Locally Led Development Initiatives | 2024 Issue 2

United States Agency for International Development sent this bulletin at 04/08/2024 09:00 AM EDT

BUREAU FOR INCLUSIVE GROWTH, PARTNERSHIPS, AND INNOVATION

LOCAL, FAITH, AND TRANSFORMATIVE PARTNERSHIPS HUB

Locally Led Development Initiatives Newsletter
2024 Issue 2 Edition

MOROCCO: LOCALLY LED LEARNING

A woman and man from Morocco stand near a flip chart presenting to a room

Following the conclusion of five Local Works activities in 2021, USAID/Morocco paused to reflect on the critical question, “how can we ensure that not only activities themselves, but also the evaluations, assessments, and research informing future work, are all locally led?”

To advance locally led learning in Morocco, USAID/Morocco made awards to a local evaluation firm and a consultant to conduct listening tours and a gender analysis under the Local Works program. The results have been instrumental in informing the Mission’s program designs around climate change and the Open Government Partnership, a multilateral global initiative to strengthen governance through increased transparency.

In this video, hear USAID/Morocco staff, local researchers, and community members speak directly about the importance of local evaluation and research expertise for locally led learning. Feedback centers on the benefits of local expertise in practice, and speaks to Agency priorities including localization, inclusion, and evidence-based programming.

WATCH THE VIDEO

CHECK OUT USAID/MOROCCO'S CASE STUDY

GUATEMALA: CENTROAMÉRICA LOCAL ADVANCES AGENCY’S LOCALIZATION AGENDA

Photo collage including 7 Guatemalan women outside and an indigenous woman presenting in front of a board

Photo Credit: USAID/Guatemala and Dennys Mejia

As part of USAID/Guatemala’s strategy to implement Centroamérica Local, the Mission utilized Local Works funding to develop a Localization Annual Program Statement (APS) to reach and fund local development partners typically outside USAID’s orbit. Following newspaper, radio, and social media advertisements, two multidisciplinary teams traveled to Indigenous People’s departments, where they conducted a series of workshops and networking sessions to 500 local organization attendees. The teams provided information on the funding opportunity and hosted interactive sessions on “How to Write a Concept Note,” “Social Inclusion,” “Networking,” and “Building a Partnership.”

Translation and interpretation services were available in three local languages to encourage participation and increase accessibility to Guatemala's Mam, K’iche’, and Q’eqchi Indigenous Peoples communities. USAID/Guatemala translated the procurement package into Spanish to ensure local applicants fully understood the goals, procedures, and requirements outlined in the APS. Additionally, concept notes were accepted in Spanish or English through an easy-to-access form for local organizations. USAID/Guatemala will be issuing eight awards to local organizations, contributing to the Agency’s localization agenda across a wide range of sectors.

🏆 LOCALLY LED DEVELOPMENT CHAMPIONS 🏆

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.

Shahadat Shakil and Antony Mukim stand outside next to each other, smiling for the photo

Photo Credit: USAID/Bangladesh

Sahadat Hosssain Shakil and Antony Mukim joined USAID/Bangladesh in 2015 and have been championing locally led development (LLD) ever since. They have approached multiple activities addressing climate change with the strategic lens of strengthening local partners’ capacity.

Discover how Shakil and Antony have confronted the common challenges of new partnerships, and successfully shifted awards to cost-effective and sustainable local partners.

READ SHAKIL AND ANTONY'S FULL STORY

ANNOUNCEMENTS

EVENTS

USAID’S AGENCY LEARNING, AND EVIDENCE MONTH

This May, USAID’s Agency Learning and Evidence month will offer public sessions exploring the theme of “What Works and Where to Find It.” Register today to tune into two virtual sessions hosted by Local Works team:

May 15th (10:00 am - 11:30 am EDT): Direct Local Partners Know What Works for Development: Evidence from the Local Works Program
May 22nd (8:30 am - 10:00 am EDT): Where Partnering Locally In Non-Permissive Environments Works

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

LEPP’S PROGRAM CYCLE APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN

The Limited Excess Property Program (LEPP) is now accepting applications for its 2024–2027 Program Cycle until May 6, 2024. LEPP gives NGOs who self-register as Private Voluntary Organizations access to U.S. government excess equipment to supplement their development programs overseas.

OPEN OPPORTUNITIES ON WORK WITH USAID

Visit workwithusaid.gov’s dedicated page to discover a variety of local funding opportunities.

TOOLS AND RESOURCES

NEW CORPORATE PARTNERING PORTAL ON WORK WITH USAID

WorkwithUSAID.gov helps prospective and existing partners learn how to better compete for USAID funding. The new workwithUSAID.gov Corporate Partnering Portal provides prospective private sector partners with introductory information about what USAID does and where we operate. In addition, these new pages offer the following information to visitors:

The value proposition of working with the Agency
How collaboration typically works with Private Sector Partners, and
How to start a conversation with a USAID representative

USAID LEARNING LAB LOCALLY LED MONITORING, EVALUATION, AND LEARNING

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.

MEASUREMENT TOOLS FOR LOCAL CAPACITY STRENGTHENING

In local capacity strengthening (LCS) work, measurement is important not just for learning and accountability, but as a tool for partnership with local actors. You now have a one-stop shop for all LCS measurement resources! Check out the page to find indicator reference sheets for USAID standard performance monitoring indicators CBLD-9, CBLD-10, and CBLD-11, plus additional help guides for OUs and partners related to those indicators. The page also has guidance on choosing the right measurement tools and on stakeholder feedback!

NEW TRANSLATIONS FOR THE SRE POLICY

USAID’s Strategic Religious Engagement Policy is now available in Spanish and French.

LOCAL WORKS IN THE NEWS

GUATEMALA: The United States launches the “Kem” project, with an investment of $2 million

HONDURAS: USAID, NC State University and Unitec promote the textile future of Honduras with the 'Hilando Oportunidades' Project

JOB OPPORTUNTIES

USAID/IPI/LFT: Policy Advisor

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.

Stay up to date with all the latest information from USAID’s LFT Hub by subscribing to these additional newsletters!

American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA)
Cooperative Development Program (CDP)
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 through the linked form.

VISIT LOCALLY LED PARTNERSHIPS ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE TO LLDI'S NEWSLETTER

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

Update your subscriptions, modify your password or email address, or stop subscriptions at any time on your Subscriber Preferences Page. You will need to use your email address to log in. If you have questions or problems with the subscription service, please visit subscriberhelp.govdelivery.com.

This service is provided to you at no charge by United States Agency for International Development.