Our Stories | Office of Transition Initiatives

Since its founding in the early 1990s, the community of Valle Verde, located in the Apopa district in the department of San Salvador, El Salvador has faced water scarcity, poor waste management, poverty, violence, and insecurity.

A group of indigenous women proudly served a portion of pepián chicken alongside hand-wrapped tamales and a cup of atole. Pepián chicken – recognized for its thick, rich sauce that boasts roasted chiles, pumpkin and sesame seeds, tomatoes and onions – is a traditional dish for Sara* and the Maya K’aqchikel people. 

Since September 2020, the USAID/CPS Office of Transition Initiatives' (OTI's) Niger Stability Support Initiative has implemented over 54 activities with various national partners and local grantees in the country, working to enhance peacebuilding efforts that strengthen government action and reinforce links between government and communities.

Since its launch in July 2018, USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) Burkina Faso Regional Program (BFRP) has implemented 220 activities to support locally-led solutions to addressing the most pressing causes of instability in the program’s target communities (the Sahel, Nord, Est, and Centre-Est regions of Burkina Faso).

Most provinces in Burkina Faso’s Est region are under the influence of violent extremist organizations (VEOs), spurring a massive displacement of residents into the city of Fada, the regional capital, from throughout the surrounding areas in the region.

Situated on Burkina Faso’s eastern border with Niger, the commune of Kantchari is confronted with both ongoing internal conflicts and cross-border insecurity from western Niger.

Iraq’s al-Islah al-Zirai neighborhood in the city of Mosul has long suffered from government neglect and marginalization. Located on the city’s western edge, the area was among the first to fall to ISIS and its stability remains critical to Mosul’s security. However, despite the city’s liberation four years ago, al-Isla al-Zirai continues to face a chronic lack of basic services due to underfunded government departments and the inability to rehabilitate or maintain basic infrastructure. Until recently, one of the most visible signs of government neglect was a damaged street with overflowing sewage pipes, piles of garbage, and dangerous rubble. Waste, stagnant water, and raw sewage hindered children’s access to school, and blocked vehicle traffic. Residents, mukhtars, and community leaders repeatedly asked local authorities to address the issue, without success.

Since 2015, more than 2,300 schools across the Est, Nord, and Sahel regions have either closed or suffered damage due to violence and insecurity in Burkina Faso.

Agriculture and pastoralism are the primary economic activities in the Est region of Burkina Faso, and particularly in the Matiacoali commune. The commune is home to the Tapoa Boopo zone, the largest pastoral area in the region, and is a transit area for pastoralists and their cattle.