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Take a look at what AED experts and associates are doing in the field |
AED Welcomes Four New Officers
Joining AED’s leadership are experts in communications‚ finance‚ and education.
Brenda Arrington‚ who has been with AED for
nearly a decade‚ was promoted to vice president of Africa programs in the AED Center for Global Education.
Mario Bravo‚ a communications
expert most recently with the World Bank‚ joined AED as vice president and director of knowledge
management and program communication.
Larry Origlio has been appointed vice president of
program finances‚ coming to AED from Family Health International with more than 23 years of financial management experience.
Jason Snipes‚ coming from the Council of the Great City
Schools‚ is now vice president‚ principal research scientist‚ and director of the AED Center for
Educational Research‚ Evaluation‚ and Technology.
N–MARC Boosts Access to Oral Contraceptives in Nepal
Through a partnership with a Nepali pharmaceutical company‚ AED is making family planning more affordable and accessible in Nepal.
In 2008‚ AED’s Nepal Social Marketing and Franchising project‚ or
N-MARC‚ helped Lomus Pharmaceuticals produce the first oral contraceptives manufactured in Nepal. Lomus used its own resources to establish a high-standard facility to produce the hormones.
N-MARC‚
which is funded by USAID‚ supported marketing costs for three Lomus
products under a “shared risk‚ shared investment” scheme. Since the
pills were released in April 2009‚ sales have been strong.
“Lomus’s three contraceptive brands bridge the gap between products that are subsidized by aid groups and the more expensive imported brands‚” said Peter Oyloe‚ AED’s resident adviser for N-MARC.
“By stimulating domestic production and marketing of oral contraceptives‚
N-MARC is ensuring a consistent supply of—and demand for—quality family planning products and services.”
For more details on this and other interventions representing AED’s Full Market Impact™ approach‚ visit the Web site for the AED Center for Private Sector Health Initiatives‚ http://pshi.aed.org.
Female Attorneys from the Middle East Study U.S. Legal System
WILpower participants visit with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.
AED recently brought six Middle Eastern women to the United States for a weeklong study-tour of American legal systems.
The young attorneys‚ who hail from the United Arab Emirates‚ the West Bank‚ Lebanon‚ and Kuwait‚ began their week with a tour of the U.S. Supreme Court and a personal meeting with Justice Stephen Breyer. They also accompanied female police officers on patrol‚ visited Washington-area jails‚ and observed classes at the law schools of Georgetown and American universities.
“We hope this opportunity allows these exceptional young women to gain insight into the layers of the U.S. legal system‚ while also sharing with Americans the realities of being a female lawyer in the Middle East‚” said Mary Joy Pigozzi‚ senior vice president and director of the AED Global Learning Group.
The study tour is part of AED’s Women in Law‚ or WILpower‚ program‚ to strengthen the skills of female lawyers in Arab countries. It is supported by partnerships between Arab legal communities and the Middle East Partnership Initiative of the U.S. Department of State.
For more information‚ visit www.womeninlaw.net or contact Amy West at awest@aed.org.
AED to Assist Iraq with New Education Initiative
AED President and CEO Stephen F. Mosley congratulates Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on the Iraq Education Initiative.
In July‚ Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki visited AED to announce the new Iraq Education Initiative and sign an agreement with AED to provide advisory support. The program will award scholarships to up to 10‚000 Iraqi students per year over the next five years to complete their higher education studies in the United States‚ United Kingdom‚ Canada‚ and Australia.
The initiative‚ which is designed‚ funded‚ and managed by the government of Iraq‚ is the first agreement between the country’s current government and an American nonprofit.
The goal of the initiative‚ which began with a pilot program of 500–600 students for the 2009–2010 academic year‚ is to mitigate four decades of underdevelopment due to wars and economic stagnation.
“We are celebrating the desire of the Iraqis to continue to seek their education [with this initiative]‚” said Prime Minister al-Maliki to the standing-room-only audience. “Our universities were known for being the most advanced universities in the world‚ but because of…all that we have gone through—we have lost what we had before.” More than 200 people‚ many representing universities from across the United States‚ attended the announcement.
In the first phase of the program‚ Iraq’s Higher Committee for Educational Development‚ headed by renowned international educator Dr. Zuhair Humadi‚ will award scholarships to high-achieving Iraqi high school students who have taken the required college admission tests.
Students will be allowed to study nearly all majors and seek all degrees‚
including some PhDs. All scholarship recipients are expected to return to
Iraq after they complete their overseas programs.
For more information‚ visit http://cap.aed.org or contact Sandra MacDonald at smacdona@aed.org.
Community YouthMappers Put D.C. on the Map
AED recently hosted an event‚ called “Putting D.C. on the Map‚” which recognized the work of roughly 120 Community YouthMappers in Washington‚ D.C.
Community YouthMapping‚ created by the AED Center for Youth Development‚ mobilizes youth and adults in a data-collection strategy through which they canvass their neighborhoods in search of resources and opportunities.
Using this technique‚ dozens of young people in the nation’s capital became demographers this summer as they surveyed 770 places in wards 1‚ 2‚ 4‚ 5‚ 6‚ and 8 for after-school activities and employment‚ stores and venues with affordable goods and services‚ and willing mentors. Over the course of the D.C. Community YouthMapping Initiative‚ participants developed skills in data management‚ interviewing‚ teamwork‚ and presenting information.
“Young people in D.C. are concerned about and committed to their own healthy development‚ as well as that of children and families in their hometown‚” said Raul Ratcliffe‚ program officer in the AED Center for Youth Development. “This summer‚ not only did the young people build stronger connections to their own community’s resources‚ but they also gained marketable skills.”
The data gathered reveal numerous gaps in services accessible to youth and other neighborhood residents. The D.C. Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation‚ which ran this summer’s initiative with the District’s Department of Employment Services‚ will share the information with the community and use it to develop improvement efforts. The trust will also use the findings to determine how people perceive their communities in terms of safety.
For more information on the technique‚ and to see the YouthMappers’ results‚ visit http://www.communityyouthmapping.org or contact Raul Ratcliffe at rratclif@aed.org.
NetMark Project Builds Thriving Mosquito Net Industry in Africa
After a decade of improving access to life-saving protection against malaria for
millions of families in seven sub-Saharan African countries through a remarkable
public-private partnership‚ AED’s NetMark project has built a sustainable and thriving
industry for insecticidetreatedbed nets there.
Through NetMark‚ African businesses have sold more than 60 million treated nets‚ as of September 2009. In addition‚ NetMark developed a voucher system to allow the poorest and most vulnerable to receive nets for free or at a discounted cost. Overall‚ NetMark has generated $88 million in private investments. For every $1 in U.S. public funds spent on the project‚ African and international businesses invested $1.30 in the industry.
The competition and product diversity that NetMark’s innovative commercial approach sparked has reduced the price of insecticide-treated mosquito nets by up to 70 percent in some areas‚ according to results AED released on September 17 at the National Press Club in Washington‚ D.C.
At the event‚ Admiral Timothy Ziemer‚ U.S. malaria coordinator‚ praised the project for building a “culture” of using insecticide-treated bed nets where NetMark operates. “U.S. investments through NetMark have contributed to dramatically expanding the availability and use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets in Africa‚” he said.
The NetMark project‚ a USAID-funded $67 million public-private partnership to prevent malaria‚ ended September 30‚ but the market for insecticide-treated bed nets continues to thrive in the seven countries where it operated—Ethiopia‚ Ghana‚ Mali‚ Nigeria‚ Senegal‚ Uganda‚ and Zambia.
“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. “Forty-one African distributors will continue to sell thousands or millions of nets in those seven countries. The voucher system is now entrenched.”
Malaria‚ a preventable and treatable disease‚ is one of the biggest killers of people in Africa‚ particularly children under five and pregnant women‚ and is transmitted by mosquitoes. One of the most effective preventive measures against malaria is to sleep under insecticide-treated bed nets‚ which are finely woven barriers that kill most mosquitoes on contact.
“Before NetMark began‚ families could not go to the market and buy a life-saving insecticide-treated net‚ and now they can‚” said AED President Stephen F. Moseley. “This program made treated nets easily accessible to everyone.”
To learn more about NetMark and watch the documentary‚ Access to Survival‚ visit the project’s Web site at www.netmarkafrica.org.
Quantitative Research
- 2008 Household Surveys
Ghana‚ Nigeria‚ Senegal - 2007 Net Utilization Studies
Ethiopia‚ Nigeria - 2006 Household Survey
Uganda - 2004 Household Surveys (baselines)
Ethiopia‚ Ghana‚ Nigeria‚ Senegal‚ Zambia‚ Cross-country results - 2003 Household Survey (baseline)
Mali - 2000 Household Surveys (baselines)
Mozambique‚ Nigeria‚ Senegal (English)‚ Senegal (en français)‚ Uganda‚ Zambia‚ Cross-national study
2000 Qualitative Research (Formative)
- Nigeria‚ Senegal (English)‚ Senegal (en français)‚ Uganda‚ Zambia
All reports are available at www.netmarkafrica.org.
‘Access to Survival’ Wins Nine Awards
Access to Survival
A compelling documentary about NetMark won nine awards this year. Shot in Ghana‚ Nigeria‚ Senegal‚ and Uganda‚ Access to Survival tells the story of NetMark‚ a 10-year project to fight malaria by building a sustainable market for insecticide-treated bed nets in seven African countries.
Among the awards the film received is a Cine Golden Eagle‚ whose past winners include Steven Spielberg and Ken Burns.
“Access to Survival allows us to show the undeniable impact NetMark has had on people’s lives across Africa‚” said Willard Shaw‚ AED vice president and director of the NetMark project. “The film clearly shows the demand for treated nets and that people will be able to access them long after the project ends.”
