JDA International Joint Development Associates, 1993 to 2025

Impact

What the work added up to

JDA's achievements over 32 years in Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Iraqi Kurdistan, with the source of every figure, followed by JDA's research and press coverage.

Headline figures

  • 1,000hand-pump wells drilled in UzbekistanJDA records
  • 200,000farmers trained across many JDA projectsJDA records
  • 30,000Afghan women trained in sanitation and hygieneJDA records
  • 600Afghan associates and family members evacuated in 2021JDA records
  • Founded in Uzbekistan in 1993
  • U.S. 501(c)(3) since December 1994
  • Three countries
  • Closed in October 2025

By country

Results in each country

Each figure is given with the JDA document it comes from. For the full sequence of events, see the timeline.

1993 to 2006 · Tashkent

Uzbekistan

Where JDA began: water near the Aral Sea, small loans and poultry for families in poverty, and care for leprosy-affected communities.

  • 1,000hand-pump wells drilledJDA records
  • 3,000small loans made, 85 percent of them to women, with a 95 percent repayment rateJDA records
  • 500doctors trained in leprosy treatmentJDA records
  • 160families in the poultry program by 2003, in 12 villagesJDA projects page, 2003
  • 600+children treated at the children's tuberculosis center in Nukus, which JDA helped repairJDA records
  • 46.5%drop in childhood diarrhea reported in communities using solar water disinfection (SODIS)JDA SODIS story, 2005

Highlights

  • 1996CEBIS computer training center opens in Jizzak
  • 1999Poultry program for widows and single mothers starts with seven families
  • 2003More than 60 new family businesses started in Muynak with micro-credit
  • 2005Ministry of Health approves expanding SODIS to five regions
More on Uzbekistan

2001 to 2019 · Mazar-i-Sharif

Afghanistan

Eighteen years in the north: emergency food, schools and homes, farm research and machinery, clean water, and hygiene training led by Afghan women educators.

  • 74wells with hand pumps, serving about 68,000 peopleJDA records
  • 30,000women trained in sanitation and hygieneJDA records
  • 6schools built in AfghanistanJDA records
  • 95staff on JDA's team in AfghanistanJDA records
  • 15,700men employed in food for work in the first two years of relief: roads, irrigation, brick making and hand-dug wellsJDA records
  • 85,000+farmers worked with under USAID's RADP-North, 2014 to 2019JDA annual report, 2019

Highlights

  • 2003With Habitat for Humanity, more than 200 families build or rebuild their homes
  • 2004Sultan Ibrahim School dedicated, planned for 2,000 boys and girls
  • 2007OHT, JDA's sister company, begins importing two-wheel tractors, 494 in all
  • 2008859 farmers trained in melon fly control in three provinces
  • 2018More than 1,300 women have taken the BLiSS birth life saving skills course
More on Afghanistan

2017 to 2020 · Erbil

Iraqi Kurdistan

Helping families displaced by ISIS rebuild their livelihoods through the RIVAL program with ZOA.

  • 4,000+returnees, displaced people and host community members reached over two yearsJDA annual report, 2020
  • 790cash-for-work jobs in the first year of RIVAL, 140 of them for womenJDA annual report, 2019; RIVAL cash for work report, October 2019
  • 547cash-for-work jobs in 2020, despite COVID-19 curfewsJDA annual report, 2020
  • 300livestock grants in 2020, after sheep grants for 260 people, almost all women, in year oneJDA annual reports, 2019 and 2020
  • 342people trained in greenhouse growing in 2020JDA annual report, 2020
  • 94%of women who received livestock had kept themRIVAL year two monitoring report, 2020

Highlights

  • 2017JDA registers in the Kurdistan Region and opens an office in Erbil
  • 2018RIVAL begins with ZOA, funded by the U.S. State Department (PRM)
  • 2019Workers renovate 1,500 meters of drainage channel in Beban village
  • 2020RIVAL meets its second-year goals, serving 1,828 people
More on Iraqi Kurdistan

By area of work

Eight areas of work

Clean water

  • 1,000hand-pump wells in UzbekistanJDA records
  • 74wells in northern Afghanistan, serving about 68,000 peopleJDA records
  • 152,000people reached by the WASH program in Afghanistan as a whole, through clean water and hygiene, sanitation and nutrition training; a separate total from the 74 wellsJDA records; JDA annual report, 2019
  • 2,583Sawyer filters in Afghanistan, 2013 to 2019, reaching about 15,753 people, distributed through OHT, JDA's sister companyJDA filter distribution record; OHT role from JDA records
  • 282biosand filters, used through 2015JDA WASH and nutrition beneficiary report
  • 250Afghan men trained in hand pump repairJDA WASH and nutrition beneficiary report
Read more

Agriculture

  • 200,000farmers trained, in total, across many different JDA projectsJDA records
  • 85,000+farmers worked with under RADP-North, 2014 to 2019JDA annual report, 2019
  • 1,648lead farmers trained in conservation agriculture, laser leveling, two-wheel tractors and weed controlJDA RADP-North page
  • 35laser land leveling units handed over to farmers, with 309 field days for 8,823 farmersJDA RADP-North page
  • 33%average rise in wheat yields for 3,300 weed control trainees, 2015 to 2016JDA, Agricultural Development in Northern Afghanistan, 2017
  • 494two-wheel tractors imported by OHT, JDA's sister company, from 2007; 298 sold by August 2010, and 35 repair and spare parts shops in the northJDA records
  • 93+two-wheel tractors in Kaldar district, bought by farmers without subsidy after a 2007 demonstrationJDA two-wheel tractor story
  • 90,000+strawberry plants to more than 120 growers, 2009 to 2011JDA strawberry technical notes, 2011
Read more

Livelihoods and small loans

  • 3,000small loans in Uzbekistan, 85 percent of them to women, with a 95 percent repayment rateJDA records
  • 60+new family businesses in Muynak by 2003JDA microfinance page, 2003
  • 160families in the Shakhrisabz poultry program by 2003, most headed by womenJDA projects page, 2003
  • 85income and small business grants in Iraqi Kurdistan, 2020JDA annual report, 2020
  • 99%of RIVAL business grant recipients believed their business was sustainableRIVAL year two monitoring report, 2020
Read more

Training for women

  • 30,000Afghan women trained in sanitation and hygieneJDA records
  • 7,700Afghan women set up their own kitchen gardens under RADP-NorthJDA annual report, 2019
  • 1,300+women took the BLiSS course in pregnancy, birth and newborn care by May 2018JDA BLiSS materials, 2018
  • 5,909women taught nutrition in four provinces in about ten monthsJDA newsletter, October 2016
  • 89%of women in RIVAL reported a greater say in household decisionsRIVAL year two monitoring report, 2020
Read more

Health and hygiene

  • 500Uzbek doctors trained in leprosy treatmentJDA records
  • 46.5%drop in childhood diarrhea in SODIS communities in UzbekistanJDA SODIS story, 2005
  • 3%of children under five had diarrhea after training in three Afghan districts, down from 39 percentJDA newsletter, December 2017
  • 45Afghan villages declared free of open defecationJDA WASH and nutrition beneficiary report
  • 4,133Afghan men trained in hygieneJDA WASH and nutrition beneficiary report
Read more

Education

  • 6schools built in AfghanistanJDA records
  • 13rooms at the Sultan Ibrahim School, dedicated in 2004 and planned for 2,000 studentsJDA school dedication page, 2004
  • 3 million+bricks made by Afghan communities for their schools in summer 2003JDA website, 2003
  • 15Afghan schools and 7,020 students in WASH in SchoolsJDA WASH and nutrition beneficiary report
  • 1996CEBIS computer training center opened in Jizzak, UzbekistanJDA website, 2003
Read more

Relief, evacuation and resettlement

  • 5,000metric tons of food for more than 20,000 Afghan families, 2002JDA projects page, 2003
  • 12container loads of clothing, shoes and bedding distributed in AfghanistanJDA projects page, 2003
  • 1,550filters for drought relief in Charkint district, 2018 and 2019JDA filter distribution record
  • 600Afghan associates and family members evacuated in 2021JDA records
  • 38Afghan evacuees resettled in Colorado by the Grand Valley Resettlement Program in 2022JDA GVRP page, 2025
Read more

Food and cash for work

  • 15,700Afghan men employed in food for work in the first two years of relief work, rehabilitating roads and irrigation, making bricks and digging wells by handJDA records
  • 16,000+Afghan families received food for rebuilding roads, canals and wells, 2003JDA website, 2003
  • 476 kmof roads and 398 km of irrigation canals rebuilt in Afghanistan, with 187 shallow wells dugJDA annual report, 2003; the JDA timeline gives 600 km, 400 km and 130 wells
  • 790RIVAL cash-for-work jobs in year one, in 14 villagesJDA annual report, 2019
  • 547RIVAL cash-for-work jobs in 2020JDA annual report, 2020
  • 1,828people served by RIVAL in its second year, 2020JDA records
Read more

Research and resources

JDA research and technical notes

Papers and notes written by JDA staff. Personal contact details have been removed.

JDA's press releases, newsletters, program brochures and longer reports are on the Publications page. Annual reports and the JDA timeline are on the Reports page.

Press

In the news

These articles belong to their publishers and are linked, not copied. Some links lead to copies kept by the Internet Archive, and newspaper sites may ask you to subscribe.

About the figures

JDA's materials were written over three decades, and many totals grew or were counted in different ways along the way. This page gives each number with the year or document it comes from. The well totals for Uzbekistan (1,000) and Afghanistan (74 wells serving about 68,000 people), the 30,000 women trained in sanitation and hygiene, the 152,000 people reached by the Afghanistan WASH program as a whole, the evacuation total of about 600 people, the six schools built in Afghanistan, JDA's Afghanistan staff of 95, the 3,000 small loans in Uzbekistan (85 percent to women, with a 95 percent repayment rate), the 500 doctors trained in leprosy treatment, the more than 600 children treated at the Nukus tuberculosis center, the 200,000 farmers trained in total across many different projects, the 1,828 people served in RIVAL's second year, the 15,700 Afghan men employed in food for work in the first two years of relief work, and the dates of founding (1993) and 501(c)(3) status (December 1994) come from JDA records. JDA's year by year training records add up to 30,218 women trained in hygiene or nutrition from 2009 to 2019; earlier documents, such as the November 2018 newsletter, give smaller running totals.

Where two JDA sources disagree, this site either names both or leaves the number out.