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BUREAU FOR INCLUSIVE GROWTH, PARTNERSHIPS, AND INNOVATION
LOCAL, FAITH, AND TRANSFORMATIVE PARTNERSHIPS HUB
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Locally Led Development Initiatives |
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PLANNING UPFRONT: MONITORING, EVALUATION, AND LEARNING DRIVES LONG-TERM SUSTAINABILITY
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2023 EDITION
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VIETNAM: MENTORING FOR MEANINGFUL MEASUREMENT |
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 Photo Credit:USAID/VIETNAM. Photo Caption: Mrs. Thai, who is among the oldest residents living in Vietnam’s Thanh Hoa provinces, washes her hands using the community water supply system built with support from USAID’s Local Works partner, the Institute of Population, Health, and Development (PHAD).
USAID/Vietnam takes a hands-on approach in supporting its partners with monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL). Through capacity strengthening approaches, USAID/Vietnam creates a space for immersive learning as they provide tailored, intentional mentorship and MEL coaching to their partners throughout their award.
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PERU: COMMUNITIES COLLECT DATA TO BRING CHANGE HOME |
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 Photo Credit: Oscar Salvatierra, MSH Peru. Photo Caption: The neighborhood board in the Ayna community develops a “tree of dreams” with its vision for their community.
One of USAID’s locally led development research partners, Management Sciences for Health (MSH) Peru, shares how it is working with 17 community boards in Peru’s Valle de los Ríos Apurímac, Ene and Mantaro (VRAEM) Region to collect data that informs their community action processes, allowing them to drive change within their own neighborhood.
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ARMENIA: SUPPORTING LOCAL PARTNERS WITH MEL: MEASURE WHAT MATTERS MOST |
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 Photo Credit: Meri Karapetyan for USAID. Photo Caption: Goris Press Club team members collaboratively develop metrics to complement their MEL plan.
Taking the time to plan upfront for meaningful monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) can set both partners and USAID up for successful learning throughout their activities. However, USAID-specific MEL terms and processes often pose challenges for many of USAID’s partners around the world. Find out how USAID/Armenia mentored its new Local Works program partners to measure what matters.
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A LOCALLY LED DEVELOPMENT REFRESHER: WHAT IS IT? AND, HOW DO WE MAKE SURE WE ARE MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION? |
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 Locally led development is not a single approach, but a range of ways to shift agenda-setting and decision-making power into the hands of local actors. USAID evaluates its work based on a spectrum that runs from informing and consulting to being fully locally led. Curious to find out where your work falls on the spectrum? USAID’s Locally Led Development Initiatives team developed a video to help Missions and development practitioners to better understand and measure the degree to which their work is locally led. The team also developed a “Locally Led Development Checklist” tool to help teams to pause and reflect on locally led development in their work.
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🏆 SPOTLIGHT ON LOCAL STAFF LEARNING CORNER: REMOTE MONITORING IN ZIMBABWE🏆 |
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According to Erina Machoko, a Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance Food Security and Livelihood Specialist at USAID/Zimbabwe, “Monitoring of programs is important to ensure that the assistance is going to the people who need it most.” However, when faced with the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, how did monitoring of the food distribution continue?
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NEW WEB PAGES AND RESOURCES
GET INSPIRED: USAID’S BUREAU FOR DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND GOVERNANCE LAUNCHES NEW LOCALLY LED DEVELOPMENT RESOURCE PAGE
- USAID strives to ensure that our programs put local actors in the lead, strengthen local systems, and are responsive to local communities across the many diverse sectors and contexts in which we work. Committed to sharing our learning and research, the Agency’s Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (USAID/DRG) recently launched a DRGLinks page dedicated to locally led development. Check out a new case study titled, “The Civil Society Innovation Initiative & The Greater Internet Freedom Projects,” to find out how co-design played a pivotal role in long-term sustainability through mitigating the establishment of traditional power dynamics, and ensuring local voices were elevated from project inception. EXPLORE MORE LOCALIZATION RESOURCES ON DRGLINKS.
NOW LIVE: USAID LEARNING LAB LOCALLY LED MONITORING, EVALUATION, AND LEARNING WEB PAGE
- For local partners new to working with USAID, the Agency’s monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) requirements can be challenging to navigate. Discover a collection of guidance, tools, and examples that USAID and its partners can use to apply a locally led approach to MEL on this new web page.
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FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
- Visit workwithusaid.gov’s dedicated page to discover a variety of local funding opportunities.
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LOCALLY LED DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH
USAID is expanding the evidence base for locally led development through its support to six co-created research activities led by local and new partners. From testing innovative approaches for social capital-driven community development in Peru, to piloting youth-led approaches to psychosocial resilience in Liberia, to exploring the role of local leadership in development through community-led evaluations in Ethiopia and Bangladesh, and more, our research partners are broadening our understanding of what it means to practice locally led development. Please find more information about each award in the new fact sheets linked below:
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Fact Sheet: The Effect of Social Capital on Family Wellbeing in VRAEM, Peru
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Fact Sheet: Communities of Practice for Effective Partnerships (COPE)
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Fact Sheet: Donors and Locally Led Development: Transforming Relationships for Strong and Resilient Communities
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Fact Sheet: Hope for a Better Future: Building Collaborative Resilience for Youth in Liberia (HOPE)
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Fact Sheet: Localization in Fragile Environments (LIFE)
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Fact Sheet: Stopping as Success (SAS+)
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JOB OPPORTUNTIES
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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; 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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