BUREAU FOR DEVELOPMENT, DEMOCRACY, AND INNOVATION

LOCAL, FAITH, AND TRANSFORMATIVE PARTNERSHIPS HUB

Locally Led Development Initiatives

COLLABORATING, LEARNING, AND ADAPTING – LOCALLY

Read about how local partners, USAID, and community stakeholders are collaborating, learning, and adapting together in this edition of the Locally Led Development Initiatives newsletter!

NEW: Find more of LLDI’s stories here.

KOSOVO: ART FOR ALL

At a multi-ethnic school in Kosovo, students transformed recycled materials into works of art during an Earth Day art competition to send a clear message: recycling is critical to cultivate a cleaner environment.

In Kosovo, most recycling businesses rely on informal waste collectors, largely comprised of Kosovo’s marginalized ethnic groups; this leads to inconsistent recycling separation and collection, unreliable profit, and ultimately, further marginalization. USAID’s Local Works program aims to facilitate locally led, sustainable recycling models that can simultaneously increase social cohesion between these groups.

USAID’s local partner European Center for Minority Issues Kosovo (ECMI), implementing Recycling Matters activity funded by Local Works, coordinated with the school to see how they could best engage its students in shifting mindsets around recycling. After explaining the objective to the school’s administrator, ECMI worked in partnership with arts teachers to launch the competition. After a few weeks of brainstorming and creating using materials provided by ECMI and USAID, the students shared their unique pieces at an exhibition, with winners receiving prizes that will be gifted to their art classes in the school.

The competition provided an entry point for ECMI to raise awareness about the activity with children and parents of diverse backgrounds, as well as with other important stakeholders in Kosovo’s recycling industry. Following the competition, ECMI organized a roundtable convening government and private sector leaders to discuss the importance of recycling and the environment.

LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN: LEARNING FROM LOCAL WORKS TOGETHER

USAID/PARAGUAY. A WOMAN FROM FUNDACION PARAGUAYA PRESENTS THE STOPLIGHT INDICATOR SHE USED TO IMPROVE VARIOUS ATTRIBUTES OF HER BUSINESS.

TWO WOMEN FROM FUNDACION SARAKI PROUDLY DISPLAY SOCKS THEY’VE SCREEN PRINTED WITH ARTWORK DESIGNED BY PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES.

In March, USAID Missions participating in the Local Works program and Local Works DC staff came together in Asuncion, Paraguay – along with Agency leadership including Deputy Administrator Paloma  Adams-Allen and Senior Advisor for Localization Sarah Rose – to share what they’re learning about locally led development approaches through their activities and share some successes.

What were some key takeaways?

• Listening is essential
• Acknowledge and respect the uniqueness of each community and the local culture and systems
• Search for long-term sustainability of local organizations
• Engage with local and international private sector stakeholders
• Co-creation is key, both during an award and during implementation with local partners
• Build and maintain trust with local communities
• Effective development programs involves community-level engagement and responsibility and the intentional inclusion of marginalized groups such as people with disabilities and indigenous populations

ARMENIA: A LOCALLY LED PIVOT

PHOTO CREDIT: USAID/ARMENIA. NEEDED SUPPLIES ARRIVE FOR DISPLACED ARMENIANS, DISTRIBUTED BY LOCAL PARTNERS.

In 2021, USAID/Armenia began partnering with two local NGOs – the Armavir Development Center and the Martuni Women’s Community Council – through Local Works to support Armenian civil society organizations, local government, and regional authorities to strengthen capacity and resilience for immediate COVID-19 response and prepare for future shocks. This was pursued through increasing access to social and psychosocial support to the most vulnerable groups; and enhancing communities’ preparedness and resilience to disasters. However, in September of 2022, several Armenian border communities were impacted by September 2022 shellings, displacing many and creating an immediate need for humanitarian assistance.

To respond to this crisis, the two local partners urgently requested to the Mission that their activities pivot to provide assistance to the displaced population beyond the activities’ original geographic coverage. Understanding the urgency, USAID/Armenia internally collaborated on the best approach. Through the Local Works program, additional funding was provided to support these activities within 10 days. 

With this support, the Armavir Development Center and the Martuni Women’s Community Council distributed food, hygiene products, warm clothing, blankets, heating devices, and provided psychological support to more than 4,000 displaced people. The partner NGOs worked closely with local, regional, and national authorities for effective distribution and information sharing.

Beyond the paperwork, a team from USAID/Armenia visited Vayotsat Dzor, one of Armenia’s hard-hit provinces, to participate in the distribution of much needed aid, and hear stories from those who had been displaced from Jermuk.

PHILIPPINES: LOCAL VOICES LEADING & INFORMING PEACE CORPS DISASTER RESPONSE PLANNING

🏆 LOCALLY LED DEVELOPMENT CHAMPION OF THE MONTH 🏆

Locally Led Development Champions – Local Works Mission staff nominated by the Local Works DC team – embody the spirit of locally led development through commitment, dedication, innovation, advocacy, and exemplary initiative. They advance and operationalize USAID’s localization vision every day.

SOFIA MENDEZ POSES WITH A WOMEN’S SOCCER TROPHY AT THE CONMEBOL MUSEUM IN ASUNCION, PARAGUAY. PHOTO CREDIT: CHRISTA DELORENZO FOR USAID.

Sofia Mendez is a fierce advocate for embedding locally led principles throughout USAID/Honduras’ Local Works programming! Sofia defines co-creation as “the process through which the Mission puts in practice how they want to engage local actors or ‘where the rubber hits the road.’” This way, Sofia believes the Mission can walk their talk and put their partner in the driving seat. 

How is the Mission bolstering their locally led work? USAID/Honduras gives all Mission staff space to “propose solutions, get creative, and try new approaches to face common challenges.” The Mission also seeks its own champions across technical and support offices. Champions like Sofia are empowered to propose and implement new ideas, like systematizing how to work with local institutions through creating templates and co-creation resources. Sofia and her colleagues have shared these tools across the entire Mission to encourage more locally led approaches in other efforts. Sofia has also held the Mission accountable to its locally led commitments by ensuring co-creation is done in the local language, translating key documents and concepts for potential and existing local partners, and being a reliable point of contact for partners new to USAID processes. 

Her advice?

1. Build a team to share pain and success!
2. Seek local champions and motivate them
3. Keep things moving, communicate constantly, allow the team to come up with new ideas and ways to implement them.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

PARTNER WITH THE LFT HUB

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; foundations; diaspora communities; cooperatives; and volunteer organizations. Learn more about how LFT is harnessing the power of partnerships through the following:

• American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA)
• Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (FBNP)
• Limited Excess Property Program (LEPP)
• Locally Led Development Initiatives (LLDI)
• New Partnerships Initiative (NPI)

We would love to hear from you! You can provide feedback and submissions through the linked forms.

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