CDA Collaborative Learning Projects

CDA is a deeply collaborative organization. We learn with our partners who know their own contexts and understand what works and what doesn’t. We take feedback seriously, integrating community knowledge directly into our practical tools and resources. We bridge the gap between theory and practice, allowing proximate communities to lead the way. Add your story 👉 https://ow.ly/NZNh50Suywx Dr.Roselyne Onunga

What We're Reading 📚: The X factor? The case for people over things in development “We decided to convene around this question of, how do we ignite an evolution in development that puts people and leaders at the center? Could we change the development paradigm to put people first?”

🌍 Nearly 70% of the world's population will live in cities by 2050, yet there has been little research on how climate change could increase the risk of urban violence. As both urbanization and climate change intensify, there is an urgent need to understand this relationship in order to prevent the effects of climate change from becoming yet another source of violence in cities. 🔗 https://ow.ly/Ym6250SuxPI SIPRI 🇬🇭 In Ghana, CDA and Chemonics International found that rural-to-urban migration from north to south increases pressures on urban centers while leaving urban communities more vulnerable to climate change. Many of these settlements are built in locations vulnerable to waterborne diseases and climate impacts, including flooding and sea level rise. 🔗 https://ow.ly/eOe350SuxPK Diana Campos Siad Darwish, PhD Ruth Rhoads Allen

LISTEN: How to step aside to promote change We've all heard the calls to "work yourself out of a job" in order to shift power to more local leadership. In this podcast, hear from two people who actually did it. 🎧 https://ow.ly/jv0Z50SqWRP Now that's much easier said than done. COMING SOON: Watch this space for practical tools from SAS+ on how to responsibly transition from international to local leadership. Search for Common Ground Peace Direct ConnexUs

What We're Listening To 🎧: Steve Killelea, founder of the Institute for Economics & Peace, shares his insights on how to measure peace. 🔗 https://ow.ly/Bmo450SqVYo At the SIPRI forum in May, the session "What matters for peace? Enhancing accountability through measurement" made the case for aligning measures of peace, showcasing innovations by Search for Common Ground, Conciliation Resources, and regional Kenyan government, and featuring CDA's sector-wide research on what helps or limits use of the resulting evidence for impact. 🔗 https://ow.ly/yCA350SqVYn

Amidst the current 30-year high in global conflict and some of the most challenging humanitarian situations in a generation, local leaders continue to play essential roles. CDA believes this expertise and insight is essential. Our collaborative learning approach positions the knowledge and capacities of people and communities affected by conflict as central to the sustainable, peaceful change we want to see. Add your story 👉 https://ow.ly/ogfA50SqVbJ Naseera Noor-Mahomed Accountability Lab

ICYMI: In Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, laundering of conflict timber is made possible due to systemic corruption and illicit financial flows in the timber sector. As Mozambique moves to curb the illicit wildlife trade and the accompanying illicit financial flows that drain the country of much needed funds to support peacebuilding, CDA Senior Associate Maureen Moriarty, PhD, CAMS describes how CDA's Conflict Sensitivity in Land Governance tool offers practical and hands-on guidance.

All of CDA’s tools and resources are made to be adapted to context, iterated on, continuously tested and improved by the people who need them most. Sitting at the intersection of applied research, global policy, and local practice, we bridge the theory-practice gap with practical guidance based on case study evidence gathered with communities, not just from them. Add your story 👉 https://ow.ly/rRXW50SqUXI Dr. Stella Voutta Robert Bosch Stiftung Diana Campos Siad Darwish, PhD Ruth Rhoads Allen

📅 On July 16-17, USAID is hosting a series of webinars to dive deeper into different approaches to partnering with the agency, including one specifically for local entities on July 17 at 9am EST. Register here 👇

CDA’s foundational listening methodology came out of a broad, systematic effort to listen to the voices of people who live in countries where international assistance has been given. Between 2005 and 2009, more than 125 international and local aid organizations joined the Listening Project in 20 aid-recipient countries to talk with nearly 6,000 people about their experiences with, and judgments of, international assistance. Nearly 20 years later, this work forms the basis of USAID's thinking on locally led development. Check out the progress report and see the Listening Project cited on page 4.