Spring 2009 www.aed.

org/aedconnections

THE GLOBAL

ECONOMY

Can social development lower unemployment?

Business Training Helps Ecuadorian Entrepreneurs Access New Markets Community Colleges Pivotal in Preparing a Green Workforce Quantifying the Economic Impact of Health Issues

Can Social Development Lower Unemployment?

Share Your Ideas!
The world continues to face serious social and economic challenges. Only by working together and exchanging ideas can we create lasting solutions to these problems. At AED, we are fostering a dialogue with our readers through a new interactive feature on AED.ORG that allows you to share your thoughts with us and other readers around the world. In our last issue of AEDConnections, we asked you to answer the same question we asked ourselves, What do youth need to succeed? Here are some of the things you told us: [Youth] need real life experiences that build confidence and mentors who can guide them into discovering their lifes work. They need to be able to speak, experiment, err, and find themselves without fear of judgment or punishment. Sincere, specific encouragement. Were focusing on the global economy for this issue, and asking, Can social development lower unemployment? Five AED experts share their thoughts on the following pages. We want to hear from you, too.

AED is a nonprofit organization, working globally to improve health, education, and social and economic developmentthe foundation of thriving societies. In collaboration with local and national partners, AED fosters sustainable results through practical, comprehensive approaches to social and economic challenges. AED implements more than 250 programs serving people in more than 150 countries and all 50 U.S. states.

CENTRAL MANAGEMENT

Stephen F. Moseley President and Chief Executive Officer Deanna Trotter Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Jack Downey Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Ricardo P. Villeta Senior Vice President and Chief Management Officer

Published three times a year by AED to inform our friends about our work.

Copyright 2009 by AED. All rights reserved.

Executive Editor: Mary F. Maguire Managing Editor: Michelle Galley Photo Editor: Tess Davis

What do you think?

We welcome you to the discussion. Post your ideas in our Shoutbox on www.aed.org/aedconnections.

Art Director: Anne Quito

www.aed.org

ABOUT THE COVER: A young man in Ecuador weighs coffee beans for a coffee-roasting company AED is supporting through the PRODEL program. Read more on page eight.

Cover photo by Bill Denison

16

Left and right photographs: AED File Middle photograph: Bill Denison

CONTENTS
NEWS
4 Smith Transitions to New Role in AED 4 Community Colleges Pivotal in Preparing a Green Workforce 5 150,000 Jobs Created or Saved in Afghanistan 5 AEDs Active-Schools Model Goes Global 5 Cristina Nardone: Advocate for Social Change

THE GLOBAL ECON O M Y

7 The Global Economy: Its About More Than Money Business Training Helps Ecuadorian Entrepreneurs Access New Markets

10 Education as the Engine for U.S. Economic Development 12 Environment and Economies Benet from Sustainable Tourism 14 Quantifying the Economic Impact of Health Issues

Spring 2009
www.aed.org/aedconnections

IN BRIEF
6 Drive to Read Hits the Road in Jordan 6 Toolkit Helps Meals on Wheels Staff Prevent Fires 6 AED Partners with Citi Foundation to Improve Postsecondary Success 6 Opening School Doors to Vulnerable Children in Senegal
FSC/Recyle stamps

16 Online Mentoring: Narrowing the Gap Between Rich and Poor

18 Resources 19 Snapshots 20 Facts & Figures

By using environmentally friendly paper and processes for this publication, AED saved 2,287 gallons of wastewater; 4,000,000 BTUs of energy; 387 pounds of solid waste; and 689 pounds of greenhouse gases.

NEWS
FROM AROUND AED

u people. projects. progress

Smith Transitions to New Role in AED

In January 2009, William A. Smith moved to a new position at AED and is now a Senior Fellow for Innovations Management, after having served as executive vice president. In his new role, Smith is focusing on his favorite aspect of AEDs work: creative problem solving. He is continuing to take a leadership role in social marketing. On March 19, for example, he will speak in England on the progress of 10 social marketing interventions. To mark the transition, hundreds of AED employees gathered to celebrate his career to date, which has become known internally as 33 years of great ideas in recognition of his creativity and pioneering work. Smith helped move AED beyond work in education to tackle issues in health, civil society, and the environment as well. He is best known for his contributions to the eld of social marketing, about which he has written dozens of articles in peer-reviewed journals, co-authored two books, and co-founded Social Marketing Quarterly. Bill Smiths work has ranged from preventing deaths in car accidents to preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS. Geographically, it has spanned from Africa to the United States and Latin America, said AED President Stephen F. Moseley. He has saved many lives and made a major difference in many others.

AED File Photo

Community Colleges Pivotal in Preparing a Green Workforce

Thousands of workers will be needed to ll the green jobs that are being created as environmentally friendly technologies, public policies, and public-private investments move the United States toward a low-carbon future. According to a new report from AED and the National Council on Workforce Education, community colleges are in a pivotal position to prepare this green workforce. Going Green: The Vital Role of Community Colleges in Building a Sustainable Future and a Green Workforce details how more than two dozen community colleges are preparing workers for new, reoriented, or emerging jobs in the clean-energy economy. The publication also offers examples of how campuses have renovated their facilities to be sustainable and environmentally friendly. Community colleges are responding quickly to the employment demands of the industry, and in doing so, they are supporting the countrys economic recovery, said Mindy Feldbaum, director of workforce development programs at the AED National Institute for Work and Learning. The green jobs for which community colleges are preparing workers include wind power installers; solar engineers; green architects and designers; ethanol plant technicians; and biodiesel laboratory technicians.
Download the report at www.aed.org

AED CONNECTIONS // Spring 2009

150,000 Jobs Created, Saved in Afghanistan

AED File Photo

AEDs Active-Schools Model Goes Global

Thousands of students around the world are now enrolled in active schools that use AEDs model for engaging children. Classrooms in the active schools are transformed into learning spaces where students express themselves and communities get involved in education. In Nicaragua, the number of active schools grew from 40 in the 1990s to more than 2,800 in 2008. Active schools are also the centerpiece of the development plan for the San Martin region in Peru, and student learning gains there are attracting widespread interest. In Africa, the active-schools approach is being introduced throughout Equatorial Guinea. By forging deep partnerships at the school, municipal, and national levels, AED is helping to create lasting solutions for education on a large scale, said Patrick Fine, senior vice president and director of the AED Global Learning Group.
Learn more at http://gec.aed.org

AEDs Agriculture, Rural Investment, and Enterprise Strengthening, or ARIES, program in Afghanistan recently reached a monumental milestone: 150,000 jobs have been created or saved in rural parts of Afghanistan. ARIES is dramatically improving the livelihoods of a substantial number of rural Afghans and their households. Although challenges persist in Afghanistan, including ongoing conict, low levels education, and limited infrastructure, the ARIES program, which is funded by USAID, is building the foundations for an inclusive nancial sector across the nation. Through partner banks and micronance providers, AED is increasing investment in small and medium enterprises, which drive economic growth and offer households and microentrepreneurs access to credit and savings products they need to escape poverty particularly among women, who represent more than 50 percent of ARIESs borrowers.
Learn more at http://aries.org

IN MEMORIAM

Cristina Nardone: Advocate for Social Change

Cristina Nardone, a much-beloved AED employee, died in a tragic accident in Mali on December 2, 2008. Cristina was project director for the USAID-funded Global Sustainable Tourism project. At age 26, she was especially accomplished and quickly gained the respect and admiration of local partners and the condence of the USAID mission. Prior to her work with AED, Cristina served as a volunteer technical adviser for the Peace Corps, where she helped local Dogon women address health issues and create income-generating opportunities, including developing a small local enterprise that made crafts for the tourist market. Cristina will be profoundly missed by all those whose lives she touched, said Gregory R. Niblett, senior vice president and director of the AED Social Change Group. The governor of the province, local mayors, government staff, villagers, and NGO staff have expressed extreme sorrow and demonstrated an outpouring of admiration and respect for Cristina. President Amadou Tour of Mali has announced plans to posthumously bestow on Cristina a prestigious official Malian decoration, making her an officer of the National Order of Mali. Her easygoing and friendly demeanor, upbeat and can-do attitude, and warm and engaging personality endeared her to all. As one colleague in Mali said, Cristina was not just loved, she was much loved. [Our team members] really feel they have lost a leader, a sister, and a friend.

AED File Photo

www.aed.org /aedconnections

NEWS FROM AROUND AED

u in brief

DRIVE TO READ HITS THE ROAD IN JORDAN

AEDs Drive to Read program is inspiring children to dream big and believe in the future. Through the program, a mobile library offers free educational, cultural, and recreational activities to young people ages 612 in Amman, Jordan. Three times a week, the bookmobile visits parks, schools, and community centers in high-need neighborhoods, including those with large concentrations of refugees. Drive to Read provides a versatile platform for promoting a culture of reading for education and for pleasure. It engages children and youth in the art projects, science demonstrations, computers, and other activities that reinforce learning. The mobile library started operating in January 2009 in partnership with the Haya Cultural Center. Local NGOs, the Greater Amman Municipality and the Jordanian Ministry of Culture are contributing to this exciting program.
For more information, contact Naseem Akhtar at nakhtar@aed.org

AED Partners with Citi Foundation to Improve Postsecondary Success

Students from low-income households or from families in which they are the rst to attend college face complex barriers to succeeding in postsecondary education. Over the next ve years, AEDs Citi Postsecondary Success Program will address some of these issues. Working with the Citi Foundation and the Public Education Network (PEN), AED seeks to increase the number of students who apply to postsecondary education, enroll in college, and complete their rst year in a postsecondary institution. With leadership from local education funds in Miami, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, the initiative will develop partnerships among key stakeholders that will develop systemic approaches to addressing the barriers to postsecondary success in their respective cities. To determine the effectiveness of the programs in selected schools, the program will track a cohort of 4,500 students over ve years. An external evaluation will also be conducted to reveal the programs challenges and successes, and to inform the replication of its approach in other districts.
For more information, contact Alexandra Weinbaum at aweinbaum@aed.org

TOOLKIT HELPS MEALS ON WHEELS STAFF PREVENT FIRES

Fire safety and prevention are the focus of training and materials AED developed for the Meals on Wheels Association of America, whose Fire H.E.L.P. program installs free smoke alarms for homebound, older adults. Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, AED created userfriendly resources for Meals on Wheels staff and volunteers that include training curricula; a home assessment tool; a client education tool; and leave-behind iers, magnets, and phone stickersall in both English and Spanish. AED conducted a training of trainers for Meals on Wheels staff in Texas, where Fire H.E.L.P. was piloted, and revised the materials based on participants feedback. AED is currently working on an expanded suite of materials that will help other community-based organizations implement re safety programs for older adults.
For more information, contact Elizabeth Ryan at eryan@aed.org

OPENING SCHOOL DOORS TO VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN SENEGAL

AED recently launched a new project in Senegal to bring children who live on the streets into the classroom. The ve-year Basic Education Program, which is funded by USAID, will also help return estranged children to their families. In partnership with the Ministry of Education, the project also focuses on improving middle school curricula by making them more relevant to the economic and social development of Senegal. Civic education and an introduction to the world of work are being built into the lessons, along with core components that increase access to and use of information technologies. At the community level, the project aims to improve educational governance by increasing parental, business, and local community participation.
For more information, contact Margaret Snow at msnow@aed.org

AED is proud to be the home of the

Social Marketing Quarterly

The only peer-reviewed journal for people who think marketing does more than make money

For more information, visit

www.socialmarketingquarterly.com

AED CONNECTIONS // Spring 2009

we must look beyond nances alone and focus on long-term efforts that provide lasting solutions for economic growth

THE GLOBAL

ECONOMY
Its About More Than Money
Its become a clich that the world is shrinking, and as closely linked financial systems rise or fall together, it feels very small indeed. As we face the realities of the current global recession, we must look beyond finances and focus on long-term efforts that provide lasting solutions for economic growth. How do we give people the skills they need to be successful over time? Healthy, well-prepared citizens who have opportunities to generate a sufficient income to support their families are the key to stabilizing economies at all levels. In this issue of AEDConnections, youll see how AED brings together its collective skills to help communities in the U.S. and countries around the world to strengthen their economies through innovative programs that support a productive workforce. For example, to show countries how much income they lose through health conditions such as malaria and malnutrition, AED created tools that quantify lost productivity.

In the United States, we work closely with school districts to ensure that high school students are properly prepared for available job opportunities. And in Brazil, we are helping young women develop employability skills, which expand their economic opportunities. We also recognize the importance of supporting small-business owners. From training tour guides in Mali on effective business practices, to helping entrepreneurs in Ecuador develop marketing plans, we are working to strengthen local enterprises and national bottom lines. In addition to these stories, five AED leaders share their thoughts on how social development can lower unemployment. You can contribute your ideas on the subject, too, at www.aed.org/aedconnections.

Stephen F. Moseley President and CEO

www.aed.org /aedconnections

Photograph by Peter Howard

LEAD E R S H IP A N D IN S T IT U T IO N A L D E V E L O P ME N T

Business Training Helps Ecuadorian Entrepreneurs Access New Markets

BY C H R I ST I A N P E N N OT T I AED is now partnering with 20 firms in Ecuador and improving the livelihoods of hundreds small-scale farmers.

LEADERSHIP AND I N ST I T U T I O N A L D E V E LO PM E N T G RO U P AED Center for Academic Partnerships AED Center for Enterprise & Capacity Development AED Center for International Exchanges AED Center for Leadership Development
Photograph by Bill Denison

AED CONNECTIONS // Spring 2009

Can social development lower unemployment?

early half of Ecuadors working-age population is unemployed, and many of those with jobs still live in poverty. Although the country has experienced modest economic growth in recent years, its export base remains narrow, with petroleum, bananas/plantains, cut owers, and shrimp accounting for approximately three-quarters of its total export value. In this environment, AEDs Ecuador Local Business Development Program, or PRODEL, is creating sustainable and growing employment opportunities for low-income farmers and helping small-business entrepreneurs like Nicols Vlez increase their income and break into the global economy. Helping talented entrepreneurs access the training and support they need to build and sustain a business allows their potential to be dened by creativity and drive, rather than by a lack of access to knowledge, nance, or markets, said Bonnie Barhyte, senior vice president and director of the AED Leadership and Institutional Development Group.

needed to produce adequate amounts of such beans. To address the supply issue, PRODEL is offering local growers technical assistance in crop production and post-harvest management, as well as nancing solar dryers, improved plant nurseries, and qualityanalysis tools.
LOOKING AT EXPANSION

the economy is social through and through.

PAUL BUNDICK

START-UP CHALLENGES

During a trip to Seattle, Washington, Vlez was inspired by how much the local people loved coffee. When he returned home to Quito, Ecuador, he founded a small retail coffee shop and, subsequently, a growing coffee-roasting enterprise. Using what he had on handa small roaster and his garagehe started roasting excellent coffee, one pound at a time. Since its establishment in 2006, Caf Vlez, which focuses on providing highquality Ecuadorian coffee beans, has faced a number of challenges. Like many small businesses in Ecuador, the company has struggled to compete with larger brands, many of which source their products from more recognized powerhouses in the coffee industry, such as Colombia. In addition, the small-scale coffee growers in the area were not always able to supply high-quality coffee beans because they often lacked the agricultural skills

To improve Vlezs business, AED and its partner, ACDI/VOCA, are providing him with business training, assisting with Web site improvements, helping him develop marketing plans and new products, and conancing his participation in trade fairs and his travel for regional business meetings. After one year of working with AEDs PRODEL program, Caf Vlez has established a great reputation in the local marketplace, improved its relationships with suppliers, increased product quality, and doubled its sales in the local Ecuadorian market, said Paul Bundick, project director in the AED Center for Enterprise & Capacity Development. Now, he added, Vlez is looking for markets to expand his business. The results are a source of pride for Vlez and his partners. Through PRODEL, weve learned a lot, Vlez said. Coffee growing in Ecuador is now taking important steps. Quality and efficiency are up, and the benets are reaching all actors along the value chain. Little by little, were improving. The story of Nicols Vlez and the coffee farmers is just one example of the programs success, said Bundick. AED is now partnering with twenty rms in Ecuador and improving the livelihoods of hundreds of small-scale farmers, he said. PRODELs market-based approach of identifying opportunities for business development is planting the seeds for a thriving and stable economy. ____________________________________
Christian Pennotti is the program manager for the FIELDSupport LWA project in the AED Center for Enterprise & Capacity Development.
Learn more at: www.microlinks.org/eld

Project Director, AED Center Enterprise & Capacity Development

This question implies that the social and the economic are two separate spheres of activity. Clearly this is not the case. Like all facets of society, the economy is social through and through. Economic growth requires effective institutions. Social institutions and their development underlie the entire process of business growth and, therefore, job creation. The term social development is often used to mean education. Of course, an educated workforce is essential to economic progress. However, as practiced, education often prepares people for jobs that do not exist. Investment in education decoupled from private sector development will not deliver positive economic change. The two must go handin-hand. Yet, I believe education may, at times, spark entrepreneurial activity. Education allows people to see things in a new light. Innovation can lead to successful entrepreneurship, which creates jobs. So in this sense, social investment may lower unemployment over time, if supported by effective informal and formal social institutions.

What do you think?

Join the conversation at www.aed.org/aedconnections

Illustration by David Brooks

www.aed.org /aedconnections

U.S. E D U C AT IO N A N D W O R K F O R C E D E V E L O P ME N T

Success today requires a life-long learning process.

Mindy Feldbaum, director of workforce development programs for the AED National Institute for Work and Learning

AED File Photo

Education as the Engine for U.S. Economic Development

U . S . E D U CAT I O N A N D WO R K FO RC E D E V E LO PM E N T G RO U P

BY LISA JOHNSON

AED Center for Early Care and Education AED Center for School and Community Services Educational Equity Center at AED AED Disabilities Studies and Service Center AED Educational Research, Evaluation, and Technology Center AED Higher Education Management Services Center AED National Institute for Work and Learning

ajor downturns in the global economy moved beyond headlines in early 2009 to directly affect thousands of American workers. In the face of more than half a million layoffs in January alone, educations relevance to workforce development in the U.S. has taken on new urgency. Recent graduates and those who have lost their jobs must be properly prepared for the opportunities that are available. AED is helping them do just that. Through work with the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education, for instance, AED is training state and local teams of secondary and post-secondary educators on how to create and revamp programs of study,

or structured sequences of classes students take when they are seeking a degree. To make the programs as relevant as possible, AED focuses on aligning them with current workforce needs. Particularly in this economic crisis, Mindy Feldbaum, director of workforce development programs for the AED National Institute for Work and Learning, said, you dont want to train people for jobs that wont exist after graduation.
LINKING SCHOOLS AND BUSINESS

School officials in Coweta County, Georgia., southwest of Atlanta, felt the need for

10

AED CONNECTIONS // Spring 2009

Can social development lower unemployment?

CEC model, Charner said, is that students are graded on work ethic as well as their academic performance. Success in the program depends not only on what you can do, but also on how you behave and act in the workplace, Charner said. Employability skills, such as teamwork, communicating appropriately, and completing tasks, are extremely important to an employees performance, the productivity of a business, and the future of the economy. The CEC programs achievements in preparing a workforce have attracted new businesses to Coweta County because they know they will nd well-qualied employees there, according to Charner.
GREEN JOBS

Education pays!
KATHERINE BOSWELL
Director, Community College Policy, AED Higher Education Management Services Center

job-relevant curricula in the mid-1990s, when local businesses were on the verge of moving shop because they could not nd employees in the area who were trained for the positions they had open. Realizing the companies relocation would mean a local economic decline, the school district worked with employers to create the Central Education Center, or CEC, a publicly funded charter school that combines traditional academics with career and technical education for adults and high school students alike. AED wrote a report that detailed the structure of the school and assessed the impact of the center on students, employers, and the local community. Programs like CEC directly link what students are learning with the kind of job they can get when they graduate, said Ivan Charner, vice president and director of the AED National Institute for Work and Learning. One of the unique aspects of the

So that other communities might follow Coweta Countys lead, AED created a replication guide and set of best practices. Currently, schools and businesses in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, are using it to prepare students for local jobs in the energy sector. In fact, energy is one of the growing areas of opportunity across the U.S. Investment in green jobs in industries such as biofuels and solar, wind, and geothermal energy is leading to new career options. However, newcomers to the job force need training in such elds, and mid-career laborers and professionals need to acquire new skills to stay competitive with the changing job market, according to Feldbaum. Success today requires a lifelong learning process, said Feldbaum, who recently published a report on the leading role community colleges play in creating a workforce for the green economy. Everyone needs to continue to upgrade. ____________________________________
Lisa Johnson is a senior project officer in the AED National Institute for Work and Learning.
Learn more at: http://niwl.aed.org

The official sign greeting visitors to the state of Kentucky says it all: Education pays! Even in our present troubled economy, access to postsecondary education or training has become the threshold requirement for career success. Whether one considers a neighborhood, city, state, or nation, those with higher levels of education have higher incomes and greater economic growth. But it isnt just society that benets from increased educational development. It pays off for individuals and families, too. Those with the most education are much less likely to experience violence, addiction, illness, incarceration, and other forms of abuse. The leasteducated are most likely to be living in poverty. Those who are educated are much more likely to be employed and to participate in our civic democracy. Increasing opportunities for every citizen to access additional education, whatever his or her age, should be a high priority for our policymakers as they consider how to revitalize our struggling economy.

What do you think?

Join the conversation at www.aed.org/aedconnections

Illustration by David Brooks

www.aed.org /aedconnections

11

SOCIA L C H A N G E

Montenegro is one of the fastest-growing travel and tourism destinations in the world.
World Travel and Tourism Council

Environment and Economies Benet from

Sustainable Tourism
BY A M E E JA N KOT T

SO C I A L C H A N G E G RO U P

AED Center on AIDS & Community Health AED Center for Civil Society and Governance AED Center for Environmental Strategies AED Center for Health Communication AED Center for Social Marketing and Behavior Change AED Center for Youth Development

ourism offers a promising means to achieve economic growth. But the beaches, rainforests, and mountaintops that fuel it can also be ecologically fragile and culturally signicant. Developing countries in particular are balancing the competing demands of attracting tourism dollarswhich create jobs, support small businesses, and boost national economiesand preserving local cultures and natural resources. To address this pressing issue, AED joined forces with 15 leading conservation and tourism development organizations to create the Global Sustainable Tourism Alliance, or GSTA, which is supported by the United States Agency for International Development. Sustainable tourism is an environmentally and socially responsible tool that leads to economic development, said Richard P. Bossi, director of the AED Center for Environmental Strategies, which manages the alliance. Matching what local people value with business opportunities can lead to new jobs,

stable employment, community pride, and the preservation of a cultural heritage. In addition to these benets, GSTA seeks to foster workforce development and livelihood development and alleviate poverty, he added.
FORESTRY, FARMING, AND TOURISM

For example, in Mali, GSTA is helping attract investment in tourism by showcasing the countrys national heritage to international and national visitors and working directly with local tour companies to improve their business practices. To that end, the alliance recently held a number of trainings specically tailored to the local guides and hotels in Dogon country, which is situated in the south-central region of Mali. The Dogon people are best known for their elaborate mask dances, mud-brick architecture, and wooden sculptures, which contribute to making the area one of Malis prime tourist locations. In addition to training the guides, local village elders and agricultural-extension agents

12

AED CONNECTIONS // Spring 2009

What do youth need development to be successful? Can social

lower unemployment?

The answer is a resounding yes.

RICK BOSSI
Vice President, AED Center for Environmental Strategies

Photographs by Gordon Studebaker

were trained on environmentally friendly forestry and farming techniques. By simultaneously strengthening the tourism industry and the agricultural sector, GSTA is helping Mali to protect its richest cultural and natural assets and to spur its economic growth, Bossi said.
ATTRACTING TOURISTS

Meanwhile, the alliance is working with the Republic of Montenegro to expand its tourism industry. The country saw a sharp decline in tourism dollars when the Balkan war broke out in 1990. In 2007, however, the World Travel & Tourism Council ranked Montenegro as one of the fastest-growing travel and tourism destinations in the world. Still, most people traveling there ock to the countrys southern coasts, keeping the benets of tourism out of regions that are typically neglected. To attract more tourists to the northern part of Montenegro, home to one of only three primeval forests in Europe, GSTA is

promoting the area to tourists, supporting the development of privately owned agricultural and hospitality businesses, and encouraging companies in the south to use products and services that are created in the north. In addition, the alliance will promote networking and partnerships among the economic, social, environmental, and government communities, which will achieve the greatest impact for the country. Our goal is to bring the local tourism improvements to scale throughout Montenegro, said Gregory R. Niblett, senior vice president and director of the AED Social Change Group. That is the kind of systemic change that AED ultimately seeks to make.

The answer is a resounding yes. Our work in sustainable tourism, for example, plays a catalytic role in developing job opportunities and sustainable livelihoods for rural populations in developing countries. Tourism is a large part of a countrys gross domestic product and, if approached correctly, can be used as a tool for stimulating economic growth, income generation, and job creation in overlooked, underdeveloped, or neglected areas. It can also protect, conserve, and promote natural assets, such as biodiversity, as well as cultural assets. So thats what were doing. We start with the perspective of the local individual: what he or she recognizes as something of value. Then, once we understand what motivates and is important to people, we work with them to identify opportunities to develop appropriate tourism products and services they eventually can assume on their own. That, in turn, will stimulate a more robust and diversied economy.

____________________________________
Amee Jankott is a program officer in the AED Center for Environmental Strategies.
Learn more at: www.gstalliance.net

What do you think?

Join the conversation at www.aed.org/aedconnections

Illustration by David Brooks

www.aed.org /aedconnections

13

GLOB A L H E A LT H , P O P U L AT IO N , & N U T R IT IO N

Between 2005 and 2015, Ethiopia could lose $6 billion from iodine deficiency in pregnant women.

AED Staff Photo

Quantifying the Economic Impact of Health Issues

B Y A G N E S G U Y O N , R E N U K A B E R Y, A N D E L I S A B E T H S O M M E R F E LT
G LO BA L H E A LT H, P O P U L AT I O N , & N U T R I T I O N G RO UP AED Center for Global Health Communication and Marketing AED Center for Health Policy and Capacity Development AED Center for Nutrition AED Center for Private Sector Health Initiatives AED-SATELLIFE Center for Health Information and Technology

hen you stay home from work sick, your employers productivity goes down and your family loses your wages. If you have to care for a sick child, the same thing happens. Health conditions, especially those that are often overlooked, such as malnutrition and poor maternal health, affect more than individual families and businesses; they have devastating impacts on national economies as well. To reveal the extent of the connection between health and economic productivity, AED

developed three computer-aided advocacy tools that have been used to expand dialogue about the level of nancial commitments needed to address specic health issues in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In order to improve advocacy for public health we must focus on the kinds of evidence that concern ministries of nance, as well as ministries of health, said Margaret Burns Parlato, senior vice president and director of the AED Global Health, Population, & Nutrition Group.

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AED CONNECTIONS // Spring 2009

Can social development lower unemployment?

Yesbut it must be based on sound public policy that addresses the health of the population.
COST OF POOR HEALTH

AEDs computer-aided advocacy processes target three different health afflictions: MoreNets estimates the high cost of malaria to African countries; Proles focuses on poor nutrition; and the Reduce/Alive tool addresses the effects of maternal and newborn mortality. The models also use pertinent data to demonstrate economic benets of implementing proven interventions on a large scale. Even though highly effective interventions are available for these conditions, policymakers are often reluctant to pay for them because the enormous benets are not understood. Sometimes those suffering are not visibly sick. And some illnesses are so common as to seem inevitable (such as malaria). Until recently, statistics showing the alarming mortality and morbidity rates have not told the full story. Parlato said. AEDs tools provide evidence for a paradigm shift in thinking about poor health by quantifying the massive economic impact of maternal mortality and morbidity, malnutrition, and malaria. AED uses its advocacy tools to help increase the problems prominence. This ability to quantify the magnitude of mortality and morbidity, translate it into economic productivity losses, and engage in advocacy, enhances other efforts to improve health policies, increase resource allocation, and implement improved nutrition, maternal-care services, and malaria control and prevention.
BILLIONS LOST

deciency in pregnant women, $4 billion from slowed growth in malnourished children, and $3.5 billion because of iron deciency in children and working adults. Ethiopian decision makers responded by including nutrition in national strategies to improve health and lower poverty. They also adopted guidelines for proper feeding of infants and young children, and trained professionals in every region on the importance of proper nutrition. In Burkina Faso a multi-disciplinary country team using AEDs Reduce/Alive approach estimated that every day, eight women die and 240 suffer disabilities from complications of pregnancy or delivery costing the country $266 million in lost productivity over 10 years. As a result of this new information, the government increased funding for reproductive health, subsidized emergency cesarean sections, and raised the overall budget for health from 7 percent in 2005 to 11 percent in 2008. Lawmakers are frequently surprised by the extent of economic loss revealed by these models, said Parlato. Often they understand for the rst time that nutrition, malaria, or maternal health has a broader context than just health.

HALIMA MWENESI Director, Public Policy Initiatives, AED Global Health, Population, & Nutrition Group

Yes, social development can lower unemployment, but it must be based on sound public policy that addresses the health of the population. A healthy community is a productive community. A healthy person is able to contribute better to social development and his or her own development at every level. One of the biggest challenges we are facing now is malaria. It is one of the scourges of our time and has been shown to profoundly affect the GDPs of developing countries. When it is not present, kids go to school on an almost daily basis, which helps mothers concentrate on what they have to do for their children rather than running backward and forward to the hospitals and clinics. In a healthy society, parents have more productive lives at whatever level of employment they have because they dont have to deal with their own illness or the illness of their loved ones.

____________________________________
Agnes Guyon, senior public health adviser; Renuka Bery, dissemination and advocacy manager; and Elisabeth Sommerfelt, senior specialist in the AED Center for Health Policy and Capacity Development, all work in the AED Global Health, Population, & Nutrition Group.
Learn more about PROFILES: www.aedproles.org Reduce/Alive: www.reduce-alive.org MoreNets: www.netmarkafrica.org

What do you think?

Join the conversation at www.aed.org/aedconnections

Application of the Proles model in Ethiopia estimated that between 2005 and 2015, the country would lose $6 billion from iodine

Illustration by David Brooks

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15

GLOB A L L E A R N IN G

40 percent of youth in Recife, Brazil are unemployed, and less than half of the citys 18- to 24-year-olds are continuing their education.

Online Mentoring
Narrowing the Gap Between Rich and Poor
B Y C I D A C AVA L C A N T E

G LO BA L L E A R N I N G G RO U P AED Center for Gender Equity AED Global Education Center AED Information Technology Applications Center AED Systems Service Center

wenty-two-year-old Ana Clia Arcanjo lives with her parents in Recife, Brazil. While she was growing up, her family and friends assumed she would become a poorly paid laborer, or maybe not nd work at all. Despite Brazils recent economic boom, 40 percent of youth in Recife are unemployed, and less than half of the citys 18- to 24-yearolds are continuing their education. However, thanks to AEDs Programa Para o Futuro, Arcanjo is now a key breadwinner in her household. She learned to set up computer networks, diagnose and repair technical problems, and install and congure software. Perhaps most important though, through AEDs eMentoring methodology, Arcanjo and 49 of her peers used e-mail and instant messaging to conduct conversations with working professionals who taught them marketable skills and gave them career counseling. One skill Arcanjo learned was to present ideas professionally and accept criticism graciously. No one from our communities could teach us this, because they do not have the same knowledge or experience as the mentors, she said.

BREAKING THROUGH BARRIERS

Widespread racial and class-based discrimination in Brazil normally would have prevented such interactions between youth like Arcanjo and middle-class businesspeople. Arcanjo knew this from personal experience. Before the program, if any of us saw these professionals on the street, we would never have had the opportunity to talk with them, let alone build a relationship [with] and learn from them, she said. But the electronic communications used in Programa Para o Futuro enabled them to break through those biases. As part of AEDs design for eMentoring, the pairs could only meet face-to-face after the relationships were cemented through months of online conversations. eMentoring helps relationships form based on the exchange of words and ideas, not prejudice, said Eric Rusten, director for new ventures with the AED Information Technology Applications Center. Through eMentoring, disadvantaged youth see themselves in a new world as professionals; they can become whoever they want.

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AED CONNECTIONS // Spring 2009

Can social development lower unemployment?

unemployment is not only a question of knowledge and skills its also having access to networks and nancial resources.

EL HOUCINE HAICHOUR
Director, Learning & Technology; AED Information Technology Applications Center

AED File photo

LOW COST, HIGH IMPACT . . . NOT SIMPLE

IT REMOVES BARRIERS TO SUCCESS

Programa Para o Futuro started the rst eMentoring program in Brazil, and it continues to grow. Rusten attributes this to the attention AED and its partners place on the complexity of the activity, which requires a dedicated coordinator for eMentoring, structured activities, training, and, above all, persistence. The eMentoring program is extremely low-cost and high-impact, he said, but achieving success it is not simple. Arcanjo sees the complexities of eMentoring from multiple perspectives. Not only did she benet from learning under a successful professional, but she also became a mentor herself. As a professional in the eMentoring program, I had to meet someones expectations. I had inuence on someones life, she said, adding that her newfound sense of responsibility, and her ability to change her society positively, was the best part of the experience.

The rst eMentoring efforts started small, Rusten admitted, but as a result, he believes the programs success will continue and expand, as it offers a tested means to educate a new workforce, improve access to career training, and ultimately narrow the gap between rich and poor in a world with increasing economic disparity. This March, AED and its affiliate, ADE-Brasil, will use eMentoring in a new economic-empowerment program, funded by the Nike Foundation, that will reach more than 800 very poor young women in Recife. In addition, this year AED is bringing eMentoring to youth in Mozambique and South Africa. In terms of changing lives, eMentoring is irreplaceable, Rusten said. It removes barriers to success and accelerates transformation. ____________________________________
Cida Cavalcante is ADE-Brasils coordinator for eMentoring.
Learn more at: www.adebrasil.org.br

If you are poor and you dont have the right social networks, then you dont have access to the right jobs, or to the appropriate jobs; so you could be employed, but its not the right match. And therefore social development is access to resources access to capabilities like education, access to networks, [and] access to professionals. What we are learning in the Middle East and North Africa basically is that in addition to providing quality education and training, we also need to provide these young people with social capital. What I mean by that is simply the network and relationships to professionals, and professional associations, which would open doors for these people to access the job market. So unemployment is not only a question of knowledge and skills, its also a question of having access to networks and nancial resources.

What do you think?

Join the conversation at www.aed.org/aedconnections

Illustration by David Brooks

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17

RESOURCES

More than 200 publications are available at www.aed.org

Links to the following resources are available at www.aed.org/aedconnections

NEW PUBLICATIONS
Powering and Empowering Development: Increasing Access to Electricity in Angola, 2009, 28 pages. Small TechnologyBig Impact: Practical Options for Development, 2009, 8 pages. Confronting the Glass Ceiling of Youth Engagement, 2008, 36 pages.

Nonprot Leadership Development: A Select Annotated Bibliography,

2009, 28 pages.

MK Connects: Macedonia Links Education and Connectivity, 2008, 28 pages.

Inspiring Citizens, Improving Communities: Successful Practices from a Community Action Program in Armenia, 2008, 38 pages.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Transforming the Kenyan Dairy Feeds System to Improve Farmer Productivity and Livelihoods, 2007, 28 pages.
PODCAST

Download a series of audio interviews with three of AEDs partners on the FIELD-Support economic and enterprise development project.

http://eldsupportlwa.org/eldcasts
Transforming the Moroccan Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Sector to Compete in the New Global Economy, 2007, 24 pages.

Economic Strengthening for Vulnerable Children: Principles of Program Recommendations for Effective Field Interventions, 2008, 70 pages. Developing Local Economies Around the World, 2005, 6 pages.

Harish Hande, of the Solar Electric Company in India, discusses the growth of the company, challenges to expanding access to renewable energy in rural India, and lessons learned through strategic partnerships with micronance institutions. Harish spent more than 10 years working with SELCO to provide India's rural poor with appropriate, affordable energy solutions.

William Bonilla shares the experience of the World Council of Credit Unions as they develop credit and savings products in Guatemala. William discusses the ndings of the market assessment and product design phases of this project and lays out the next steps toward a full rollout of the products.

Brian Beard from the IRIS Center at the University of Maryland discusses the development of the new USAID poverty-assessment tools, the training process, and the potential for the tools to advance socialperformance measurement initiatives.

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Programa Para O Futuro: Enabling Disadvantaged Youth to Build New Futures, 2005, 45 pages. Strengthening Education to Drive Economic Development: A Manual for Replicating the CEC Experience in Your Community, 2006, 210 pages. Establishing Apprenticeship Programs for Youth Workers: A Planning Guide, 2004, 44 pages.

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AED CONNECTIONS // Spring 2009

SNAPSHOTS

CIVIL SOCIETY
Barney Singer, vice president and director of the AED Center for Civil Society and Governance, spoke at the Partnership: A Call to Action Conference jointly hosted by the State Department Bureau of Public Diplomacy & Public Affairs and USAID, on Capacity Building for Faith-based and Community Organizations: What You Need to Know in Washington, D.C., on November 7, 2008. Ken Williams, director of the AED Center for Leadership Development, published Nonprot Leadership Development: A Select Annotated Bibliography in December 2008. Ailea Sneller, program associate in the AED Center for Civil Society and Governance, presented Who We Think We Are: Women as Managers and Leaders in International Development at the International NGO Training and Research Centre (INTRAC) conference, What Ever Happened to Civil Society?, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on December 4.

Associations 136th annual meeting, in San Diego, California in October 2008. Sandra MacDonald, vice president and director, AED Center for Academic Partnerships, gave a presentation on building partnerships with universities at the Baghdad Forum for Iraqi and International Universities in Baghdad, Iraq, on January 19 and 20, 2009. Maryann Stimmer, science coordinator, and Linda Coln, program manager, both of the Educational Equity Center at AED, presented Equity as a Factor in Informal Science Education at the ASTC Annual Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, held October 1821, 2008. Mary Joy Pigozzi, senior vice president and director of the AED Global Learning Group, presented Supporting Countries to Foster a Movement for ESD at the International Forum on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Tokyo, Japan, held December 45, 2008. Elizabeth Adelman and Eva Grajeda, from the AED Global Education Center, will present their paper, Ensuring an Opportunity to Learn: Are Children in Guatemala Learning to Read?, at the Comparative International Education Society Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, on March 24, 2009. Margaret Snow, from the AED Global Education Center, will present Qualied Teacher Status: Indicating the Teacher Professions StatusLessons for California from Finland, Korea, and Ireland at the Comparative International Education Society Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, on March 24, 2009. Arushi Terway, from the AED Global Education Center, presented The Expansion of Secondary Education and the Need for Teachers: How Big Is the Gap? at the Australia and New Zealand Comparative International Education Society (ANZCIES) Annual Conference in Perth, Australia, on November 26, 2008.

Capacity Development, moderated a USAID After Hours event, Challenges, Opportunities and Learning in Youth Micronance, in Washington, D.C., alongside representatives of Save the Children and other leading child-focused organizations on September 17, 2008. Mindy Feldbaum, director of workforce development programs in the AED National Institute for Work and Learning, participated in a panel discussion at the BioNetwork Meeting on Triad Biotechnology GraduatesTheir Experiences, Futures and Opportunities, hosted by the National Center for the Biotechnology Workforce and the North Carolina Community College System in Greensboro, North Carolina, on November 12, 2008. Timothy Nourse, chief of party, Expanded and Sustained Access to Financial Services program, with the AED Center for Enterprise & Capacity Development, gave a presentation, Micronance as a Tool for Peacebuilding: The Case of Palestine, in Cali, Colombia, on January 22, 2009.

HEALTH
Reena Borwankar and Elisabeth Sommerfelt, from the AED Center for Health Policy and Capacity Development, presented the ndings from the Africas Health in 2010 publication, Gender-based Violence in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of Demographic and Health Survey Findings and Their Use in National Planning, as part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence campaign at USAID on December 5, 2008, and at the Health Policy Initiative on December 10, 2008. Prakash V. Kotecha, technical adviser with the AED Center for Nutrition, presented Combating Anemia with Adolescent School Girls: Sharing Experience at the Symposium on Maternal and Child Nutrition: A Life Cycle Perspective, organized by the Nutrition Foundation of India in New Delhi, India, held November 2829, 2008. Kathleen Kurz, from the AED Center for Health Policy and Capacity Development, presented Collaborating on Nutrition and Food Security: Implications for the Health and Agriculture Sectors, a paper she co-authored, at the ECOWAS Nutrition Forum in Sierra Leone on September 8, 2008. Doyin Oluwole, project director with the AED Center for Health Policy and Capacity Development, gave a lecture, Progress and Challenges for Child Health in Africa, at the School of Public Health, Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, in November 2008. Nadia Kist, HIV/AIDS technical adviser with the AED Center for Civil Society and Governance, presented a poster, Mwangalizi Project Real Time Evaluation: A Pilot Initiative Mitigating Barriers to Pediatric HIV Treatment Adherence and Clinic Retention, in Kenya, at the 15th Annual International Conference for AIDS and STIs in Africa, held in Dakar, Senegal, on December 6, 2008.

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Ann Jimerson, senior program officer at the AED Center for Social Marketing and Behavior Change, gave a talk, Social Marketing for Energy Conservation, at the British Columbia Hydros PowerSmart Awards and Forum in Vancouver, BC, Canada, on November 18, 2008. Carmen Tedesco, program officer with the AED Center for Environmental Strategies, spoke on a panel about New Tools and Technologies in Addressing Global Climate Change at the Society for International Development Climate Change and Development Dialogue in Bolsena, Italy, December 1719, 2008. Mary Worzala, director of energy programs with the AED Center for Enterprise & Capacity Development, and Hugo Melikian, chief of party for AEDs Angola Electricity Support Program, coauthored Constructing a Baseline Using GIS and Household Surveys: An Example from Angola, a paper they presented at the European Evaluation Society annual conference in Lisbon, Portugal, on October 3, 2008.

EDUCATION
May Rihani, senior vice president and director of AEDs Center for Gender Equity and co-chair of the United Nations Girls Education Initiative (UNGEI) Global Advisory Committee, spoke at the Eighth High Level Group Meeting on Education for All (EFA) in Oslo, Norway, on December 16, 2008. The theme of the discussion was girls education as a driver for gender equality and development. Audrey-Marie Schuh Moore from the AED Global Education Center, will chair a panel at the Comparative International Education Society Conference, where she will present her paper, The School Effectiveness Framework: Measuring Opportunity to Learn, on March 24, 2009. Linda Simkin, senior program officer at the AED Center for School and Community Services, presented a poster, Consumer Access to Plan B OTC: Findings of a National Online Survey, at the American Public Health

ENTERPRISE AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

Margie Brand, STRIVE program director with the AED Center for Enterprise &

www.aed.org /aedconnections

19

Academy for Educational Development 1825 Connecticut Ave., NW Washington, DC 20009-5721 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Non-profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Washington, DC Number 8464

FACT$ & FIGURE$

How People in Developing and Emerging Countries Pay for Health Services

U.S. OFFICES
Headquarters

1825 Connecticut Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20009-5721 Tel 202.884.8000 Fax 202.884.8430

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REGIONAL SUPPORT OFFICES

AED East and Central Africa 2nd Floor, ABC Place, Waiyaki Way, Nairobi, Kenya P.O. Box 1450000800 Tel +254.20.445.4324 Fax +254.20.445.2636 AED Southern Africa Ground Floor, Block E, Hatfield Gardens 333 Grosvenor Street, Hatfield, 0083 Pretoria, South Africa Tel +27.12.423.8600 Fax +27.12.342.7005

AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS
ADE Brasil Av. Barbosa Lima, 149 Sala 406 Bairro do Recife, 50030-330, Recife-PE, Brasil Tel +55.81.3224.7257 AED Ghana-CEDEM House No. 445/29 East Legon, P.O. Box M603 Accra,Ghana Tel +223.21.517.497

World Bank Data with data from the World Health Organizations World Health Survey Reprinted with permission from Global Health Magazine www.globalhealthmagazine.com

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