Schools are often center points and anchors of their communities, fostering civic engagement, conflict management, and peacebuilding. During the Alliance for Peacebuilding and the U.S. Institute of  Peace’s 2024 PeaceCon, Counterpart International will lead a storytelling session on September 12 to explore how schools—particularly school meals programs—can serve as an entry point to augment inclusive civic participation, foster social cohesion, and mitigate local grievances.

Speakers:

• Mehreen Farooq (facilitator), governance technical expert, Counterpart International
• Theresa Becchi (moderator), associate director of Resilient Food Systems, Counterpart International
• Desire Yameogo (speaker), chief of party, Counterpart International (Mauritania)
• Casimiro Manuel Sande Antonio (speaker), chief of party, Counterpart International (Mozambique)
• Kathryn Lane (speaker), Chief of Party, Counterpart International (Senegal)

Counterpart International will host the 12th convening of the Unifying Our Voices series in partnership with Eurasia Foundation on September 5 to shed light on the removal of women and girls from the arts, sports, and cultural activities in Afghanistan as part of the country’s systemic and institutional segregation and oppression of women. The event will be held in person at Counterpart’s DC office with the option for virtual participation.

Join us for a panel featuring speakers representing Afghan arts, sports, and cultural affairs, followed by a plenary discussion on how to support advocacy efforts for Afghan women and girls. Afterwards, we will screen the film “A Letter to the President” by award-winning Afghan filmmaker Roya Sadat, who will sit down with us for a Q&A session.

Join Counterpart International, in partnership with Making Cents and the International Youth Foundation, on August 22 for a hybrid event celebrating youth participation in democracy.

“Living Democracy: Youth Engagement” will feature a roundtable conversation highlighting three main themes: youth perception of democracy and influencing factors, the role of technology in democratic narratives, and shaping engagement with youth to promote democratic values. The panel will be moderated by Ben Jaffe, new business development manager at Counterpart. This event is invitation-only.

During Asia Centre’s 9th conference, “Shrinking Civic Space in Asia: Stories of Resistance and Pushback,” Counterpart International will convene a panel titled “Strategies for Defending and Expanding Civic Space: Tactics for Building Positive Relationships with Decisionmakers.” Moderated by Sarah Little, Counterpart’s business development governance and civil society specialist, the panel will feature the following speakers:

• Kourtney Pompi, senior director of governance, Counterpart
• Arzak Khan of Innovations for Change – South Asia Hub
• Flora Meneze of Judicial System Monitoring Project in Timor-Leste

Counterpart International’s women’s empowerment team invites young professionals and mid-career professionals around the world who are expanding or transitioning into a career focused on women’s empowerment, gender integration and global development work to a virtual coffee chat from 9:30-11:00 a.m. EST on August 13.

Join us if you are interested in learning about work that advances women’s empowerment, locally led development, and gender equality and social inclusion (GESI). In the chat, we will discuss trends and the experiences of five of our esteemed Counterpart colleagues.

Counterpart will host the international development community, donors, and partner organizations at our Washington, DC office on July 9 for our third annual Summer Mixer.

Join Counterpart for the USDA PROCAMPO Food for Progress Learning Event in Guatemala City and online for a day of learning and connecting.

This special hybrid event culminates the decade of working closely with our partners to improve agricultural production and increase trade. Presentations will highlight knowledge gained through implementation of activities in financial services, accredited certification, trade fairs, and with agricultural producer groups. The program includes presentations, panel discussions, and Q&A sessions voicing the perspectives of program implementers and participants.

Counterpart is hosting a session during the 2024 USAID Global Gender Equality Conference titled “Catalyzing the Leadership and Decision-making Power of Women and LGBTQI+ Networks Through Locally Led Development.” The conference will be held in Washington, D.C. from May 20-23.

Through an engaging conversation among three Ecuadorean attorneys, the panel titled “The Open Government Partnership: Examining Civil Society Participation, Human Rights and Anti-corruption in Ecuador” on May 10 will explore how Ecuador has furthered the public interest through the Open Government Partnership framework, specifically promoting human rights protections and inclusion, transparency, anti-corruption, and governance. 

Moderated by Kourtney Pompi, Counterpart’s senior director of governance, the panel will feature the following speakers:

• Mauricio Alarcon, executive director, Fundación Ciudadanía y Desarrollo/Citizenship and Development Foundation (Ecuadorean Chapter of Transparency International)
• Alicia Arias Salgado, chief of party, New Partnerships in Open Government, Counterpart International
• Daniel Quiroga, director of Open Government, Presidency of the Republic of Ecuador

American-grown commodities provide critical foreign humanitarian assistance through international food aid programming such as USDA McGovern-Dole and Food for Progress projects, and USAID’s Title II emergency food aid. These programs support both U.S. farmers and suppliers, as well as populations around the world in need of food security and disaster response.

Join us on Thursday, May 2 from 9 a.m. to noon as we bring together diverse stakeholders from all segments of the U.S. food assistance value chain—from farmers to NGO implementing partners and government agencies—for a day of learning and connecting. The International Food Aid Showcase will feature a panel discussion voicing the perspectives of both program implementers and U.S. producers and suppliers, and interactive display tables designed to encourage networking and collaboration.

Counterpart is co-sponsor of this hybrid international conference in partnership with the University of the Free State Center for Universal Access and Disability Support and the School of Law in Bloemfontein, South Africa.

Keynote speakers:

• Michael Stein, Harvard Law School Project on Disability
• Toyin Falola, University of Texas, Austin

Closing panel discussion:

• Alicia Arias Salgado, Chief of Party, New Partnerships in Open Government, Counterpart international
• Shuaib Chalklen, African Disability Forum

Join Counterpart International, EnCompass LLC, and Saudat Salami Foundation for two virtual panel discussions on how to advance global women’s leadership in the green and blue economies. We will begin with experts setting the stage on current trends and gender-related opportunities in the green and blue economies. Global women leaders from Africa and Asia will then share their stories on climate-smart economic initiatives and what they think is needed to support more equitable partnerships and inclusive co-design processes with global women-led NGOs and businesses.

Join Counterpart International and the Global Democracy Coalition for a series of panel discussions in celebration of Human Rights Day. The hybrid event will bring together prominent panelists who have dedicated their lives to defending and promoting human rights. These panels serve as a testament to the indomitable spirit of those on the front lines of human rights advocacy and celebrate the courage and resilience of human rights defenders.

Mingle with colleagues and friends, and connect with women leaders at a special reception celebrating women’s empowerment. This event aims to ignite a spirit of collaboration and support, creating an environment where experiences are shared, ideas are exchanged, and alliances are formed.

Camille Richardson, minister counselor for commercial affairs at the U.S. Department of Commerce, will give remarks.

Join us for an all-day seminar in partnership with the Afghanistan Policy Lab at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs. The seminar will bring together experts, activists, and stakeholders to explore gender apartheid and its impacts on women’s rights, fostering discussions, interactive sessions, and exercises to formulate recommendations for combating gender apartheid in Afghanistan, inspiring worldwide efforts.

Looking to build your network in the international development industry? Join Counterpart International for a Summer Mixer on July 31! We are bringing together Counterpart colleagues and alumni, along with professionals from other international development organizations. You don’t want to miss this opportunity to get the latest scoop on international development hot topics and trends. Let’s get the conversation started!