From Kendari to Mosul and Abuja to San Francisco, people across the world will celebrate Dec. 31, the close of another year and the promise of a brighter year to come.
But this New Year’s Eve will be more than a time for personal reflection and writing resolutions. It also marks the end of the Millennium Development Goals and the start of a new chapter for the international development community.
It is the launch of the sustainable development goals — our road map for the next 15 years.
As we prepare for this milestone, we’re reflecting as a community on what has worked and where we can improve. We’re also setting our priorities for the future and how we set about achieving our new goals.
Nowhere is our focus more apparent than in the debate around foreign aid reform.
Despite our best intentions and years of good work, the current model of development continues to prove unsatisfying to many of us.
Many efforts continue to be pursued in silos. There is a lack of mutual accountability and no transparent, peer-reviewed way of determining what works and what doesn’t.
And yet, some bright spots hold promise for a better way forward.
Genuine partnerships across geographies and sectors that lead to true collaboration; energy and interest around a shared framework for measurement and open data; local solutions and local ownership emerging as both the means and the end; and the value of an integrated approach rather than various siloed approaches.
When combined, we believe these four facets form a more sustainable, richer, more equitable model for development.
That is why Pact, along with Africa Capacity Alliance, Aga Khan Foundation USA, FHI 360, International Rescue Committee and SNV USA, created Locus, a landmark initiative dedicated to finding new solutions to old development challenges by focusing on local solutions and an integrated approach to development.
We are all working toward the common goal of eradicating poverty. But are we going about it in the best way? Are we using our dollars in the most efficient and effective way possible?
We’ve halved the number of people living on less than a dollar a day. But can our methods eliminate poverty in all its forms? And more importantly, can the changes we envision last beyond our physical presence?
We believe local, integrated solutions are the most effective way to have greater impact and achieve our goals. And a shared measurement system will help us better evaluate what works and what doesn’t.
Through Locus, we hope to discover the most effective means to support the people we serve and change the way funders think about development outcomes. At the core of this initiative are results and how we get those results. We’re better together than apart.
And that is how we will achieve transformational change for the poor and marginalized.
Devex, in partnership with the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network, is exploring the progress and potential of making U.S. foreign assistance more effective. To explore additional content, visit the Reform for Results website and tweet #Reform4Results.
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About the author
Molly Derrick
Mark Viso is president and CEO of Pact, an international nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., working in more than 25 countries worldwide.
