At IntraHealth, we know the transformative power of community health workers (CHWs), volunteers, and advocates coming together to improve health outcomes in their countries. In 2022 alone, our projects reached over 30,000 CHWs with support such as supervision, training, and mentoring, leveraging national digital health and eLearning platforms. This helps ensure that CHWs have the right knowledge, skills, and support to help people get the care they need.

At IntraHealth, we believe that strengthening health systems is key to shifting power dynamics and boosting local actors’ capacity to drive improved health outcomes in their countries. In 2022 alone, we reached 174,067 health workers and provided 3,380 health facilities with customized, onsite supportive supervision, mentoring, and coaching — always working in tandem with local partners to ensure health workers have the skills, supplies, and support systems they need to deliver quality services.

For many people, land is not merely a source of survival; it also evokes a deep sense of community, identity, history, and belonging. In Tajikistan, land is owned by the state, and citizens must apply to "use rights" to farm it. Even if farmers are successful, these rights can later be confiscated without warning. This tenuous connection to the land makes farmers reluctant to invest in it, whether by diversifying their crops or by purchasing irrigation systems, fertilizers, or pesticides.

In Mozambique, saving lives can be as simple as sending a text. Although most of the country’s population lives in coastal cities, which are vulnerable to natural disasters like tropical storms and cyclones, residents sometimes lack access to early-warning information on approaching storms or potential flooding zones. Because of this lack of information, they are caught off guard and don't have time to safeguard their homes or seek shelter when storms come.

Beyond the bamboo gate at Vitor Raposo’s cultural center in Pemba, Mozambique, a canopy of trees threaded with artwork and wind chimes welcomes me into a tranquil courtyard. Tambo Tambulani Tambo is a peaceful refuge, a stark contrast from nearby construction sites and spirals of soot rising from newly forged roads. With investors racing to build resorts and guesthouses along the city's coastline to accommodate a recent economic boom -- driven in part by the discovery of natural gas in the nearby Rovuma Basin -- Pemba's population is rising quickly.

As the development community continues to reorient its strategies and partnership models to support countries on their paths to self-reliance, there is an opportunity to hone governments’ and local groups’ technical, financial, and management capacity to oversee development programs and achieve locally sustained results. At Chemonics, we facilitate this process by integrating capacity strengthening, skills transfer, and organizational development into all our work, including global health.

Nigeria has plenty of fertile land but struggles to feed itself. Seeing an opportunity to make the agricultural sector more productive and profitable, the Nigerian government partnered with USAID and Chemonics in 2012 to launch the Maximizing Agricultural Revenues and Key Enterprises in Targeted Sites (MARKETS) II project. MARKETS II is the third iteration of the project; the original MARKETS activity started in 2005.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, ongoing conflict has debilitated public administration, infrastructure, and livelihoods since the late 1990s. Some 7 million primary school-age children are not in school, and those who are often face enormous learning barriers -- including post-traumatic stress disorder, violence at school, and sex discrimination.

When I first imagined Africa as a small girl, myriad images would come to my mind: baobab trees outlining the sunset, vast expanses of flat lands with elephant tracks leading to fresh water, drums, grass, bare feet, and voices carrying harmony from one village to the other as families got ready to sleep. Now, as a 22-year-old living in Lagos, my view of Africa is much different, much less romanticized, and much more complex, and that is the advantage of working here.

Many World Bank teams work across multiple locations and time zones, which can be challenging for managers who want to share knowledge, build a sense of trust, and have the same candid water cooler conversations that take place in a typical office setting. Joel Hellman, director of the Global Center on Conflict Security and Development, decided to create a virtual community to increase the quality of conversations among his team.

As the World Bank continually relies on innovation and cutting-edge technology to address today's most challenging development issues, the Administrative and Client Support (ACS) Network is also using innovation to address career development issues for ACS staff. The network recently launched a new web-based tool -- the Career Wheel -- to help ACS staff better navigate and plan their careers.

Do you have a burning question on World Bank operations processes or procedures? You can now reach out to a group of seasoned operations staff for guidance, thanks to the launch of the Country Office Operations Champions program of the Administrative and Client Support (ACS) Network. These champions can answer your questions and provide examples of good practices, links to important resources, and clarifications on any uncertainties.

It's positively groundbreaking. For years, 4-H has invested in programs that emphasize positive youth development — the idea that youth are incredible resources to be developed, not problems to be managed. Now we have conclusive new evidence of what we’ve known all along: 4-H’s innovative programs pay off. A comprehensive study by Tufts University shows that 4-H successfully strengthens young people, their families, and their communities.

Ask Katie Stam or Tamira Cole about their passion for community service, and they'll tell you it all started with 4-H. Long before winning her title as Miss America, Katie Stam spent many hours in 4-H performing creative dramatics, competing at the Jackson County fair, and visiting with 4-H friends and family. It was there that she learned the values of leadership, mentorship, and community service.

National 4-H Council has been awarded a $1 million grant by the Wal-Mart Foundation to launch Youth Voice: Youth Choice, an exciting national program that encourages young people to develop and maintain healthy, active lifestyles. The program will tackle wellness issues such as nutrition, physical fitness, and safety. This is the first grant to be provided by the Wal-Mart Foundation for the 4-H Healthy Living portfolio.