If the world learned anything from the SARS epidemic, it is that in order to counter a viral disease, a coordination of the world’s finest medical institutions and brightest minds is quintessential. As the number of confirmed cases climbs with each passing day, the WHO must act swiftly and declare the Coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern. While multiple U.S. officials have vowed to support Chinese efforts to combat the epidemic, and are monitoring the situation closely, the U.S. government must also consider backing up its words by funding programs dedicated to fighting global epidemics.

With the unveiling of a new logo, the National Basketball Association (NBA) made its new Basketball Africa League (BAL) official— fulfilling its commitment to launch its first league outside of the United States. But while this is the organization’s first league in Africa, the NBA is not new to the continent— particularly when it comes to engaging with African youth and investing in infrastructure and civil society across the continent.

Agriculture is inherently local, rooted row-by-row in the soil farmers till, tend, and harvest. But the impacts of agriculture are truly global. We know this is true in farming states like Minnesota, where Cargill has been headquartered for more than a century… [W]e are proud to partner with the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC) as their Heartland Chair. In conversations across 13 Midwest states, we are joining the USGLC and community leaders to discuss how food produced here in the Heartland impacts those far beyond our borders. Those same discussions are amplifying the value and purpose of global leadership.

Did you know that the vanilla we use in everything from ice cream to beauty products to baked goods, particularly during the holiday season, is mainly produced in just a few developing countries?  The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is helping farmers to build a sustainable vanilla industry while benefiting U.S. businesses and consumers alike.

As representatives from nearly 200 countries gather in New York for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the development community will be watching closely to see where global development ranks in a world of competing priorities. This year, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – 17 ambitious targets UN member states have committed to reaching by 2030 – will take center stage more than once, giving SDG watchers plenty to look out for over the coming week.

Nearly thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the state of democracy in the world remains a mixed picture of both progress and decline. But investments in diplomacy and development by the U.S. and new leadership in developing democracies provides fresh potential in addressing corruption.

Gangs present a vexing challenge for urban communities throughout the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador – and the municipality of Escuintla in south-central Guatemala is no different. That’s why Tetra Tech is on the ground in Guatemala, implementing the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Urban Municipal Governance (UMG) project to prevent crime and protect vulnerable youth.

Since 2013, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has worked in Myanmar to support the country’s democratic development. A cornerstone, decade-long, project is USAID’s promoting the Rule of Law in Myanmar project (PRLM), currently implemented by international development firm Chemonics International and formerly implemented by Tetra Tech. To date, the PRLM project has overseen a variety of programs – ranging from creating  Myanmar’s first independent lawyer’s association to piloting and expanding an electronic court case management system.

In September 2016, Global Communities began partnering with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on Nuestra Salud (“Our Health”), a three-year program to stem the spread of the virus in Honduras, where there were about 36,000 cases of Zika at the time. With help from the program, volunteers are taking on roles as community leaders to educate younger Hondurans about the dangers of mosquito-borne Zika, which can cause serious birth defects if contracted by pregnant women.

Americans take their private property seriously, so it came as a surprise that I could simply walk into a stranger’s wheat field in rural Kansas with a yard stick, measure a stalk of wheat, and check for bugs or disease. And yet I did this— over and over— across the state for about a week in May, assessing wheat quality and estimating crop yields as part of the Wheat Quality Council’s Annual Hard Winter Wheat Tour.