Development

Giovanna Saccoccio, Showered with Kindness in Ghana

4 October, 2018

Giovanna Saccoccio came into the MAIR degree as a Fast Track student directly from Maxwell’s BA International Relations program.

During the summer of 2018, I interned at the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Accra, Ghana. The IOM is the UN agency dealing with issues related to migration, and its mission is to promote humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all.

Before going to Ghana, my main objectives were to gain field experience in a developing country, comparing the theories I have learned with the reality on the ground, and gaining exposure to the internal workings of a UN agency. My main goal was to understand whether I want to work in the development and/or humanitarian field. The projects I worked on helped me in this by letting me work with communities firsthand, which made me realize the impact I can have as a foreigner in local contexts.

Together with other Syracuse University students, I worked on projects related to child trafficking in the Volta Region of Ghana and on assisted voluntary return and reintegration of Ghanaians who have returned from countries such as Libya and Algeria.

Giovanna (far right, facing away) assisting community members with questionnaires about possible initiatives to better their community

It was sometimes challenging to deal with the reality on the ground, lack of information and strong language barriers. Still, I was happy to be exposed to the field and the professional and personal challenges that come with it. Altogether, these experiences allowed me to understand various issues related to the migration, and how to best interact with people affected by them.

Maxwell students (Lindzi Ngati left, Giovanna Saccoccio center, and Sunil Casuba) plus SU student Tran Khang. (center, back) with IOM staff on a break from focus groups with returnees and community leaders.

“While the rest of the world has been improving technology, Ghana has been improving the quality of man’s humanity to man.”

These words from Maya Angelou rang true throughout my stay in Ghana. I was showered with kindness and friendliness everywhere I went. Most of all, despite all the issues still afflicting the country, it was fascinating to witness the peace and coexistence in such a culturally and religiously diverse country.

The two months I spent in Ghana allowed me to expand my worldview and my interests. I had never been to Africa before, and I did not know much about African history. I also did not have a background in migration, and the information I had was filtered through a Western and often-conservative lens. As an Italian who is surrounded everyday by talk about migration, it was important for me to compare media and politicians’ rhetoric with the reality on the ground. This experience helped me dispel all the stereotypes I was brought up with, and I have been active in sharing my experiences with people in Italy and the US.

Students had the chance to travel during the weekend. Giovanna at the Wli Falls, the highest waterfall in West Africa

MAIR Program at the Maxwell School

International Relations Undergraduate Program

For more about the Fast Track BA/MA program, contact the Director of Admissions, Christine Omolino, at comolino@syr.edu

Survey of Current Issues in African Migration Program, Ghana

All Global Programs

In Ghana, Lindzzi Ngati Understands to be Effective You Have to be Evolving

26 August, 2018

Lindzzi Ngati is a joint MPA/MAIR student focusing on international development.

This summer, I had the opportunity to intern with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Accra, Ghana through Syracuse Abroad. The IOM is the leading international agency in the field of migration, spearheading programs on brain drain and diaspora engagement, refugee resettlement, counter-trafficking, voluntary return and reintegration, migration health, labor migration, and border management. The organization is committed to the principle that humane and orderly migration benefits migrants and society.

From left to right: Lindzzi Ngati in a locally made dress, and SU students Sunil Casuba, Giovanna Saccoccio, and Khang Tran standing outside of the IOM Ghana office

During my internship I was tasked with two major group assignments in the Countertrafficking Unit and Migrant Assistance Unit. Other small assignments included: reporting about the Egyeikrom Refugee Camp, a presentation of the IOMs work to graduate students at the Centre for Migration Studies at the University of Ghana and created two info sheets about the SU/IOM student mobility program. In addition to these assignments, I had the opportunity to support the Migration and Development Project Manager during an African Union meeting and Ghanaian Migration National Stakeholder meeting.

Lindzzi Ngati during the African Union West/Central African regional meeting on regional migration

The Countertrafficking Unit tasked the group with collecting visibility material (pictures and videos) that could be used for fundraising. However, to protect the identity of the victims we could not capture their faces. In collecting the visibility material, we shadowed a social worker who was conducting the quarterly meetings with the victims, their families and teachers in the Volta region. At the end of the assignment, we produced 2 short videos and 15 profiles that highlight the achievements and needs of the victims. During this assignment I learned how to use iMovie and used the new skill to create my own personal short video that summarized my experience in Ghana for my final presentation to office staff.

For the second assignment, we conducted focus group discussions throughout various communities in the Greater Accra region. Once the focus group discussions were completed, we analyzed data and produced a report and infographic of our findings. Finally, we presented the report to the Migrant Assistance team. During the focus group discussion, we sensitized community members about the dangers of irregular migration. We also had the chance to have conversations with migrants returning from Libya and Niger. During this assignment I was able to share some of my negative experiences as a Black woman in the U.S. in order to sensitize community members about the social issues they may face in the Western world.

In addition to interning in Accra, I was able to explore other regions of Ghana. I visited Elmina Castle, Kakum National Park, and Fort Victoria in Central region, Fort Metal Cross and Busua in Western region, Mole National Park and Larabanga Mosque in the Northern region.

My time in Ghana has been a very rewarding experience which has provided me with new skills and a renewed mindset. During my last extensive international experience, I lived by the quote: “comfort and growth cannot coexist,” however, during this internship I lived by the quote: “to be effective you have to be evolving” – Daniel Tagoe, Focal Point during Volta trip. This quote is reflective of the lifestyle of an international development practitioner.

Lindzzi Ngati conducting a focus group discussion with members of the Kasoa, Greater Accra Region community members

MPA/MAIR Joint Degree Program at the Maxwell School

Survey of Current Issues in African Migration Program

All Global Programs

Kevin Oswald Explores European Energy Diversity at Student Conference

7 August, 2018

Kevin Oswald is a recent alumni of the Atlantis Transatlantic Dual Degree program, completing an MAIR degree from the Maxwell School and an MPP from the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin. He also completed internships at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Washington D.C. and Agora Energiewende in Berlin during his studies.

From March 29 to 31, 2018 I had the opportunity to participate in the European Student Conference (ESC) 2018 at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. ESC is a conference organized by European Horizons that brought together 100 undergraduate and graduate students from universities across the United States, Europe and Asia with distinguished academics and seasoned policy-makers in order to address some of the challenges confronting the European Union.Prior to the conference, students from different parts of the world and with different academic backgrounds, had been divided into groups, according to their knowledge and interests, in order to deal with the following challenges in six workshops related to: Energy, Technology, EU-China, Democracy, National Sovereignty and Security. Each group then made an effort to develop policy recommendations with regard to their topic and during the conference those proposals by the students were discussed with decision-makers and renowned academics. This year, ESC hosted representatives from business, politics and diplomacy, such as the former President of the European Parliament, Enrique Barón Crespo, as well as several academics from US universities.

Enrique Barón Crespo at ESC 2018 speaking during the opening session in the auditorium of Yale University

As a student enrolled in the transatlantic ATLANTIS dual-degree Master program in International Relations and Public Policy offered by the Maxwell School and the Hertie School of Governance, I am particularly interested in foreign and security policy as well as in energy and climate policy. Therefore, I took part in the energy workshop and together with fellow students worked on the issue of the EU’s dependency on energy imports, particularly natural gas, in order to meet its demand. Given the fact that a high proportion of imports is concentrated among relatively few partners, the security of the EU’s natural gas supplies may be threatened. Our team provided a solid analysis of the status quo and presented several policy recommendations with the primary goals to diversify supply sources (new pipelines, interconnectors, LNG etc.) and to utilize soft tools, which, for instance, might require setting up an EU Energy Diplomacy Task Force to deal with delicate pipeline projects such as Nord Stream 2.

I was impressed with the expertise and dedication of our group and look forward to seeing our recommendations being published in the Review of European and Transatlantic Affairs, a journal that will be distributed to university libraries across Europe and the U.S., as well as to European decision-makers.

In sum, ESC 2018 has been a wonderful experience and I truly enjoyed the opportunity to work with fellow students that all have a passion for the EU. In addition, I hope to become part of the international ESC network that links thinkers and leaders from both sides of the Atlantic and beyond.

Kevin Oswald Interns at the German Embassy in Washington, DC

Atlantis Transatlantic Dual Degree Program

The Maxwell School

The Hertie School of Governance

Maxwell Students Make a Difference in Nepal

23 February, 2018

Rachel Penner was searching for a summer internship in 2015, when a staff member recommended that she connect with Beau Miller, a 2010 MPA graduate and the Executive Director of a development NGO in Nepal known as Aythos.

Beau was excited to take Rachel on board with Aythos to work on post-earthquake recovery. Upon arrival in Nepal, Rachel was thrust into the earthquake recovery efforts using her specialty in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) to serve devastated villagers outside of Kathmandu.

Two Maxwell students, Jeffrey Pu and Trace Carlson, followed in Rachel’s footsteps and interned at Aythos in 2017. As an MPA student, Jeff first had to complete the MPA Workshop with a team of fellow students for the U.S. Department of Justice designing a human rights and human dignity course for foreign police. After wrapping this project up, Jeff hopped on a plane to Nepal. Upon arrival, Aythos put Jeff to work doing program evaluation for one of their projects by designing and distributing a survey to local villagers. After two months working for Aythos, Jeff found himself taking another long haul flight to Berlin, where he is currently finishing his MPP at the Hertie School of Governance as part of the Atlantis Transatlantic Dual Degree Program.

Trace Carlson won a Foreign Languages and Area Studies Fellowship (FLAS) from the Moynihan Institute’s South Asia Center. With this fellowship, Trace journeyed to India to study Hindi, but was most interested in applying his academic knowledge to the field. After reaching out to Beau, Trace found himself heading to Nepal to conduct research on kiwi fruit agriculture for Aythos. Immediately, Trace found it very eye opening to compare the gap between research and field implementation. One had to be flexible and ready for anything. He once had to carry five kilograms of potatoes down a mountain for a village family, just because they asked him to.

Local Aythos staff receive feedback on kiwi fruit cultivation

On February 22, Beau, Rachel, Jeff, and Trace all came together on a Skype presentation for SU students interested in interning at Aythos. All agreed that it was one of the most fulfilling experiences of their lives and were completely humbled by the kindness and generosity of the people in Nepal. They fondly remembered backpacking into villages after encountering washed out roads—while dealing with leeches on the way—only to find countless cups of tea pushed on them upon arriving. While students spent about half their time in Kathmandu, they genuinely felt the impact of projects while working in the villages.

An Aythos staff member talks to a farmer. Women’s empowerment is a goal of the organization, since many Nepalese men go abroad to work leaving women to manage farms and businesses independently.

Maxwell’s partnership with Aythos fulfills the goal of professional degrees by creating graduates who are resilient and ready to enter a career upon graduation. According to Beau Miller, “If you can work in Nepal, you can work anywhere.”

Maxwell’s MAIR Degree

Atlantis Transatlantic Dual Degree

Nepal Connections:

Trace Carlson Conducts Research in Hindi

Students Work with Nepalese Communities in Earthquake Recovery

Ashley Saulcy Works on Political Transition in Nepal – Part 1

Ashley Saulcy Works on Political Transition in Nepal – Part 2

Carol Tojeiro at the UN Migration Agency in Ghana

27 August, 2017

Carol Tojeiro is a joint MAIR/MAECN student who will complete a Master of Arts in International Relations and a Master of Arts in Economics. She will be completing an internship at the Organization of American States in Washington, DC this fall.

This summer, I had the opportunity to intern abroad with IOM, the UN Migration Agency, in Ghana. My decision to pursue an internship abroad was to gain practical field experience with an international organization in a development context. During my internship, I had the opportunity to work on migration and child trafficking related issues, and to travel to different regions of the country.

Following the first week of orientation, along with other SU interns, we travelled to the Brong Ahafo region where we interviewed migrants who returned from Libya, Spain, Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, and Algeria. They shared with us the hardships they faced when travelling irregularly, which we later narrated in the iamamigrant.org Campaign. This campaign, spearheaded by IOM, aims to promote positive perceptions of migrants and to combat xenophobia. During the following weeks, we also interviewed potential migrants to learn about their own perceptions and we participated in the Safe Migration sensitization campaigns conducted by IOM and Ghana’s Immigration Service.

During the second half of the internship, we travelled to the Volta region to observe module rollouts and gather visibility materials of the Child Protection and Child Trafficking Prevention Campaign. This campaign, funded by UNICEF and implemented by IOM, educates community members on how to raise a child, about children’s rights, and on the importance of investing in their future. It also aims to reduce child trafficking in the region, given that children are often sold to fishermen when families find themselves in destitute situations.

Overall, it has been a rewarding experience which has provided me with essential skills to pursue a career in the humanitarian field. My most memorable experiences were visiting the Egyeikrom Refugee Camp, the slave castle in Cape Coast, interviewing returnees, and the traditional dances performed by the school children in several of the Volta communities.

Carol Tojeiro wearing the IOM vest at a village in Ghana

Learn more about Survey of Current Issues In African Migration: A Fieldwork Practicum

Carol Tojeiro Featured in Cornell Policy Review

More Global Programs

Maxwell African Scholars Union

Jeff Marshall & the Tick Tock of OECD

20 August, 2017

Jeff Marshall is a recent graduate of the Public Diplomacy Program, where he earned a Master of Arts in International Relations and a Master of Science in Public Relations. He also received a prestigious Boren Fellowship, which he used to study Urdu in Lucknow, India.

This spring, I had the opportunity to join the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) at its Washington Public Affairs and Communications Center. The OECD is an international economic and social policy forum comprising thirty-five of the world’s leading market democracies, and the Washington Center serves as a support and outreach center for the organization’s headquarters, which are located in Paris.

Joining an international organization at the beginning of a new presidency was a fascinating experience. While communicators generally focus their efforts on external engagement, listening, monitoring, and evaluating are equally important aspects of a communicator’s role. As such, much of my initial work at the Washington Center was focused on keeping up with developments in the White House, noting potential sensitivities, and reporting to the Secretary-General’s office in Paris. Given the wide range of policy areas (from chemical testing guidelines to taxation) the OECD produces data and research on, these tasks served as crash courses on a variety of issues and debates.

In addition to monitoring and reporting, I was also tasked with identifying potential areas of cooperation between the public affairs and sales and marketing staff at the center. This entailed examining content released leading up to a major OECD publication, developing processes for sharing content, identifying shared audiences, and, ultimately, producing a series of recommendations for the center. The project provided me with unique insights into how international organizations market their research, conduct outreach, and generate interest in policy issues. The project also afforded me the opportunity to reflect and share my observations and suggestions for improvement.

The exciting conclusion to my internship was a visit from the OECD’s Secretary-General, Ángel Gurría, for the World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings. In preparation, the entire office went into overdrive. We were in a constant process of confirming meetings, arranging (and re-arranging) schedules, and tirelessly reviewing the run of show, or as we referred to it, the “tick tock” to ensure that the Secretary-General’s visit would run smoothly. The entire process was an excellent exercise in team-building, and while I wouldn’t want to be planning such visits every day, it was a phenomenal learning experience.

My time at the OECD Washington Center was undoubtedly time well-spent. Given that it is a small office, I was truly able to immerse myself in most of the Center’s activities, which provided for a highly stimulating and enriching professional experience.

Jeff Marshall with Ángel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD

Learn more about the Washington Public Diplomacy program

Caitlin Flattery, International Development with Tetra Tech

18 June, 2017

Caitlin Flattery is a recent graduate of the Public Diplomacy program, where students earn both a Master of Arts in International Relations (MAIR) from the Maxwell School and a Master of Science in Public Relations (MSPR) from the Newhouse School.

I spent my semester off-campus participating in the Maxwell-in-Washington program based in Washington, DC. During this time, I regularly attended two classes and worked full-time at a private government contractor, Tetra Tech International Development Services. Tetra Tech is a large firm that offers many services domestically, but due to my interest in foreign affairs, I was placed in their International Development Services sector. The specific Tetra Tech International Development Services office in which I worked was located in Arlington, VA so I had the opportunity to experience both work and life in DC and in Arlington, which I’ve come to learn are very different.

The two classes in which I was enrolled were a public diplomacy seminar and a cohort-specific class focusing on our research consultancies. The seminar took place every Wednesday night after work, and the research consultancy meetings took place every other Tuesday night. It was interesting to have students from other schools in the class, as well as students who had no background in public diplomacy whatsoever; it required guest speakers to truly back their presentations up with specialized knowledge. Such a busy schedule was a great way to break out of the graduate school routine and prepare myself for the business to come after finishing this internship and beginning a new job.

Overall, this program off-campus has been a positive experience. I was able to use my visual and written communications skills to produce collateral and publications for clients and individuals interested in Tetra Tech, Tetra Tech International Development Services, or the sector as a whole. My graphic design and public relations writing skills have come in very helpful on a daily basis—this position truly requires a particular type of education. I am glad to have been able to partake in this experience.

Learn more about the Washington Public Diplomacy program

Emily Hoerner, For Profit Development Consulting

11 June, 2017

Emily Hoerner is a joint MPA/MAIR student, finishing her MPA degree by working on a team consulting project for the NGO, Health in Harmony. Emily formerly participated in the Survey of Current Issues in African Migration program, where she worked on a project for International Organization for Migration Ghana.

This fall I have been fortunate enough to spend the semester interning with Social Impact, Inc., a development and management consulting firm headquartered in Arlington, VA. In addition, like most other students, I have also been taking night classes at Maxwell’s home base in DC, the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Social Impact has three major pillars or departments: impact evaluation, performance evaluation, and strategy, performance, and capacity building. I work for the latter division, SPCB. My duties as intern cover a wide range of assignments, from overhauling and revamping the SPCB team’s knowledge management platform, SharePoint, to attending meetings with clients such as USAID for projects like developing strategic and change management plans.

As someone who is relatively new to the consulting world, my internship has been an eye-opening experience. Though I was familiar with USAID in an academic context, working with the agency as a consulting client has given me an entirely different perspective on the organization. I’ve had the chance to learn about USAID’s project cycle, the types of work they fund, and how their projects are monitored and evaluated (M&E is actually a specialty of Social Impact’s).

One of my ongoing projects has involved coding qualitative data (focus group discussions and key informant interviews) for a performance evaluation of WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) initiatives implemented by USAID and its partners in Madagascar. Through this coding assignment and other projects I’ve been able to help out with, I get to see up close and in person how the different types of research designs we often discussed in my Introduction to International Relations Research and Quantitative Analysis classes are actually implemented on the ground, which is fascinating. It’s exciting to realize that the research designs you studied in class are used so often in the implementation of development projects.

Though most of my fellow Maxwellians are interning at think tanks and research and policy organizations, interning at a for-profit consulting firm has been an interesting experience. Some aspects of the consulting sector, like business development and proposal writing, are fairly similar to the work I did as a fundraiser for an environmental non-profit before I came back to graduate school. Other aspects, though, like the contract approvals process and sourcing ad-hoc consultants for new projects, are completely different. Ultimately, I’m thankful to have the opportunity with this internship to learn more about the industry I hope to enter upon graduation.

Learn more about the Maxwell-in-Washington program

Featured map image by David Flores (www.dreamflow.es) from Flickr. Creative Commons

Vahid Khatami Does Data Analysis at Microfinance Opportunities

4 June, 2017

Vahid Khatami is a recent graduate of the joint MPA/MAIR program. He is going on to work in an international financial institution in New York City.

Lack of access to financial services is still an economic barrier for many households and small businesses around the world. Based on the global Findex database in 2014, only 34% of people in Sub-Saharan Africa have access to a financial account and less than 16% use formal savings and borrowings. Similar data for other developing regions has emerged leading to the use of microfinance tools to expand financial inclusion globally. But, promoting the best financial tools for low-income households is very complicated, since one must consider the variety of outflow and inflow categories in their financial diaries. It raises the demand for in-depth research on these micro economies.

Microfinance opportunities (MFO) is a research organization, based in Washington, D.C., committed to understanding the financial realities of low-income households. They work with other organizations in the microfinance industry to conduct research on behavioral economics of beneficiaries.

During my internship in MFO, I worked on three major projects. First, I was doing statistical analysis on household survey responses in four African countries including Zambia, Senegal, Uganda, and Burkina Faso. I did statistical analysis and data visualization on poverty likelihood scores by controlling demographic characteristics and types of packages provided for beneficiaries. For my second project, I designed an Android application for on-line uploading of financial diaries. The idea was raised after talking with the executive manager where I let him know about my skills in computer programming. The final product, which is going to prepare for alpha testing, makes beneficiaries enable to insert their daily financial diaries without interventions of any third party or interviewer. That data is stored in a cloud-based storage for further auto-analysis. For my third internship project, I helped MFO’s team to provide a comprehensive report on all transactions data in previous and current projects, including more than one million transaction records. Reformatting all data to a uniform structure and applying statistical measurements such as clustering methods was the focal point in that project.

Over all those assignments, I was in almost daily communication with the executive manager to present my progress in work and get guidance on the next steps. I had realized that there were no straightforward answers for problems, which motivated me to do research and ask about possible solutions regularly. I also got a valuable insight into the microfinance industry and its technical aspects, which will help me to take the next steps in my career track with more confidence.

Learn more about the Maxwell-in-Washington program

Oleksiy Anokhin, The Carter Center: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope

1 January, 2017

Oleksiy Anokhin is a student in Maxwell’s Executive MPA and MAIR programs. These programs are aimed at mid-career professionals with significant management experience.

I spent summer 2016 in Atlanta, GA, as an intern at The Carter Center (TCC). I chose this organization as my internship opportunity intentionally for several reasons. First of all, my previous work experience in Ukraine was primarily related to public service, elections, and law. I regularly communicated with representatives of US NGOs, which observed several electoral campaigns in Ukraine. As a result, I became interested in their activities and wanted to learn more about their internal management process.

The Carter Center, which is still actively managed by the former US President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn, has an excellent reputation in international development. The Center observed more than 100 elections during last 25 years across the world, is actively engaged in conflict resolution and human rights advocacy projects, and manages various health programs. For instance, TCC fights several diseases in developing countries. Due to efforts of TCC and their partners, one such disease, the Guinea worm disease, which infected approximately 3.5 million people in 1986 in 21 countries in Africa and Asia, has almost been eradicated. In 2015, only 22 cases were observed. One more example of their impactful activity is TCC’s Syria Conflict Mapping Project, which analyzes information about a complicated military conflict in this country.

I was an intern in the Democracy Program, which is primarily focused on elections and improving TCC legal knowledge about European electoral standards. This work gave me a chance to learn more about the real-life work of an exceptional US NGO, build connections with excellent experts, and gave me several ideas about crucial skills necessary for working in international development such as data analysis and budgeting. As a result, I picked my fall 2016 courses based on my experience in TCC and have been very pleased so far.

The second reason for me was a chance to be involved in amazing humanitarian work, which is conducted by Jimmy Carter. He still remains extremely proactive, participating in various TCC events and making decisions in the Center. Jimmy Carter became a moral leader for millions of people across the world, and especially effective in the humanitarian field. TCC makes for a great job, organizing different social events for their interns with the former President and the First Lady and inspiring the younger generation to follow their life path.

Finally, TCC and Atlanta became an interesting cultural experience for me as a foreigner. After one year in Upstate New York, I was interested to see the South and compare it with the North.

In general, internships in TCC are unpaid, but partial funding is possible (and I got it). However, right now I understand the benefits of internships in the US professional culture more. In my case, having almost 10 years of legal and government experience, I was more interested in TCC activity as a professional, not as an intern. I tried to note their effective and ineffective managerial processes, and understand how to cooperate with such organizations and their experts in future as a Ukrainian public servant.

I strongly encourage those Maxwell students who are interested in conflict resolution, human rights, elections, and health management to consider TCC as a possible internship and future job opportunity. I was impressed that people in this organization are so focused on values promoted by TCC and work hard to make the world a better place. Jimmy Carter still remains their fierce chief and a moral leader for many others. TCC is an excellent place for those who are driven by Maxwell’s Athenian Oath ‘to transmit this city not only not less, but greater, better and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us’.

Oleksiy Anokhin
October 17, 2016

Development

Nepal Connections: Link

Nepal Connections: