It’s a weekday morning under a blazing sun and Jean Francklin Cadet is pacing up and down the corridors of his house waiting to give his feedback on the debris removal undertaken in his neighborhood. Before the earthquake, Cadet lived a four-bedroom house. After the disaster he tried to remove the debris himself, but soon ran out of money. He was only able to complete the work with the help of CHF.

“My mother used to have me hold out my open palm to try to catch the breeze. It never worked. Of course there will be nothing there, because you have nothing if you keep your hand open all the time. You have to use your hands to work, to make yourself better. 10,000 Women has helped me put my hands to work and formulate my mission, vision, objective and goals for myself” - Kabeh Sumbo

Located in South Central (SC) Iraq, Kerbala city is the capital of the Kerbala governorate and is considered a sacred city among Shia Muslims. As a result, local council (LC) officials focus on the construction and maintenance of religious shrines, often over the needs of their communities. Unfortunately, few incentives exist for LC members to even investigate community ser-vice needs, since they were appointed years ago and have not been subjected to elections.

By Mohamed Al Sharef, Agriculture Team Leader, CHF International - West Bank and Gaza

Executive Summary

CHF International’s Asset Building Group methodology is an approach to rapid economic recovery and development that has become increasingly integrated into CHF’s East Africa portfolio. Developed by CHF’s Economic Development Unit and the Office of Humanitarian Assistance as an approach for group based economic development in both a local livelihoods and disaster assistance and relief contexts, the Asset Building Group (ABG) methodology provides a group of households with a productive asset as a means of stabilizing incomes and providing a basis for income generation and future growth.

The CHF International 2011 Annual Report is now available. This year, we have chosen as our theme Partnership in a Changing World. Partnership is at the core of CHF’s work and in a rapidly changing global environment, partnership is more important than ever. In his introductory letter, David Weiss, President and CEO of CHF International spells out our commitment to partnering to create positive change around the world:

I. Executive Summary

ISSUE BRIEF: The 21st Century Urban Disaster: More disasters, more devastating, more expensive, more complex – how are aid agencies responding?

CHF International Releases Issue Brief on the Increasingly Complex Nature of Humanitarian Responses to Urban Disasters; Profiles innovative Katye Program