In the middle of an especially dry season from 2015 into early 2016, a 20-year-old woman provided a stark reminder of what’s at stake for rural communities throughout the Lower Mekong Basin as a result of climate change.
Grouped in a network called Solar Sahelis (Solar Friends), these women form an innovative social enterprise that promotes renewable energy products such as solar-powered lamps and household appliances to communities living in hard-to-reach areas. Around 10 million households—half the homes in Rajasthan—have no electricity at all or unreliable grid power. Alternate sources of power, such as solar systems, are important as they provide basic electric light and power and are cheaper and safer than the kerosene and dry cell batteries currently used in households that lack a reliable electricity supply.
Inside Kokmuang Health Center, a modest wooden structure in Donmai village in Luang Namtha, Laos, USAID-funded nutrition commodities are being distributed to patiently waiting mothers and their children by local health staff with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). This activity is part of the regular health outreach efforts performed in the northwest of the country.
Samnang*, a 33-year-old from Banteay Meanchey province in Cambodia, learned the hard way that working abroad without the right documents is not worth the enormous risk. Thai authorities deported him after they discovered him working illegally in the construction sector in Prachinburi province.
An app developed with support from USAID is making wildlife protection officers more effective in their efforts to combat wildlife trafficking in Southeast Asia.
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