The U.S. Agency for International Development and the Brazilian Agency for Cooperation, or ABC, will begin a staff exchange in April as part of an effort to increase collaboration and offer hands-on learning opportunities for employees.
On Feb. 10, the agencies signed a memorandum of understanding to create a professional staff exchange program for their mid- to senior-level staff. The program is attuned with one of the Obama administration’s key development objectives: to turn USAID into the world’s premier aid agency and an innovative enterprise that relies more on in-house capacity than external contractors and consultants.
The initiative also supports USAID’s goal to better understand emerging donors such as Brazil and, at the same time, share with them the expertise it has built through the years, Mark Lopes, USAID deputy assistant administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean, told Devex.