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BUREAU FOR DEVELOPMENT, DEMOCRACY, AND INNOVATION
LOCAL, FAITH, AND TRANSFORMATIVE PARTNERSHIPS HUB
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Locally Led Development Initiatives |
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APRIL 2022
LOCAL WORKS PHOTO CONTEST WINNER: FLAVIO BORGES, USAID/TIMOR-LESTE "LOCAL WORKS TEAM INTERVIEWING YOUTH ON THE STREET IN THE LIQUICA MUNICIPALITY."
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VIETNAM: WOMEN’S UNIONS LIVING AND ACTING GREEN |
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PHOTO CREDIT: USAID/VIETNAM AND GREENHUB. LSPP PROJECT STAFF SUPPORTING THE BAC TU LIEM WOMEN'S UNION MAKE HAND AND DISHWASHING LIQUID ENZYME PRODUCTS.
As Vietnam’s economy grows, the plastic waste production rate has increased. While addressing plastic pollutants has received national-level attention, communities continue to lack an organized approach at the district-level to manage plastic waste. Local Women’s Unions are filling this gap by educating and empowering citizens in their districts.
The Local Solutions for Plastic Pollution (LSPP) activity, implemented by local partner GreenHub and supported by USAID/Vietnam’s Local Works program, is collaborating with Women’s Unions in several districts to address plastic waste challenges. The Bac Tu Liem District’s Women’s Union partnered with LSPP to pilot a circular waste management model following “5Rs”: Rethink, Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. LSPP trained over 180 Women’s Union members and resident participants on waste separation, composting, and making enzyme-based liquid soaps. In parallel, the Women’s Union launched a competition for March through June: “Bac Tu Liem Joining Hands to Reduce Plastic Waste in 2022.” Women’s Union members are competing to collect recyclable waste across the district’s 13 wards. The waste will be calculated, sold to recycling centers, and captured in the first Bac Tu Liem plastic waste dataset published on a digital platform LSPP is launching this summer.
The Da Nang District’s Women’s Union capitalized on the growing community plastic reduction movement to lead waste management, in line with the district government’s goal of becoming an eco-city by 2030. Following LSPP plastic reduction trainings, the Women’s Union recruited 126 members to establish seven “Green Living Clubs” (GLCs). The Women’s Union and GreenHub designed seven trolleys for GLCs to conveniently collect and sort waste, “replac[ing] the reusable bags we used to collect waste,” one member explained. Slogans like “Bring your basket – leave your plastic (bag)” adorn the trolleys to encourage greener habits. After six months, GLCs collected over 1,700 kilograms of sorted waste, citing continuous improvement of household waste management practices.
In both districts, the Women’s Unions will donate income from recycled materials back to assist disadvantaged neighbors. “We are thrilled to be supported with knowledge and tools to make our living areas greener,” the member shared, excited to “spread the message about plastic reduction activities to our community.” Their efforts add up. Empowering communities to improve household-level waste management drives positive behavior change, a sustainable foundation for collective action to back plastics policy.
USAID supports Local Solutions for Plastic Pollution through the Local Works program. Read more about LSPP here.
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THE PHILIPPINES: COMMUNITY-BASED COASTAL CONSERVATION |
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PHOTO CREDIT: PEACE CORPS/PHILIPPINES. MANGROVE WARDENS FROM SILONAY MANGROVE CONSERVATION AND ECOPARK INSTALLED A SIGN STATING THAT CUTTING MANGROVES IS NOT ALLOWED AND CARRIES A FINE OF PHP 5,000 ($100) MANDATED UNDER LOCAL CITY ORDINANCE.
In the Philippines, coastal, small-scale fishers represent over 80 percent of Filipino fishers. These 1.9 million registered small-scale fishers catch almost half of the fish comprising the Philippines’ fisheries sector, which generates over $4.3 billion annually. A vital income and food generator, the Philippines’ waters house almost ten percent of the world’s coral reefs, widely considered the center of global coral biodiversity. Over three million hectares of the Philippines’ coastal and marine ecosystems are protected as marine protected areas (MPAs).
MPAs can play an important role globally in mitigating the impacts of climate change, protecting waters from overfishing, and boosting local economies. In the Philippines, the effectiveness of the over 1,600 locally-managed MPAs relies on understanding best practices by fishing communities and local government leaders alike.
To build coastal resource management capacity, Peace Corps staff conducted a weeklong virtual training last September with fisher folk partners on coastal resource management titled Managing Marine Protected Areas: The Local Government Unit (LGU) Experience. Community fisher folk leaders and LGU counterparts led the training where experts in agriculture, environment and natural resources, fisheries, and tourism shared their experiences and challenges with the 58 local fisher participants, 27 of whom were female. Topics ranged from monitoring MPAs with simple, accessible tools to establishing income-generating tourism activities and other livelihoods projects. One local NGO shared their experience initiating, establishing, and sustaining their community’s MPA through external funding. Another NGO recognizes the importance of MPAs through an annual “MPA Day” every 4th of October. With this broad local participation, LGUs increased their overall commitment to enhance respective MPA management and gained insight into the needs of some communities for alternative income sources. The knowledge exchange through this virtual forum, along with continued collaboration, are key to boosting the Philippines’ coastal resilience to climate change.
USAID supported this activity through the Small Project Assistance (SPA) Program, a long-standing partnership with Peace Corps.
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UGANDA: COOPERATIVES PROVIDE SUSTAINABLE HEALTH CARE |
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PHOTO CREDIT: HEALTHPARTNERS. MEMBERS OF A HEALTH COOPERATIVE IN UGANDA SEEK TREATMENT AT THE CLINIC.
In rural Uganda, out-of-pocket health care costs are so high that patients often go into debilitating debt to receive treatment. To address this issue, USAID/Uganda provided low-cost vouchers to women that could be redeemed for prenatal care, delivery, and postpartum wellness checks for newborns and mothers. When this program ended last year, it left a considerable gap. “Me, my sister, and so many mothers benefited from the voucher for antenatal and delivery, but by the time I got pregnant for the second time the voucher project had ended. I was sure I would not have another opportunity to give birth in a health facility again because I had no money,” said Sharon Khaiza, a mother from Sironko District. USAID therefore sought to transition voucher recipients to become members of health cooperatives, representing a shift to locally resourced health financing. The health cooperatives, supported by HealthPartners through USAID's Cooperative Development Program, provide members with health insurance where members prepay a quarterly premium to access high quality care at a lower cost. “Members are benefiting from improved health seeking behavior,” said Charles Oonyu, Ngora District health educator. “Communities now take health financing seriously for their health needs through sharing the risk. The most exciting aspect of this partnership is that it is sustainable.”
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BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA (BiH): MOVING LOCAL, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FORWARD |
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PHOTO CREDIT: USAID/BiH. CIVIL SOCIETY, PUBLIC, AND PRIVATE SECTOR REPRESENTATIVES CONVENE AT THE “BiH FORWARD” CONFERENCE TO PRIORITIZE LOCALLY LED DEVELOPMENT.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, local organizations remain committed to drive social change amidst an uncertain climate caused by divisive political rhetoric. Through USAID’s Local Works program, USAID/BiH partners with local resource organizations to deepen and strengthen existing networks and connections between local development actors to enhance philanthropic endeavors across the country. Recently, the Mission held the two-day “BiH Forward” conference with two Local Works partners, the Institute for Youth Development (KULT) and the Network for Building Peace. With video opening remarks from Administrator Samantha Power, over 100 civil society, public, and private sector participants from across BiH discussed how to continue sustaining locally led development. Together, participants set development priorities and goals for the coming years, which will be revisited in 2024 to measure the success of locally led development. KULT Executive Director Šeherzada Halimić summarized the conference to the local press: “Today's conference wants to point out how important it is to rely on our own strengths and to be able to respond as independently as possible to all the challenges we face. The fact is that we live in very turbulent times, so we must understand that our whole future and perspective [is] in local development.”
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PARTNERSHIPS
- Though partnering with USAID may seem daunting, WorkwithUSAID.org created a new section dedicated to answering your Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). One section answers questions solely dedicated to Locally Led Development compliance.
- The USAID/Vietnam Local Works program also partners with Live & Learn to collectively address air pollution, the world’s greatest environmental threat to health. Over the past two years, they’ve reduced the emissions of over 19,000 motorbikes, the main transportation method for Vietnamese citizens, in three cities. Simultaneously, the campaign collects evidence for cleaner transportation policy and engages with the media, supporting knowledge sharing with action for clean air advocates.
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USAID/Ethiopia recently released a Request for Information to gather information and innovative ideas on sustainably co-establishing and -managing an Ethiopian Leadership Institute (ELI). By providing seed funding for ELI, USAID intends to catalyze broad interest in a world-class facility focused on delivering transformational leadership curricula attuned to and aligned with Ethiopia’s private sector needs. Responses from all interested stakeholders are due by May 27, 2022.
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REPORTS AND ARTICLES
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Community Conservancies Scaling Permaculture Methods: In Kenya, conservancies put local communities at the forefront of wildlife management and conservation efforts. The difficult landscape of the southern Tsavo Conservation Area may pose daily challenges for surrounding communities, but the Kamungi Conservancy is now scaling permaculture practices to address food insecurity and reduce human-wildlife conflict following a USAID-supported pilot project. USAID’s Local Works program complements this effort by empowering community conservancies as platforms for good governance, natural resource management, peace and stability, and economic development. Read more about Local Works in Kenya and sub-Saharan Africa here.
- Like millions of other Filipinos, Virgie Montero understands the difference that good sanitation makes for her family’s health. USAID/Philippines is helping Filipinos like Virgie access affordable sanitation.
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USAID POLICY UPDATES
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According to USAID, monetary donations to aid groups on the ground are the best way to help Ukraine. Cash donations are flexible and efficient, and don’t compete with priority relief items like material donations. The State Department partnered with GoFundMe to direct funds to organizations that are helping address the humanitarian needs of those impacted by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
- The Biden-Harris Administration requested $29.4 billion for accounts fully or partially managed by USAID as part of the President's Budget Request for Fiscal Year 2023 recently submitted to Congress. Of this, $47 million would be invested in locally led development in support of the Administrator's $300 million initiative to engage and empower local organizations. Read the Administrator’s full statement here.
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FUNDING OPPORTUNTIES
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EVENTS
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ICYMI: Skoll World Forum convened community leaders (virtually) from April 6-8 to discuss collective global solutions to today’s challenges with the theme “Face/Forward.” Administrator Power kicked off the three day Forum with opening remarks, touching on USAID’s efforts in Ukraine and pushing the localization agenda forward: “the least we can do is make sure there is co-creation, co-design, that the people who we claim to be serving are centrally driving the decisions that are made about how assistance can best be spent. They know best. We know they know best.” The Forum also recognized USAID/Paraguay’s Program, Resources, and Performance Director Adriana Casati as a localization champion. Casati co-led a powerful session discussing and visualizing locally led development.
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JOB OPPORTUNITIES
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Locally Led Development Initiatives are part of the Local, Faith, and Transformative Partnerships (LFT) Hub.
The LFT Hub focuses on strengthening USAID’s ability to partner with non-traditional and diverse actors including local, faith-based, and community organizations; schools and hospitals; minority-serving institutions; foundations; diaspora communities; cooperatives; and volunteer organizations. Learn more about how LFT is harnessing the power of partnerships through the following:
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