Each year, the U.S. Agency for International Development counts on dozens of women-owned contractors to help carry out its development work around the world.
Based on Devex analysis, USAID has awarded, on average, 5.9 percent of its annual contract spending to women-owned contractors over the past five years. In fiscal 2015, that figure stood at 4.8 percent, down from 6.4 percent the year before.
Only last month, USAID awarded a $16.7 million, five-year contract for the Ethiopia Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Service project to Social Impact, one of USAID’s top women-owned contractors.