The Association of Forest Communities of Petén (ACOFOP) is an association of 19 community forestry organizations that have successfully managed natural resources in the Petén region of Guatemala since 1995. Despite the social, economic, and conservation gains that ACOFOP has achieved, a bill introduced to the US Congress in 2019 is threatening its forest concession model. ACOFOP enlisted a team to explore private interests behind the bill and help lobby against its passage. The team defined the scope of work, conducted research, and interviewed experts. The centerpiece of the team’s work was a detailed policy memo for US Congressional staff outlining how a well-managed forest in Guatemala serves American interests. In addition, the team produced resources for use in Guatemala—including a memo for the Guatemalan government, a press release, and a distribution strategy.

The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GITOC) seeks to create and promote innovative strategies to fight international criminal networks. GITOC engaged a team to analyze civil society’s role in disrupting the illegal wildlife and environmental product trade in Vietnam and Indonesia. The team conducted a literature review of the illicit environmental and wildlife trade in Indonesia and Vietnam, and interviewed stakeholders representing law enforcement agencies, educational institutions, public media, and international and local nongovernmental organizations. The team’s comprehensive report includes visual media tools; recommendations to support GITOC’s efforts in disrupting environmental transnational organized crime; an analysis of opportunities for civil society to reduce environmental crime; and recommendations for capacity building and cooperation between local and national agencies and law enforcement.

Médecins du Monde (MdM), an international humanitarian organization serving vulnerable populations, has been working on improving sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for over 10 years. Having launched a new SRH strategy in 2019, MdM engaged a team to assess its impact on contraception and abortion access, and help determine which of its current practices are most effective in reaching youth and adolescents. The team examined the current status of adolescent SRH services, access, and rights in Kinshasa and the DRC; reviewed other countries’ practices to improve contraceptive and abortion services; and conducted interviews with youth, local health providers, pharmacists, NGOs, and community leaders in Kinshasa. Based on its findings, the team developed recommendations for MdM to expand access to SRH services for youth and adolescents in Kinshasa.

The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) Local Development Finance Practice is a center for innovative research that supports local governments and economies. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the help of a team, UNCDF sought to understand how local economies and fiscal spaces are impacted by digital platforms. The team conducted research in Kumasi, Ghana and Chandpur, Bangladesh to assess the impact of digital platforms on local fiscal spaces. It also investigated the potential of different impact models and revenue structures to stimulate revenue generation, intergovernmental transfers, and local economic activity in three sectors: tourism and hospitality, urban transportation, and the delivery of goods and services. The team distilled its findings into a final report that will contribute to UNCDF’s future initiatives to rebuild local fiscal spaces.

The World Bank’s Governance Global Practice supports its client countries in building capable, efficient, open, inclusive, and accountable institutions. The rise of global climate change poses a serious threat to the World Bank’s core foundations of development and shared prosperity. Seeking to understand best practices around climate change resilience, the organization enlisted a team to develop a series of case studies assessing whether decentralization is vital to coastal resilience. The team conducted extensive research and consulted both World Bank experts and professionals working in Bangladesh and the Philippines. The final report, intended for development practitioners and government officials, investigates how countries can confront coastal hazards and risks, outlining strategies that the World Bank’s Governance Global Practice can use to build coastal resilience in decentralized government systems.

China’s growing aging population and its removal of the one-child policy has led to a strong demand for housekeeping services, creating an opportunity for the millions of workers with limited education and skills who migrate from rural villages to cities. DaBaShou, the team initiative, seeks to improve the ability of migrant workers to secure hourly jobs in the housekeeping industry. The team’s mission is to improve efficiency and transparency, and promote a safe working environment for the women-dominated home cleaning industry. To assess existing solutions, the home service industry market, and the challenges that urban-to-rural migrants face when looking for employment, the team conducted desktop research, stakeholder interviews, and over 60 customer discovery interviews. The team’s solution—a mobile application that connects clients seeking home services to migrant workers searching for hourly work—is currently being tested in Beijing as a minimum viable product prototype.

Menstrual Health Management (MHM) is a key aspect of safeguarding the health, dignity, and overall life opportunities of girls and women. A study by Zambia’s Ministry of Education shows that girls miss an average of 36 school days per year due to ineffective MHM. While there are many challenges to implementing effective MHM rooted in social norms and beliefs, access to safe and affordable MHM products is a critical component of ensuring individual protection and gender equity. The team conducted over 60 customer discovery interviews with Zambian women and health organizations, and discovered that many young women in Lusaka still feel unprotected by the cheap pads that are most accessible there. As a result, the team created ZamPads, a social enterprise that seeks to manufacture high-quality, low-cost sanitary pads locally. By leveraging Zambia’s thriving cotton sector and establishing short, cost-effective supply chains, ZamPads can fulfill its mission of providing “period peace of mind” for all women, not just those who can afford it.

The Belize Association of Planners (BAP) is a nonprofit professional planning organization committed to promoting social justice and sustainability in the natural and built environments. BAP enlisted a team to identify intersectional vulnerabilities between climate change and gender in urban Belize, including aspects of social identity that contribute to heightened climate impacts on women and other marginalized groups. The team created public-facing materials—including policy briefs, short-term pandemic recovery guidance, and an interactive story map highlighting the team’s major research findings—to promote awareness of climate change and the importance of equitable urban planning. The team also created a framework for participatory action research projects for BAP to use to directly engage affected communities.

The Hunger Project (THP) is a nonprofit organization committed to ending hunger and poverty by pioneering sustainable, grassroots, women-centered strategies and advocating for their adoption worldwide. THP enlisted a team to examine barriers to successful fundraising in select countries in Africa. The team investigated global funding trends, interviewed THP country directors and fundraising teams, and analyzed the organization’s grant database. Based on its findings, the team recommended fundraising strategies for THP to adopt, including an emphasis on local fundraising opportunities, and designed strategies to improve communication among country offices, build technical capacity at the local level, and increase access to regional and local funding.

The Uganda Village Project (UVP) is a nonprofit organization that facilitates community health projects in rural Uganda by partnering with existing health infrastructure to provide education and preventative services for malaria, HIV/AIDS, water, sanitation, hygiene, and reproductive health. UVP engaged a team to analyze data from 2015 and 2020 program questionnaires, with a focus on UVP’s Malaria Program. The team also assessed outcome differences between intervention and control villages, interviewed stakeholders, analyzed UVP’s process documents, and conducted a literature review of other international malaria interventions. From this research, the team created a report that detailed the program’s outcomes and impacts, and outlined recommendations for program design, data collection, and the reallocation of program funds to meet UVP goals more effectively.

The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), in partnership with the International Municipal Investment Fund (IMIF) and other local capital financing programs, utilizes a range of blended finance models to support local government investments in the Sustainable Development Goals set forth by the United Nations. As communities in developing countries face rapid urbanization, population growth, and increasing volumes of household waste, UNCDF is exploring Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) as an area for future investment. UNCDF tasked a team with devising a comprehensive investment appraisal framework for the organization to use to assess future UNCDF waste management projects. The team designed an assessment tool that included considerations for financial, economic, environmental, and social dimensions of MSWM projects. To illustrate the use of the tool, the team applied its model to a current UNCDF MSWM project in Guinea, and presented its findings to the UNCDF headquarters in New York.