refugee host countries worldwide. 

The Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth recently collaborated with Mercy Corp's virtual mentoring program, MicroMentor, to deliver an Arabic platform in Jordan and the MENA region.

What impact does mentoring have on entrepreneurs? Can it boost an entire entrepreneurship ecosystem?

Want to boost entrepreneurship? Here are two more tricks to keep up your sleeve.

Interested in economic growth, job creation or entrepreneurship? Don't miss this post!

Time for two more vignettes! See how Cardno promoted access to finance through financial consulting assistance and how USAID partnered to create the American Bank of Kosovo.

Well, we're about to make camp and need some good campfire tales. Read on for two more vignettes.

Let’s be real: poor women in rural regions inevitably work. And yet, they are disproportionately absent from the labor market. What's the deal?

USAID press release: Entrepreneurship plays a significant role in driving economic growth and job creation.

Mentoring brings experienced women business owners together with new entrepreneurs to provide a deeper understanding of the business world.

Semhar Araia, founder and Executive Director of the Diaspora African Women's Network, shares her story of her involvement in the Horn of Africa diaspora.

Only a third of youth in the Arab world believe their education has prepared them to get a job, according to a recent study by the Education for Employment Foundation.

Guest blogger Brenda Schuster (Youth and HIV Technical Advisor for Catholic Relief Services) reports back on the Making Cents Global Youth Economic Opportunities Conference’s final morning plenary session, “Youth Economic Opportunity in the MENA Region.” This session included Brandee McHale, COO of Citi Foundation, Svava Bjarnason, IFC Senior Education Specialist, Jamie McAuliffe, President and CEO of the Education for Employment Foundation, and Awais Sufi, Vice President for Work Programs at the International Youth Foundation.

Diaspora can now more than ever be instrumental in development through investment.

Sanabel hosts 8th Annual Conference "Microfinance in the Arab Region: Challenges of the Past and Opportunities of the Future"

A brief review of the Sanabel Conference closing plenary session on "Managing Political Risk and Contingency Planning" on June 9, 2011.