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Blog
Ending development’s power imbalance: Why Pact is creating a first-of-its-kind ‘Shareholder Council’
In historic milestone, Malawi fishing communities take true ownership over local natural resource management
The notion of participatory fisheries management isn’t new in Malawi. It was first introduced 25 years ago as a means to address collapsing fish species populations in the country’s lakes, which have been a vital source of income and nutrition here for generations. The idea, essentially, was that management of these critical resources should be...
Ending energy poverty: An interview with Pact's Matthew Cullinen
For years, Pact has worked with rural communities in Myanmar to improve their lives. With its partners, the organization has helped villages make dramatic change in areas including health, water and sanitation, agriculture, livelihoods and access to credit. But a major need was going unmet: electrification. With little grid access, progress in...
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Why customer insight is crucial in the fight against HIV: What I shared at AIDS 2018
The global development community has long referred to the people and institutions we serve as our beneficiaries. In truth, they’re also our partners and customers. That last word might sound a bit odd, but as the head of Pact’s innovation team, I see it as a critically important distinction. Although my innovation colleagues and I are embedded in...
Changing business as usual: How sustainable investment promotes sustainable land use
By Natcha Tulyasuwan, Sustainable Landscapes Finance Specialist, USAID Green Invest Asia & Jim Jarve, Strategic Advisor, USAID Green Invest Asia Summary Sustainable investments make good business sense. Investing in sustainable production reduces the risk of supply chain disruptions. Incorporating environmental, social and governance (ESG)...
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In Nigeria, a state-level health COP shows the power of convening
Reducing diarrheal disease among children is a major goal of the global health community. Although it is both preventable and treatable, it is the second leading cause of death among children under 5, killing more than half a million each year. So in 2013, when Pact launched its ICARE project in Nigeria with funding from the Bill & Melinda...
Show me the money? Not necessarily: Lessons learned from building an innovation practice at a global nonprofit
When Pact, a Washington, D.C.-based global nonprofit founded in 1971, first invested in innovation in fall 2013, we looked to determine whether we could institute a dedicated innovation team to source and win unrestricted funding for concepts from across Pact’s country and project staff. The nuanced and complex nonprofit system required a...
The next phase of rural electrification in Myanmar
How do you provide a service when neither the provider nor the customer has a good sense of the demand? This is one of the main challenges facing the off-grid energy industry in Myanmar, a country where less than 40 percent of the population currently has access to modern energy services. By comparison, sizing a solar system for a home or business...
In Swaziland, when your goal is to save lives, it's easy to ask, 'Usokile yini?'
By Thobile Mkhonta Usokile yini? Can you say it? Uso-ki-le yi-ni? I ask this question every day, to boys, men, husbands, brothers and grandfathers. I ask it at community meetings, in family compounds, on sports grounds. It’s a sensitive question, and when you hear what it means, it might make you uncomfortable. It might even make you blush. But in...
Finding a familiar face – and progress – amid Malawi's FISH
In 2015, Monica Mazuwa didn’t seem disillusioned. But as she talked about the challenges facing beach village committees, I wondered how she wasn’t. She was candid about their work at the time, “The beach village committees are struggling. They aren’t organized. They barely function.”
Welcome to the world, Government Performance Index!
For years, Pact’s Organizational Performance Index, or OPI, has been helping local organizations to measure their capacity, understand their weaknesses and systematically improve them to become the best they can be. From Ukrainian nonprofits that serve people with HIV to peace and security institutions in Africa, organizations around the world...
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Help Pact build promise and improve lives around the globe.
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Let us know the promise you’d like to make. We’ll help you keep it.
What’s your #pactpromise?
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