chemonics
glassdoor has 239 chemonics international reviews submitted anonymously by chemonics international employees. read employee reviews and ratings on glassdoor to decide if chemonics international is right for you .
mr. teele, a former foreign service officer, and business associate frank feffer founded chemonics international in 1975 as a technical consulting division to chemonics industries. feffer headed chemonics industries .
in addition to paying the settlement, chemonics will hire eight of the applicants who previously did not get jobs .
chemonics deferred requests for interviews in kabul and washington, d. c. , to usaid. usaid told us it had given permission to chemonics to do the interview, but the company did not respond to our requests .
we believe those who have the least deserve our best. at chemonics, development is more than a passion or calling .
chemonics even directed some of those workers to remove rubble from private lots adjacent to its port - au - prince headquarters instead .
editor' s note: this story was revised to include a usaid statement provided to globalpost about the oig audit of chemonics .
jane gotiangco, director of communications at chemonics, attributes the pattern of discrimination to a manual application system that, she says, did not allow the firm to track diversity data. chemonics has since upgraded the system and renewed its commitment to diversity, gotiangco says .
chemonics international inc. is building a talent pool to develop a roster of go - to experts or pre - qualify candidates for future roles .
the oig found “not all activities implemented have involved community participation in a way that guarantees sustainability. ” in one especially egregious example, chemonics :
the department of labor also found that chemonics violated rules about maintaining required records and conducting internal audits, which the company has now agreed to fix .
in an interview aired during the episode, i explain that chemonics was the largest recipient of post - quake u. s. disaster relief and in fact, is one of the largest aid contractors in the world. a topic that we have covered on this blog for years. in a response to the episode, chemonics claims the “segment does not provide a complete or accurate picture of chemonics’ work in haiti over the past five years. ”
the post — “chemonics responds to devex article” — quotes chemonics ceo susi mudge, who said, “immediately upon recognizing the project was facing challenges, we owned our responsibility. addressing these challenges is one of our top priorities. we believe we have made the necessary changes to ensure progress is made. ”
the company agreed last month to pay back wages, interest and benefits to the applicants, but the terms of the settlement allow chemonics to deny liability .
it is certainly welcome that after years of stonewalling inquiries and freedom of information act requests that chemonics is now eager to discuss their funding of local organizations .
the washington post reported that former employees of chemonics, which has received over $ 430 million in usaid contracts since 2003, said their superiors kept their mouths shut about failing programs in order to keep contracts flowing. a spokeswoman for chemonics said the company is now employee owned and stands by its work in afghanistan .
critics of usaid spending say the mistakes chemonics made in haiti and afghanistan are emblematic of those that occur frequently across the development aid world as aid contracts increasingly shift away from ngos to for - profit companies. foreign policy reported in july that in 2011, 27 percent of usaid funds worldwide went to american companies like chemonics .
usaid gave seven of the 10 largest contracts for operations in haiti to chemonics international, a for - profit provider that johnson said is the largest usaid contractor in the world. chemonics’s two largest projects in haiti include the winner project and the office of transitions initiative, which johnson described as “the more political arm of usaid. ”
nonetheless, the public is unable to ascertain how chemonics spent the vast majority of its multi - million - dollar contracts in haiti due to usaid’s lack of oversight reports .
indeed, it was chemonics’ contract with usaid that is shown in the episode, with all cost information redacted and the entire statement of work—25 pages—redacted with bright pink pages .
last week' s audit is likely to fuel scrutiny of usaid deals with companies like chemonics, both in the united states and in the countries where those deals take place .
williams had his critics. chemonics officials praised his firm' s agricultural work, but called his construction work shoddy. one chemonics official told me a thai engineer williams hired to implement a $ 700, 000 usaid project to construct 19 small irrigation dams was incompetent, did not understand english and submitted an initial design that was
a crappy little drawing .
a department of labor review of the hiring practices of chemonics in 2011 found that its regional business unit, which supports the company’s development work in africa, asia, europe and eurasia, latin american, the caribbean, and the middle east, discriminated based on race when hiring for entry - level positions. of the 124 african americans who applied for jobs at chemonics, none were hired .
chemonics failed to set timelines or estimated dates of completion for some work being done by subcontractors, causing some projects to run behind schedule. in september 2011, usaid awarded chemonics a $ 1. 9 million contract to build a temporary space for haiti' s parliament, which lost its building in the earthquake. but no timelines were set for steps in the process – such as installing “utilities. ”
as devex reported last week, chemonics’ most recent quarterly report to usaid revealed that only 7 percent of the global health supply chain – procurement and supply management project’s shipments arrived “on time and in full. ”
there is clearly more to the story of haiti’s reconstruction than what was covered in the roughly 15 - minute vice on hbo episode, but chemonics’ response is not just incomplete; it’s inaccurate and misleading too .
founded in 1975, chemonics is an international development consulting firm. in 70 countries around the globe, our network of approximately 4, 000 local professionals share a simple belief: those who have the least deserve our best. so we pursue a higher standard every day to help clients, partners and beneficiaries achieve results. where chemonics works, development works. follow us on facebook and twitter or visit us at urltoken .
chemonics was awarded “urban beautification” contracts to build benches and spruce up public spaces near the new $ 224 million carocol industrial park outside haiti' s northern city of cap haitien. but instead of hiring haitians from the local communities, chemonics brought in workers all the way from port - au - prince in the south of the country. “as a result, residents saw jobs in their neighborhood being done by outsiders, and without an understanding of the activities, they did not see how anyone local benefited, ” the audit stated. it concluded two of these beautification projects failed altogether because chemonics did not involve local residents in the process .
while usaid did not respond to globalpost' s questions about chemonics' contracts in haiti, the agency did provide a written statement, declaring ,
we take very seriously the effectiveness of our programs worldwide .
while this may be true, it does not address the main issue which vice raises: that so much post - quake aid went to a community that wasn’t impacted by the quake. further, the priority for chemonics in implementing a usaid program was to provide support to the industrial park. chemonics also funded the public relations firm for the inauguration of the park, paid for billboards that dot the area declaring it “open for business, ” as well as other efforts aimed at promoting the park. this very well may be what chemonics was asked to do by usaid, but it doesn’t mean it was a good use of aid dollars .
chemonics has come in for criticism on other issues too. an audit of a $ 62m project it carried out in 2006 in afghanistan found that the company “fell considerably short of intended results” and was followed up by the us press. chemonics said that the reports “provided an incomplete picture”. in 2010, in the wake of the 2010 haiti earthquake, chemonics was awarded more than $ 196m to help rebuild the country, making it the largest recipient of post - earthquake funds from usaid. but just a few months later, auditors discovered [ pdf ] that the company had hired only one - third the number of haitians it was supposed to .
“the [ usaid ] inspector general found that chemonics regularly runs short of its goals and over its budget, ” cepr’s johnson said. “this is typical, but it’s become particularly evident in haiti because of the earthquake. ”
a chemonics consultant who was supposed to help haiti' s national mapping agency replace geographical data lost during the earthquake hadn' t finished the job when her contract ended in february. “the activity did not meet its objectives because chemonics did not communicate effectively with [ haiti' s mapping agency ] or provide adequate support to the consultant, ” according to the audit. “the chemonics officials said they never asked agency staff members whether the consultant was meeting their needs and learned only at the activity’s end that [ the agency ] was not satisfied with her. ” the head of the agency told auditors that the consultant' s work was “insufficient and would have to be redone. ”
usaid then stepped in and appointed new managers and hired polish workers to replace american ones. in the end, despite the independent evaluators' criticisms, usaid gave chemonics an
excellent
rating for the project... .
instead of usaid implementing projects itself, the agency doled out government aid money to private contractors like chemonics, who then hired a cascading series of subcontractors to actually carry out the work. chemonics was one of dozens of washington - based contracting firms known as
beltway bandits
established in response to the privatization of government services by the reagan, bush and clinton administrations. the owner of chemonics at the time, scott spangler, worked for usaid during the first bush administration. during the 1990s, he and his wife contributed $ 98, 000 to political candidates, all republicans. by 2004, 95 percent of the firm' s $ 185 million in annual revenue came from usaid .
in response to further inquiry from devex, chemonics wrote in an email: “we work closely with the global fund, unfpa, and unicef to mitigate the effects of late orders on commodity security in the countries that we serve. ”
chemonics international, one of the largest private development groups partnering with the us agency for international development (usaid), has agreed to pay $ 482, 243 (£389, 000) to job applicants who faced discrimination in the company’s hiring process .
chemonics supports international economic development projects with usaid, including education, healthcare and agriculture programmes. it has been awarded some of largest aid contracts by the us government, from supporting the white helmets in syria to supplying medicine and health supplies around the globe .
persons with disabilities who need to request reasonable accommodations during the application process may send an email to: applicantrequest @ urltoken or call chemonics at (855) 955 - 6877 or (202) 955 - 6882. no other phone calls will be accepted .
a favorite usaid contractor, chemonics international, started in 1976 by conservative republican gerald murphy, in part, because as he told the new york times in 1993, ‘i’ve always wanted a way to do two things: one, have my own c. i. a. , and two, be helpful to people, ’ received $ 500, 000 to support usaid field missions in nepal. oti and soros’ open society institute (osi) are also linked through a contract awarded to chemonics in nepal to provide for u. s. - funded propaganda to be broadcast on fm stations in nepal. the soros / usaid / chemonics media blitz in nepal is also funding radio kailash, targeting thr humla district of nepal and nepal chautari (a national live radio call - in show) .
this is not true. since the earthquake, chemonics alone has awarded nearly $ 100 million dollars directly to haitian organizations, in the form of grants and subcontracts, providing much - needed monetary resources, as well as institutional strengthening and capacity building services in tandem .
in 2015, chemonics received a contract of $ 9. 5bn over eight years from usaid – the largest contract ever from the government agency devex reports. only one other contractor receives more usaid awards, the partnership for supply chain management, which is a conglomerate of 13 companies .
after devex published an article revealing problems with a critical global health supply chain project funded by the u. s. agency for international development, chemonics international, the project implementer, responded in an online post that acknowledged “challenges” and described steps the company has taken to improve performance .
he then worked as a consultant on economic and agricultural development. among his projects was designing an agricultural project for a cooperative in puerto rico and helping create a fertilizer company in afghanistan. it was in afghanistan where mr. teele and feffer worked on the idea of starting chemonics international .
in truth, the agricultural development program williams implemented for chemonics and usaid was a shadow of a similar usaid cold war effort in helmand. in the 1970s, a dozen afghan extension agents worked in each district. in 2004, usaid - via williams - employed only two per district .
it isn' t the first time usaid has reacted to mistakes by chemonics by sending even more contracts its way. a 2005 audit found the company' s $ 153 million program to improve agriculture in afghanistan had missed an important objective that resulted in the “limited” success of the project. nonetheless, one year later, usaid awarded chemonics a new $ 102 million contract for similar work in afghanistan. a later investigation found even that project was flawed, running so far behind schedule that afghan farmers on 10, 000 hectares of land were unable to plant their crops one summer .
undeterred by the mishaps, just three months later the us awarded chemonics $ 53 million to implement 141 new haiti projects. now, an internal audit reveals some of these projects are lagging behind schedule and others have failed entirely because the company didn' t engage local communities in the work .
but in the vice episode, mayor lamour explains that what happens is that companies like chemonics “just come and tell us they are investing in something. ” gandhi asks if the mayor would rather have had support for plumbing and running water, to which lamour responds, “it’s true that they built a lot of things in the area, but we didn’t really need them. ” of course, lamour and vice are not the only ones who have denounced the lack of community involvement. in fact, usaid’s own inspector general (oig) has specifically called out chemonics for just this problem .
thurston f.' tony' teele consultant firm co - founder thurston ferdinand' tony' teele, 70, chairman and co - founder of chemonics international inc. , a leading international development consulting firm in washington, died of lymphoma march 21 at georgetown university hospital. he lived in the district .
chemonics undertook a “foundational change, ” by restructuring “how the project itself functioned from a management perspective, ” according to a statement on the company’s website, which was posted on friday. the usaid implementing partner also worked to prevent stock outs by working with other donors to “bridge gaps” in the supply chain process .
new york — two years ago, auditors revealed the washington, dc, consulting firm chemonics international and a partner company were employing only one - third as many haitians as their contract required to clear rubble left by the january 2010 earthquake from city streets as part of the us government - funded “cash for work” program .
chemonics failed to conduct an “environmental mitigation and monitoring plan” before beginning a project to plant hundreds of thousands of medicinal jatropha plants near the city of saint marc. “potentially adverse environmental impacts can occur if proper mitigation and monitoring procedures are not put into place before implementing an activity and monitoring it, ” the audit warned .
“there have been no delivery delays or stock - outs that resulted in or caused any patients to stop treatment. recognizing the challenges in the new process, usaid and chemonics took proactive steps to avoid such issues, including by working closely with other donors to bridge gaps and prevent stock - outs, ” the post read .
both the soccer field and community center were identified as local priorities at community meetings, and haitian leaders such as mayor lamour, who was interviewed for the piece, participated in kick - off meetings and signed grant agreements that included details on the projects, as well as roles and responsibilities for both chemonics and community leaders .
the statement added that usaid
worked closely with the oig auditors
to examine the issues raised about chemonics and that
since the audit was completed, usaid has funded a local firm to conduct third - party monitoring and evaluation .
usaid did not explain how the local firm would resolve the issues raised in the audit .
but chemonics, whose contract with usaid explicitly states that decisions about what programs to fund “will be based upon us foreign policy interests in consultation” with the state department, worked to further usaid’s objectives of “counter [ ing ] the destabilizing effects” and the “growing discontent” with the pace of reconstruction. it ran pr for the new industrial park, installing benches and flower planters in nearby areas to “project a positive image. ” an audit later noted that the flowers soon died “from lack of care, ” while the mayor decried the lack of community involvement. but business was good for chemonics, whose ceo at the time received a $ 2. 5 million bonus .
when i submitted a foia request for more specific information about chemonics’s work in haiti, every document i received was heavily redacted. usaid explained that to “release the information…could willfully stir up false allegations…and cause strife within the target communities, ” adding, “the release of the information…would likely instigate demonstrations and create an unsafe environment” to work in .
chemonics evaluated some of its projects based upon criteria that had absolutely nothing to do with the goals of those projects. in one case, chemonics was charged with providing school supplies including chairs, desks and backpacks to two public schools, but it evaluated its work based on the number of children who returned to school. “the performance measure did not correlate to the activity, ” according to the audit. similarly, a project that was supposed to create a plan to improve roads in a haitian town was evaluated by the “number of reconstructed national governing institutions and systems that receive [ us government ] assistance to incorporate principles that support democracy and government legitimacy” — whatever that means .
while chemonics and dai are the largest single recipients, the bulk of the funds have gone to beltway contractors as well: firms in virginia received the most funds of any state, $ 45. 3 million, followed closely by maryland, $ 44. 6 million. another $ 31. 7 million went to companies based in the district of columbia .
throughout the piece, the development industry in haiti is criticized for lack of consultation with haitians. for chemonics, this is incorrect on a number of levels. at every point during implementation, we prioritized using haitian expertise, haitian goods, and haitian companies … our team of passionate haitian staff engaged directly with a diverse array of community leaders prior to and during every activity .
one project that flew under the radar involved building irrigation canals for farmers in helmand province. a little advanced research might have exposed the fact that the farmers in the region are overwhelmingly opium poppy growers and that they were using the water to grow even more poppies. the success of one of chemonics' contracts was openly undermining another: to wean farmers off the opium market. 129
again, taking a look at previous oig reports proves useful. a 2010 report found that usaid had not performed internal financial reviews of chemonics despite “expending millions of dollars rapidly. ” also in 2010, i asked a usaid contracting official if he could provide information on amounts going to subcontracts, he responded: “you need hard data … and i need that hard data too. ”
at the time, i assumed grader was exaggerating. like generations before him, he saw youth as feckless and society in decline. four months later, though, chemonics fired grader after only 10 months on the job. company officials said they could not comment on personnel decisions. grader said he was forced out after he dared clash with usaid officials about the agency' s programs .
and they' re fighting to keep it that way. last year, chemonics joined 50 other american development contractors to form a lobbying group to fight the sort of reforms proposed in usaid' s forward initiative. the companies argue that the status quo is preferable to giving contracts directly to smaller companies within host countries because they are harder to hold accountable and often have no experience handling large - dollar contracts .
below are our current international opportunities. we continually seek outstanding individuals willing to serve as long - or short - term technical specialists. technical specialists cover the range of practice areas on which chemonics’ and donor organizations focus their efforts. in addition, we look for individuals who have a passion for making a difference in the lives of people around the world and demonstrate leadership, versatility, and integrity in their work .
in may, a globalpost investigation revealed that not a single dollar of the original $ 1. 1 billion in humanitarian assistance the agency allocated in haiti in fiscal year 2010 went directly to haitian organizations or businesses. an analysis by the cepr found that 70 percent of the $ 450 million awarded through reconstruction contracts has gone to beltway companies like chemonics, and only 1. 3 percent has gone directly to haitian companies .
the united states agency for international development (usaid), which is in charge of allocating us aid in haiti and around the world, responded to an audit last week of its haiti contracts with chemonics, the largest recipient of us aid contracts in the island nation and around the world. the audit, which concluded in february, examined 22 of the 141 projects, totaling $ 6. 8 million. among its findings :
in the episode, vice on hbo correspondent vikram gandhi travels to caracol, in the north of haiti, home to the international community’s flagship reconstruction project, the caracol industrial park. gandhi visits a police station, which cost over $ 2 million as well as soccer field and cultural center. as gandhi states, “when we looked at the costs of many other projects, we noticed the same contractor kept coming up. ” chemonics .
several months after visiting little america with grader, i returned to helmand to learn more about the contractors leading the u. s. effort. my guide was a 40 - year - old ex - u. s. army paratrooper who asked to be identified by a pseudonym - bob williams - for safety reasons. williams' s small contracting firm was the subcontractor grader hired to actually carry out chemonics' s agricultural development work in helmand .
the oig also found that “urban beautification” projects failed for similar reasons. the oig writes, “the purpose of these projects was to improve public areas by installing plants and benches, as well as doing minor masonry work, and to project ‘a positive image of what role the nearby caracol industrial park and other upcoming economic investments will play in citizens’ lives. ’” although chemonics did do some plantings, “they died from lack of care. ” meanwhile :
chemonics is an equal opportunity / affirmative action employer and does not discriminate in its selection and employment practices. all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, age, or other legally protected characteristics. military veterans, americorps, peace corps, and other national service alumni are encouraged to apply .
in march, globalpost witnessed haitian subcontractors installing electrical wires in that building — four months after usaid officially “inaugurated” the structure, announcing it complete. a globalpost investigation found the building remained unused by haiti' s parliament months after the inauguration because usaid only asked chemonics to construct the frame of the building — leaving the offices void of furniture and the chambers hall empty and unusable. haiti’s government later drew at least $ 775, 000 from the public treasury to finish the job .
while many of these programs deserve criticism for achieving very little, even worse, some also manage to be outright harmful. the most problematic program was the u. s. government - funded “agroinvest” project, which was implemented by a private subcontractor chemonics. the agroinvest project was launched by usaid from 2011 to 2016 with a budget of $ 19 million. from this amount at least $ 2. 5 million was supposed to be used for reforming land and the development of laws :
to defeat the current stasis requires challenging business as usual. imagine a political system in which doing business with such outlaw outfits was either banned outright or reduced to a tiny trickle. corporations such as chemonics and dyncorp, with dubious records both in the west and in developing nations, should not receive further governmental contracts unless they implement drastic internal changes to ensure accountability. that would be a massive first step in reducing the ability of disaster capitalists to get what they want from the political system .
mr. teele ran the day - to - day operations at chemonics international from 1975 to 2002, when he became chairman of the board. the firm grew during his tenure. it employs more than 2, 000 people and has managed projects in more than 90 countries in africa, the middle east, latin america, southeast asia and eastern europe. in some projects, the business has advised governments on agricultural policy reform, investment promotion, enterprise development, and product distribution and marketing studies .
sharif also feels that chemonics' urgency for ramp to develop international markets - which largely failed - has caused them to neglect domestic needs for food security. ramp, for example, has instructed farmers in parwan to grow more vegetables, and promised to find buyers for them both within the country and beyond. the farmers, who normally planted beans and lentils, grew green vegetables as encouraged. but instead of profiting, they lost money. vegetables flooded the market and drove the price down. 126
the contractors, development alternatives inc. of bethesda, maryland, and chemonics international of washington d. c. , which received more than $ 31 million each in no - bid contracts, responded to ap in an email saying that together with several other contractors, they had employed 25, 000 haitians a day. now, they said, 10 months after the earthquake ,
priorities have evolved beyond a focus on temporary employment ,
a program that has paid haitian workers $ 18 million in wages .
lanky, with a thick shock of gray hair and a faded all - american look, grader was a marker of how the american approach to development had changed since the cold war. no longer a government worker, he was a private contractor paid $ 130, 000 a year by chemonics international, a for - profit consulting firm based in washington. from kabul, he managed a $ 130 million usaid contract to revitalize agriculture and slow the exploding cultivation of opium poppy, the raw form of heroin, across southern afghanistan .
if you try to dig deeper into how usaid money is actually spent, you’ll find a black box. while it is relatively easy to look up online how much money chemonics has received for work in haiti since the quake (over $ 200 million), it is impossible to identify the thousands of subcontractors that actually implement the various programs usaid supports. interested in how much money contractors are able to take off the top for their headquarters back home? too bad—that information is a tightly protected trade secret that usaid and its contractors refuse to disclose .
chemonics is a bit bureaucratic. there is a fair amount of favoritism and racism in the company. if you are a minority then moving up the ladder can be 3x as hard as a white male. you will make it to the manager position and max to a director position. beyond that it' s all white males. they will have a white female at the upper level every now and then to spice - up things a bit but that' s about it. they were even written up by the department of labor in 2016 (google it) for discriminating against black applications at the executive level. for a company that has 3500 employees that is something .
one of the us government’s largest private aid - delivery partners last month agreed to pay damages to more than a hundred african american job applicants for racial discrimination .
“winning federal contracts, paid for with us taxpayer dollars, is a privilege, not a right, ” patricia a shiu, director of the office of federal contract compliance programs (ofccp), said in a statement. “with that privilege comes the obligation to practice equal employment opportunity towards all demographic groups of workers in this country. ”
joanna hawkins, a representative for the department of labor, says that each company working with government agencies is evaluated on a neutral case - by - base basis .
“on the other hand, ” she tells the guardian, “the agency does believe this settlement will send a message to other contractors, including those working in the international development arena, that employment discrimination is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. ”
this article was amended on 23 november 2016 to clarify that the hiring discrimination was identified at chemonic international’s regional business units, not the entire company .
© 2018 guardian news and media limited or its affiliated companies. all rights reserved .
outsourcing quake assistance: haitian contractors get only 1. 6% of u. s. aid | urltoken
outsourcing quake assistance: haitian contractors get only 1. 6% of u. s. aid
haitian patrick brun, left, owner of a company that distributes construction supplies, walks with an employee at his facilities in port - au - prince, haiti, saturday dec. 11, 2010. out of every $ 100 of u. s. contracts now paid out to rebuild haiti, haitian firms have successfully won $ 1. 60, the associated press found in a review of contracts since the earthquake on jan. 12. and the largest initial u. s. contractors hired fewer haitians than planned. there are many reasons for the disparity. among them, us aid is more familiar with some u. s. contractors and gave out some no - bid contracts out of urgency, and fears the corruption that is rife in haiti. on the haitian side, there is a limited understanding of u. s. government practices .
port - au - prince, haiti - - in a port - au - prince warehouse loaded with tarps, plywood, corrugated roofing, nails and other building supplies, company owner patrick brun says he had hoped to get contracts from the billions of dollars in international aid promised to haiti .
his 40 - year - old company, chabuma s. a. , sells cement blocks, doors, sand bags and other materials for international companies. but what he wants is a more significant role in his country' s recovery, which is why he says he keeps bidding — without success — for u. s. government contracts .
you can imagine that if we can' t win the contracts ourselves, we become totally dependent on foreign companies and nonprofits, and there is not much hope in that ,
he said .
we may not have the extended capacity of a u. s. company, but we are respectable. we keep good books and records, we have foreign suppliers, we have good credit, we pay our taxes and our customs dues .
out of every $ 100 of u. s. contracts now paid out to rebuild haiti, haitian firms have successfully won $ 1. 60, the associated press has found in a review of contracts since the earthquake on jan. 12. and the largest initial u. s. contractors hired fewer haitians than planned .
there are many reasons for the disparity. among them, us aid is more familiar with some u. s. contractors and gave out some no - bid contracts out of urgency, and fears the corruption that is rife in haiti. on the haitian side, there is a limited understanding of u. s. government practices .
but using foreign aid to give local companies contracts is one of the most important aspects of reconstruction, says clare lockhart, chief executive officer of the institute for state effectiveness .
you can' t just provide manual jobs. you need to contract with companies so that the middle tier managers and owners of companies have a stake in the legal system and rule of law, and ultimately a stake in the success of their political system and their economy ,
she says .
of the 1, 583 u. s. contracts given so far in haiti totaling $ 267 million, only 20 — worth $ 4. 3 million — are going to haitian - owned companies. and an audit this fall by us aid' s inspector general found that more than 70 percent of the funds given to the two largest u. s. contractors for a cash for work project in haiti was spent on equipment and materials. as a result, just 8, 000 haitians a day were being hired by june, instead of the planned 25, 000 a day, according to the ig .
us aid says it is committed to increasing the amount of contracts going to haitians .
we already are engaging with haitian communities to make them aware of how they can partner with us ,
said janice laurente, a spokeperson for us aid .
economists say giving contracts to local businesses creates jobs, which help build the private sector. also, most donors would rather see local businesses thrive than foreign companies profiting from a disaster .
harvard business school economist eric werker, who researches foreign aid, says the spillover effects go beyond the aid itself .
some are obvious, like salaries and profits that stay in the local economy, but there are also ways to increase capacity of local firms by giving them progressively larger contracts ,
says werker .
the first is a no - bid process: 25 percent of the contracts went directly to u. s. contractors without even giving haitians a chance to bid on them, sometimes because the needs were so urgent there wasn' t time to go through a formal bidding process. in addition, some government requests for local haitian subcontractors and expertise are published only in english, limiting access for many haitians who speak creole .
also, at times of catastrophe, it can be easier to use an established contractor with a strong record than a previously unknown local one. the haitian economy was so decimated by the earthquake that it was hard at first even to get wood or tarps for shelters without importing them. now, even though there are haitian companies providing many products and services, the pattern of using foreign ones continues .
and finally, it' s more complicated to contract directly in countries like haiti, where corruption is rife. there has been price - gouging among some would - be haitian contractors .
the unprecedented promise of $ 9 billion in aid, with the u. s. as a top giver, at first raised hope of rebuilding and even of a new and brighter future for the tragedy - prone island. but fewer than 10 percent of those funds have made it past the
promise
stage .
the u. s. foreign aid contracts to haiti since the earthquake have gone to an array of almost entirely u. s. - based goods and services, from bullet - proof vehicles ordered nov. 18 by the centers for disease control from a miami - based firm to $ 24, 000 in dental supplies for u. s. navy medical providers in june from a chesapeake, virginia, firm. yet bullet - proof vehicles and dental supplies are available from haitian companies, according to the nonprofit peace dividend trust .
frankly, it' s a shame and a serious opportunity lost ,
says edward rees of the peace dividend trust. his organization put together a business portal, offering everything from security services to catering, and is training haitians on how to bid for contracts and grants .
no one is systematically tracking how many contracts have gone to haitian companies .
the lack of local spending in haiti is similar to that in most other countries receiving u. s. aid, although economist werker said haiti is likely at the low end of the spectrum. but rees contrasts haiti with afghanistan, where — backed by peace dividend trust — u. s. army general david h. petraeus ordered his commanders to
hire afghans first, buy afghan products, and build afghan capacity .
the results in afghanistan are encouraging: a recent study found that 37 percent of $ 2 billion in annual international aid is now being used to buy locally - produced afghan goods and services, up from 31 percent a few years ago .
the ap review focused on contracts from the u. s. government, which spent an immediate $ 1. 1 billion in u. s. humanitarian assistance after the earthquake, and promised another $ 1. 15 billion for reconstruction. in november, the first $ 120 million of the pledged reconstruction funds were tranferred to the world bank - run haiti reconstruction fund, according to the state department .
in addition to government aid, more than $ 1 billion has come from nonprofit charities, most of which try to buy local, said samuel a. worthington, president of interaction, the largest alliance of u. s. - based international nongovernmental organizations. he represents nonprofits managing about 90 percent of the u. s. donations that were directed to haiti after the quake .
worthington says there is no system to count how much has gone to haitian - owned companies .
there is a very strong bias to ensure as much local procurement as possible, and as much spending in the local economy ,
says worthington .
our bottom line is to serve as many people as possible and get the best price, to spread those dollars .
use of and / or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our user agreement (updated 5 / 25 / 18) and privacy policy and cookie statement (updated 5 / 25 / 18) .
© 2018 advance local media llc. all rights reserved (about us). the material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of advance local .
community rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site .
the division concentrated on managing agriculture projects for the u. s. agency for international development in the beginning years but later branched into economic and business consulting services .
he also lectured widely on agro - industrial development and was an associate professor of economic development at georgetown university .
mr. teele was born in new rochelle, n. y. , and raised in needham, mass. , where his father, stanley f. teele, was dean of the harvard university business school .
tony teele graduated from amherst college and received a master' s degree in economics from the fletcher school of law and diplomacy at tufts university. he did graduate work in economics at georgetown university .
he began his career as a foreign service officer in 1956. he was a political officer at the u. s. embassy in athens and an economics analyst with u. s. aid executive secretariat before leaving the state department in 1964 .
mr. teele was vice president and a board member of the u. s. global leadership campaign; board member of the society for international development; and co - chair of the international development task force of the professional services council .
survivors include his wife of 23 years, barbara c. teele of washington; two children from his first marriage, ted teele of pittsburgh and stacia teele of new york; two children from his second marriage, kristy teele of ledberry, england, and allan teele of san francisco; a stepson, mark carmichael of scottsdale, ariz. ; a brother; a sister; and nine grandchildren .
william sorg air force officer william sorg, 84, a retired air force lieutenant colonel who was also a government agency systems analyst, died of cardiopulmonary arrest march 26 at walter reed army medical center .
col. sorg, a native of pittsburgh, began his military career with the royal canadian air force when he was about 17. he transferred to the u. s. army air forces during world war ii and piloted a republic p - 47 thunderbolt fighter jet in missions over europe .
the more intractable the problem, the more determined we are to solve it. our experts discuss solutions to today’s development challenges .
in nearly 70 countries worldwide, we are working with local experts and communities to create long - lasting and sustainable impact .
sindh, pakistan’s second largest province, has made recent economic progress, but its education indicators are still low, with about 4 million children ages 5 to 12 not in school .
sixty percent of people in haiti rely on the agriculture sector to survive, and although crop yields are still extremely low by international standards, progress is being made .
in uganda, where half of all exports are agricultural, crop yields are low, but the public and private sectors are collaborating to improve agricultural production and make it easier for farmers to do business .
a new streamlined concept for customs processing — the one - stop shop — has transformed the way that afghan traders can export their goods to neighboring countries and generate income .
a new approach to training farmers is creating jobs and increasing harvests in uganda .
in kosovo and vietnam, the world bank’s doing business report is providing a framework that helps governments reshape the private sector’s role in advocating for and promoting economic growth .
what are the barriers to usage of digital financial services? what are the most effective ways to drive uptake? modern financial solutions, spurred by internet and mobile access, present an important opportunity to make transactions more efficient. these digital innovations can save time and transportation costs for bank and client alike while building credit history [ … ]
in the context of afghanistan, political instability, physical insecurity, and slow economic growth often limit the potential for private investment and partnership. as such, it’s not so much about whether or not the government and donors are engaging with the private sector, but rather if they are using the right mechanisms at the right time [ … ]
those of us who work in peacebuilding pull out every tool in our toolbox to solve conflicts — we talk about infrastructure, jobs, agriculture, governance, and youth programs. but youth programs tend to focus on out - of - school individuals aged 18 - 35 years old, not school - aged children. and rarely do people talk about supporting children — nor education [ … ]
our global network of specialists shares an unwavering resolve to work better, driven by a conviction that the world must be better. though united by a common ethic of excellence, we are a diverse group of women and men with an array of skills and expertise. we provide capacity building, strategic communications, management and technical assistance, applied research, performance monitoring and procurement assistance to clients and partners worldwide. we encourage our staff to be flexible, versatile and think big, so we can more effectively bridge the gap between segregated technical fields and deliver results to those we serve. and we reward excellence with opportunity for growth, because those who can exceed our high standards deserve to lead our work .
to access our current washington, d. c. metro area - based jobs, please visit our career center page. for questions about washington, d. c. metro area - based opportunities, read our frequently asked questions .
to apply for an international short - or long - term position, click on the position title and follow the instructions in the job advertisement .
opinion: closing the' rhetoric to reality' gap — preventing violent extremism in ...
a social enterprise, we connect and inform 900, 000 + development, health, humanitarian, and sustainability professionals through news, business intelligence, and funding & career opportunities so you can do more good for more people .
a member of the ghsc - psm staff builds pharmacist' s capacity by conducting inventory in a local hospital' s pharmacy in angola. photo by :
a global health supply chain project that coordinates lifesaving deliveries has run into serious problems, putting vital treatments and health services at risk .
in response to devex’s report, usaid administrator mark green said the agency is watching its troubled program
like a hawk .
devex spoke to usaid administrator mark green, who said that he was “angry” about the project’s poor performance, and that the issue has strengthened his resolve to tackle problems with usaid procurement during his tenure .
read more international development news online, and subscribe to the development newswire to receive the latest from the world’s leading donors and decision - makers — emailed to you free every business day .
log in or sign - up to unlock all of the free news on devex .
michael igoe is a senior reporter with devex, based in washington, d. c. he covers u. s. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. prior to joining devex, michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post - soviet central asia, where he also wrote for eurasianet. michael earned his bachelor' s degree from bowdoin college, where he majored in russian, and his master’s degree from the university of montana, where he studied international conservation and development .
with the help of the feed the future uganda enabling environment for agriculture activity, uganda has launched a four - year strategy to implement the national grain trade policy. learn more here: urltoken
and presented to local stakeholders on june 29, a milestone event that lays the groundwork for the multi - sectoral collaboration required for the successful implementation of the framework. cameroon is the first global health security agenda member country to adopt the emergency preparedness framework, taking an important first step toward ensuring the country’s
chemonics international is a private international development company that works for bilateral and multilateral donors and the private sector to manage projects in developing countries . the organization bids primarily on contracts from the u.s. agency for international development ( usaid ) and manages projects that cover a variety of technical sectors . in addition to its headquarters in washington , d.c. , the company also has project offices in different countries . 
chemonics international is a private international development company that works for bilateral and multilateral donors and the private sector to manage projects in developing countries. the organization bids primarily on contracts from the u.s. agency for international development (usaid) and manages projects that cover a variety of technical sectors. in addition to its headquarters in washington, d.c., the company also has project offices in different countries.
chemonics international is a private international development company that works for bilateral and multilateral donors and the private sector to manage projects in developing countries. the organization bids primarily on contracts from the u.s. agency for international development (usaid) and manages projects that cover a variety of technical sectors. in addition to its headquarters in washington, d.c., the company also has project offices in different countries.