As the global population ages, keeping older people agile and healthy is a big deal. Thai activist Mechai Viravaidya believes local communities must find solutions. So he helps people over 60 by transforming temple grounds into vegetable gardens, providing them income and sustenance, and showcasing the potential of community-led eldercare over government support.
Also in today’s edition: We look at the changes to IFC short-term contracts, and analyze USAID’s contract obligations.
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In eastern Thailand, an innovative project is turning temple grounds into thriving vegetable gardens, helping older people in the process. The mastermind behind this initiative is none other than Mechai Viravaidya — famously known as Thailand’s “Condom King” for his work in family planning.
Octogenarian Mechai, who earned his unique nickname from his advocacy work in the '70s and '80s, believes in the untapped potential of those over 60. With the global elderly population set to double by 2050, he sees the gardens as a way for older people to continue contributing to society, proving life doesn’t grind to a halt after a certain age.
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Piloted at three temples in Buriram province, the project uses temple land for cultivating crops. Mechai argues that community-led initiatives, rather than government support, are the key to successful eldercare — especially given Thailand's meager state pensions.
Mechai plans to scale this initiative nationwide by using Thailand’s over 40,000 temples as "elderly country clubs." Mechai sat down with Devex contributor Rebecca Root to explain why he’s turned his attention from condoms to cucumbers and eldercare, and why the work must be locally led.
Read: Why this activist is piloting the ‘elderly country club’ in Thai temples
Whenever there are changes to jobs, conditions, and pay, workers understandably get worried and upset. It’s not often the changes mean more money and security nowadays. But policy changes at the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank’s private sector arm, shift reliance on short-term consultants to more full-time staffing. Still, the “horrific” and “surprising” rollout of the policy has left many contractors stressed, writes Devex Senior Reporter Adva Saldinger.
The sudden changes were revealed without warning, causing financial distress as consultants learned their contracts would switch from 150 days a year to 100 days right as they were set to be renewed.
Under the new policy, consultants who previously worked over 120 days annually in consecutive years will now be limited to 100 days. Additionally, IFC will no longer sponsor work visas for short-term consultants, restricting these roles to local nationals or those with existing work authorization. This sudden shift has left consultants blindsided, they tell Adva.
IFC's HR department claims the changes are needed to align the workforce with business needs and ensure visa compliance. They plan to replace many consultant roles with 200 new full-time positions. But this decision has highlighted long-standing criticisms of the World Bank's dependency on short-term consultants.
Historically, the lender has faced backlash for its extensive use of temporary consultants, a practice seen by some as a way to sidestep providing additional benefits. This latest upheaval underscores ongoing concerns about the treatment and stability of these vital workers.
Read: IFC faces upset over abrupt consultant policy, visa changes
The U.S. Agency for International Development doled out $6.8 billion through contracts in the fiscal year ending September 2023, representing 17.8% of its assistance and acquisition spending. This marks a $831 million, or 14%, decrease from the previous year.
Of the total, 43.7% went to the top 10 suppliers among over 1,900 organizations. Eight of these top contractors remained consistent from 2022, with Credence Management Solutions and Tetra Tech joining the list, replacing NTT Data Federal Services and Macfadden.
Devex analyst Miguel Antonio Tamonan crunched the numbers on the top 10 to see which got the biggest contracts among the suppliers and what they were procured for.
Read: Who were USAID's top contractors in 2023? (Pro)
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• The international health community recently took a significant step in addressing climate change, seen as among the greatest health crises of our time: It passed a resolution at the World Health Assembly that calls for assessing national vulnerabilities, adapting health systems, and increasing climate and health investments. What it does not do is address fossil fuels, a key driver of climate change and pollution — and such a step “was never even on the table,” writes Dr. Jeni Miller of the Global Climate and Health Alliance, even though bold action prioritizing clean energy is needed to protect public health from climate change impacts.
• Biodiversity loss, climate change, and food insecurity are intertwined challenges that seem overwhelming, write scientists Geoffrey Hawtin and Stefan Schmitz in their piece for Devex. But seeds offer a simple yet powerful solution — and gene banks to store them are crucial for preserving crop diversity and aiding agricultural adaptation. These banks face risks from climate change and political instability, but facilities such as the Svalbard Global Seed Vault provide critical insurance, safeguarding our future against climate challenges, they write.
• The United Nations canceled regional climate events in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, with little reaction from governments and NGOs. These events are crucial for developing and sharing climate solutions in regions most affected by climate change, writes IKEA Foundation’s Louise Olivier. The cancellation, she says, highlights a lack of funding and support for the global south.
We’ve got our eyes peeled for USAID’s latest localization progress report, the second update on the agency’s ambitious target to shift a quarter of their eligible funding to local organizations by 2025. Originally expected in mid-May, we’re hearing that the report should come any day now — and with it, an understanding of how far the agency has come in reaching local partners.
“We understand that this is a really ambitious job. And USAID, more than any bilateral that we know of, has set a very ambitious target,” says Sally Paxton, the U.S. representative of Publish What You Fund, an organization that tracks aid transparency. “But it really needs the voice of local people to come in and change the way that this assistance is delivered — and that’s a big shift to turn around.”
Last year, the agency acknowledged that it still had “a long way to go” to reach its goal, one that would more than triple the agency’s baseline from 7.4% in 2021. The last progress report showed that in 2022, that figure moved to 10.2% — and though it amounted to an overall increase of $623 million to local organizations, it was still far from USAID’s 25% target. With two years left to reach it, what will this year’s numbers say?
Follow Devex reporters Elissa Miolene and Michael Igoe to stay up-to-date.
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In a first, the Taliban will attend the third U.N. conference on Afghanistan in Doha, Qatar. [VOA]
The Israeli military has announced a daily “tactical pause” to facilitate aid delivery in southern Gaza. [NPR]
The U.S. will give more than $315 million in additional humanitarian assistance to Sudan. [Reuters]
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