Development

Members from NPCA's New York City affiliate group engaged on key topics at the United Nations, delving into the heart of sustainable development talks.

By Greg Emerson Bocquet

In July, representatives from National Peace Corps Association's New York City affiliate group attended sessions at the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), a “pre-event” ahead of the SDG Summit in September. The SDG Summit will serve to review the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the halfway point to the target set for implementing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The event will be the centerpiece of the High-Level Week of the UN General Assembly this year.

Over two weeks in July, the HLPF included meetings and side events covering all aspects of the SDGs, with our representatives focusing on youth and environment-related sessions, as well as ways that groups such as ours can further engage in policy discussions around sustainable development.

A Lack of Progress

All meetings featured candid discussions on global progress in sustainable development, perhaps none more so than a side event attended by Greg Emerson Bocquet (Morocco 2003; Peru 2003–05), titled provocatively “Are we complacent?” Organized by the UN Economic Commission for Europe, the event addressed the 169 indicators of progress toward the SDGs, only 21 of which are on track to be achieved by the deadline of 2030 (down from 26 in last year’s assessment). Even more worrisome is that these indicators are lagging, so while they reflect the global economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, they do not include the effects of the refugee crisis in 2021 or the war in Ukraine. This real-talk assessment underscores the need for transformative, bold action that will be a recurring theme at the Summit later this year.

The Role of Volunteers

Karina Casarez (Myanmar 2018-2020) joined a session on volunteering organized by the Volunteers Group Alliance (of which the Peace Corps is a part) to discuss the role of volunteering on advancing sustainable development, of key interest to the RPCV community. Representatives from the UN Volunteers program highlighted the prevalence of volunteer initiatives in the 39 Voluntary National Reviews of progress toward the SDGs that were presented at the HLPF. Fully 31 of 39 reviews mentioned volunteering, and 11 of those countries have formally included volunteering initiatives in their plans and policies to support sustainable development. We expect there to be more focus on the evidence and impact of volunteering programs at the SDG Summit in September and will plan to attend further discussions on the matter.

Youth Involvement

Our representatives also attended two meetings focusing on the role of youth in supporting sustainable development. Both shared the key takeaway of the importance of engaging students and young people themselves in the decision-making and implementation of sustainable strategies to improve education and other outcomes for young people around the world.

One of the speakers in the event focusing on the role of African youth, hosted by the Kingdom of Morocco and attended by Bocquet, invoked the creator of the Peace Corps, John F. Kennedy, stating, “we have to move from a place where we ask not what we can do for young people, but ask what young people can do for the world, and center them in this conversation.”

Peace Corps Volunteers tend to work closely with young people in the communities where they serve, and it’s key to treat them as partners in, rather than simply targets of, development initiatives.

Climate Action

Kevin Kwok (Mali 2011–12) joined a session on renewable energy and climate action with lessons from Lithuania’s efforts to develop its self-produced electricity market. The International Energy Agency has cited a unique feature of Lithuania’s market as the rapid increase of prosumers (consumers who produce their own energy through solar energy production), who should reach 30% of the total electricity consumers in the country by 2030. A panel discussion focused on how to replicate this scheme in other countries, with specific focus on supporting innovative renewable energy schemes that meet specific social and environmental criteria such as the inclusion of energy poor households, the empowerment of local communities, and the creation of a vibrant industrial solar ecosystem.

Private Sector Initiatives

Finally, Jen Krottinger (Belize 2011–13), attended a meeting with the UN Global Compact, a group she worked with as a volunteer, on best practices for how private sector groups can support and advance the SDGs. While this initiative primarily focuses on efforts by businesses to support sustainable development, it also includes NGOs — like NPCA — and offers another route to participation in partnerships that advance sustainable development.

Your Thoughts?

As these NPCA global leaders continue to engage with the United Nations community on policies and partnerships to advance sustainable development, we invite all affiliate groups or individual members to share their thoughts on where our representatives might focus to maximize our group’s impact. Any affiliate group wishing to contribute to NPCA’s official participation in September’s SDG Summit should send a short statement on its issue of choice by August 31 to unconsult@peacecorpsconnect.org.

The evacuation of Volunteers from around the globe interrupted service everywhere. And while Volunteers have yet to return to the field, last year Peace Corps launched a program for communities and Volunteers to work together — virtually.

Six months after Peace Corps evacuated all Volunteers from around the world, 45 returned to service under the aegis of the agency: the inaugural cohort of an 10- to 12-week endeavor christened the Virtual Service Pilot program. They were Volunteers and Response Volunteers and trainees. They partnered with communities in nine countries and areas: Botswana, Colombia, Costa Rica, Eastern Caribbean, Paraguay, Peru, Senegal, South Africa, and Ukraine. And they embarked on projects that included education and health, conservation and youth development.

An idea whose time has come? In March 2020 — even before COVID-19 brought the Zoomification of so many workplaces—the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service issued a report that explicitly called for exploring virtual volunteering to open up service opportunities to more people in the States. 

Round one of the Virtual Service Pilot wrapped up in December. The editorial team at WorldView magazine spoke to two Volunteers about their service — first on the ground, and now virtually. And as we go to press, round two of the virtual program, which expanded to 20 countries, just finished.
 

Luca Mariotti

SENEGAL

Home: Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts

Beginning in 2019, in a town called Karang, on the border with The Gambia, I was a Community Economic Development Volunteer, working with local entrepreneurs and women’s groups, helping them turn local resources like peanuts and mangoes into income-generating products. In an entrepreneurial class I was teaching, five students came forward and were interested in leading a waste management project: writing the business plan, meeting with chiefs and community members, holding cleanup days. In a town of 20,000, there’s no garbage pickup; people burn their trash. A decade ago, a Volunteer set up a waste management project with the mayor’s office — but unfortunately it was disassembled after six months. 

We talked to local leaders, conducted community surveys, asked if people would be willing to pay — and how much. We realized that a project would have to be private — and ideally would lead to employment in the community. The mayor’s office was allocating a landfill, and I was in the process of of writing a grant.

Along with that, in a nearby town, Keur Sièt, my counterpart and I were working with a women’s group to add value to peanuts and, through a contact in Dakar, sell to clients in Germany. Then: evacuation.

One morning at 4 a.m. I got a call from a friend asking if I had checked my phone. “Of course I haven’t,” I said. “Luca,” she said, “we’re going home.”

Leaving my host family two days later was one of the most heartbreaking moments of my life.

Host family and entrepreneurs in Keur Sièt, Senegal. From left, the women are Nday, Nday, Fatou, Luca Mariotti, and Soxna Si. Photo courtesy of Luca Mariotti

What sustains us

I’m from Dublin, Ireland, originally. My dad, Mark Mariotti, served with the Peace Corps in The Gambia — 30 minutes from where I was posted. Ten years ago we went back to his host community; he hadn’t been there in 25 years. He found the door to his host brother’s house. They cried, they embraced. That connection was really powerful.

Last fall I began a master’s program at Cornell in global development. And I took part in the Virtual Service Pilot program with Peace Corps, working with the chamber of commerce in Sédhiou, Senegal, promoting the value chain for cassava and a superfood called fonio. It has more amino acids than quinoa. It is gluten-free, high in protein and iron, easy to cook, and drought resistant — which is important as climate change increasingly causes food insecurity in sub-Saharan countries.

Fonio is a superfood with more amino acids than quinoa. It is drought resistant and is drawing increasing global interest. But that wasn’t being reflected in Senegal. Now it is.

I contacted most international players in the fonio world. There is growing interest — but that wasn’t being reflected within Senegal. I was led to Malick, a contact with Terra Ingredients, which has been working on the Fonio Project, trying to find producers and, by paying fair prices and reinvesting profits in the community, build a sustainable system. They are constructing a processing plant in Dakar — the first in Senegal. My counterpart, Ndeye Maguette, and I had a number of meetings with Malick, who is sending people to meet with the chamber of commerce and producers. They hope that by the next harvest they will export fonio from these farmers.

I’m excited to see what happens. I’m also interested in finding ways for us to continue to support projects I started when I was in Senegal. My experience in the Peace Corps really furthered my cultural humility and cultural intelligence. I saw firsthand how similar we all are, and the immense potential that lies in developing countries. I think further investments and confidence in the education systems are going to show incredible results.
 

MiKayla Wolf

UKRAINE

Home: Chickasha, Oklahoma 

I actually wanted to serve with Peace Corps in Swaziland, Africa, where I was originally given an invitation — but I was moved to Ukraine right before the departure date for medical reasons. I did not know anything about Ukraine. But I loved my work with the kids and parents of my organization. I had a wonderful counterpart, and the Peace Corps Ukraine staff were so supportive. I went from doubting if I would stay in Ukraine to deciding to extend one more year.

I was a Youth Development Volunteer with the All-Ukraine Association of People with Disabilities in Vinnytsia, in central Ukraine. I led clubs and classes for children with disabilities, assisted with games for Special Olympics Ukraine, attended conferences about inclusion, and learned and taught Ukrainian Sign Language.

When we were evacuated, my counterpart and I were talking about a grant for a project that would benefit parents in our organization. It was close to the beginning of Special Olympic events in Vinnytsia. And the day I was supposed to work with my counterpart on the paperwork for my extension was the day that evacuation was called. 

The last time I saw my kids and parents from the organization was at a painting class right before evacuation. There is still a lot of work to do in Ukraine regarding inclusion. Given the opportunity to assist online, I wanted to do it. With the Virtual Service Pilot program, I was assigned to my original NGO and worked with the same counterpart. I know my kids well and what they are capable of. 

Ukrainian parents were able to learn strategies and ask questions. I had a young adult female share her story, so the parents could hear about growing up with autism from a child’s perspective.

I led online sessions for children with disabilities to help them develop life skills, communication skills, and socialization skills. I started a monthly discussion between parents in the United States and Ukraine. This provided an opportunity for the American parent of a child with autism to share their story — and what worked and did not work in the USA. Ukrainian parents were able to learn strategies and ask questions. I had a young adult female share her story, so the parents could hear about growing up with autism from a child’s perspective. A Peace Corps Ukraine staff member translates for the parent discussions. 

In the virtual program, Ukraine had a Volunteer in every sector, including PEPFAR. It was a good experience; I chose to participate in the second phase. I still talk to my host mom, kids and parents from the organization, my counterpart, Peace Corps Ukraine staff, and others from Special Olympics. My counterpart started a project for adults with autism. Through one of the parent talks, she found out about a program in Oklahoma that supports adults with disabilities, and she wants to come visit and see how it is run. 

What’s ahead? I’m working at the university in my hometown of Chickasha until September 2021. I am also a graduate student at Arizona State University online, where I am studying special education: applied behavior analysis. 

A remembrance of Paul Johnson

By Jake Arce

Paul Johnson understood what it means to tend the earth. He was a farmer and a state and national leader in the movement to conserve soil and water. As chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, he led the agency to produce a national report card on the state of America’s private lands. He called it “A Geography of Hope.”

Johnson joined the Peace Corps in 1962, serving in one of the first groups in Ghana. After returning to the United States in 1964, he completed studies in natural development, earning a master’s in forestry at the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources. He married an RPCV from the Philippines, Patricia Joslyn, in 1965; they later traveled together to teach in Ghana’s School of Forestry and started a family abroad. 

“The foundation of our farm’s productivity is our soil, a complex, living system that, although largely unrecognized as important in our national environmental policies, is in fact the basis of all life.”

They settled in Iowa in the 1980s. Of his land there Johnson once wrote, “The foundation of our farm’s productivity is our soil, a complex, living system that, although largely unrecognized as important in our national environmental policies, is in fact the basis of all life. If we farm our soil well, its productivity will be sustained by recycling what was once living into new life.”  

He was elected to the Iowa State House of Representatives and served three terms. He co-wrote the Iowa Groundwater Protection Act to stop contamination from surface pollutants and underground tanks. He garnered bipartisan support for progressive action on the environment and crafted Iowa’s Resource Enhancement and Protection program, funding parks, trails, and wildlife enhancement. 

He also knew what was not enough. Speaking to the Des Moines Register in 2000, he said: “A land comprised of wilderness islands at one extreme and urban islands at the other, with vast food and fiber factories in between, does not constitute a geography of hope.” He died in February at age 79.

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia addressed the Peace Corps community during the presentation of the Deborah Harding Women of Achievement Award ceremony on Friday, Sept. 23, 2016.

 Team Michigan en route to tell members of Congress that America and the world need a bigger, better Peace Corps. 

 Ms. Barbara Busch speaks to the Peace Corps community about the work of the NPCA Ad Hoc Committee in Support of Refugees and Migrants.

Averill Strasser and Beverly Rouse, COO and Executive Director of Water Charity, respectively, with friends planning next steps for impact abroad. 

 Ambassador Karl Eikenberry with Afghanistan Peace Corps Volunteers (and India RPCV friends)

Sebastian Junger, author of Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging and documentarian of the film Restrepo, speaking with 

lifelong friend and colleague Sarah Chayes (RPCV Morocco), author of Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security. 

 Jesse Bailey, RPCV Morocco; Skido Achulo, Embassy of Ghana; Representative James P. McGovern, D-MA;

David Magnani, RPCV Sierra Leone; and Natalie Hall, RPCV Thailand

Heavy traffic in the exhibit hall at Peace Corps Connect 2016. 

 The conference included over thirty breakout sessions on peacebuilding, development, global health and more. 

On far right: RoseAnn Rotandaro, Founder and Exec. Dir. of The Village Link, with the panelists of

The ABCs of Corporate Classification and Sourcing Funds for Public Interest Ventures

Angene and Jack Wilson, RPCVs Liberia

From left: Harris Wofford, Brigid Andrew, Mr. Ibrahima Sankare, Michele Magera, Alpha Konate and Stacy Rhodes

presenting Mr. Sankare the Harris Wofford Global Citizen Award.

Kathryn Lusk of KaBoom and Phil Lilienthal, President of Global Camps Africa. 

Daughters of Loret Miller Ruppe presented the Friends of Liberia, Friends of Guinea, and Friends of Sierra Leone with the

 Loret Miller Ruppe Award for Outstanding Community Service for their work with NPCA and the Ebola Relief Fund. 

 The crowd at the Walk for Peace stretched down city blocks as they marched to Capitol Hill. 

Mosche Snowden plays at the U.S. Capitol during the Walk for Peace.

NPCA Board Chair Joby Taylor and friends on the Walk for Peace. 

 Tom Appel and friends 

The Walk for Peace stopped at the White House to remind another leader that the world needs the Peace Corps, and now more than ever.

More photos coming soon!