USAID chief Samantha Power details localization push

U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power made the case for localization at an event Tuesday, adding a few details to earlier announcements and outlining a role for U.S.-based companies and organizations in the effort.

“We know after decades of effort and evaluation, much of which you’ve been a part of, that locally led development supports local institutions in the most effective manner and nurtures sustainability, prioritizes the perspectives and preferences of those we hope to serve — recipient governments, civil society organizations, and host country professionals,” she said to a crowd largely consisting of USAID contractors at an event in Virginia organized by the Professional Services Council.

Several of those statements that made it into her speech were from a localization white paper of recommendations put together by the PSC’s Council of International Development Companies, the group she was addressing. Power said she’d read the paper ahead of the event and praised some of the suggestions.

The comments in the white paper and her speech “signals that after years of debate, and a fair amount of rhetoric, some of it at times quite pointed, there is now a broad recognition that local actors are best positioned to drive their country’s development,” she said.

The key question now is how to successfully undertake more locally driven development when previous initiatives have failed, Power said. She acknowledged some of the challenges: the greater amount of time involved in working with local organizations, especially with a small group of contracting officers; the regulatory burdens and paperwork that local organizations often lack the capacity to handle; and the risk of overwhelming a small organization with too big an award.

“But while daunting, and the source of consternation for several administrators before me, I do believe that together we can make meaningful progress here,” Power said.

Power mentioned that USAID intends to staff up, which was well received in the room, and that the agency will grant permanent authorities to foreign service nationals so they can serve as contracting officers, both moves she announced last month — the first of which will require additional appropriations from Congress. USAID will also work with Congress to review its “risk posture, our reporting requirements, and to push for the patience required to work with local partners,” she said.

“The final dimension of this that I want to raise, that I hope will warm your hearts a little bit, is the question of what ‘local’ truly means? How do we define what we mean by a local organization?” Power said, adding that the question has come up a lot.

While USAID has set the 25% target for funding to local organizations, it has also set another target aiming to have 50% of funding include local voices. She clarified that second target as meaning that half of every dollar USAID spends goes toward putting local communities in a lead on projects.

But that doesn’t mean traditional contractors are out, Power said, they can play an important role in this second target. She gave an example from her recent trip to Moldova: Years ago the Moldovan wine industry largely sold bulk wine to Russia, but with the support of a USAID project implemented by Chemonics, the sector has been transformed — raising revenue for more than 200,000 farmers; making up 5% of the country’s exports, and winning awards. It also appeared to have won Power over, as she urged the audience to try it.

While that project was implemented by Chemonics, local experts were central to the effort, so a project like that certainly fits with USAID’s objectives and that second target to elevate local voices, she said.

“We care not just about hitting targets but about delivering sustainable development,” Power said, adding that sometimes new numerical goals can have unintended problems, so USAID is looking at multiple ways to achieve localization.

While some of these projects might not meet one definition of local, the key is that local organizations are setting the priorities even if they aren’t the prime contractor, she said.