USAID unveils its new democracy, human rights, and governance policy

The U.S. Agency for International Development has launched its new democracy, human rights, and governance policy, providing guidance for those working on the agency’s multibillion-dollar democracy portfolio. Last year, USAID obligated $1.8 billion toward democracy, human rights, and governance work, funding 830 activities across more than 100 countries. That includes monitoring elections, strengthening independent media, and elevating anti-corruption measures through policy, among other activities. In 2023, nearly $260 million of USAID’s democracy-related funds were channeled to Ukraine, according to data from ForeignAssistance.gov. “Democracy is in need of liberation. The data is sobering — it has been now for years and years,” said USAID Administrator Samantha Power, speaking at the policy’s launch event in Washington, D.C. on Thursday. “It is more important than ever that we, collectively, focus our resources in as smart a way as we can, in as proven a way as we can, in as impactful a way as we can.” The new policy came halfway through a record election year, with more than 60 national elections taking place across the globe. The outcomes of those elections will affect half the world’s population — but at the same, democracy has been declining. In 2016, the United States’ ranking in The Economist’s Democracy Index fell from a “full democracy” to a “flawed” one, on par with the governments of Greece, Brazil, and Poland. In 2018, an analysis by Carnegie Europe found democracy in the region had fallen back 40 years. And by 2023, 71% of the world’s population — 5.7 billion people — were living in autocracies, according to the Varieties of Democracy latest report. “The policy prescribes changes — what we are calling pivots — that USAID needs to make in light of nearly two decades of democratic backsliding, the resurgence of authoritarianism, and massive technological change,” said Shannon Green, assistant to the administrator of USAID’s Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance, in a promotional video for the strategy. “With full implementation of this policy, we expect to see greater democratic resilience in the countries in which we work.” Those pivots include embracing a whole-of-agency approach to bolstering democracy, a focus on the norms and values that build democratic political culture, a push toward advancing digital democracy, and an elevation of anti-corruption work. The policy also sets out four principles for its implementation: an emphasis on gender equity, a commitment to locally led development, a focus on responding with “agility,” and increased protection for frontline democracy partners, such as government reformers, journalists, and scholars. Green described the first pivot — embracing a whole-of-agency approach — as the heart of the policy. For over a decade, Green said USAID had been incorporating democratic principles, like participation, transparency, and accountability across the agency’s programming. But given the world of today, Green added, simply incorporating those elements is not enough. “Pivot one really has us going further by having other development sectors deliberately support DRG outcomes,” said Green, using USAID’s acronym for democracy, human rights, and governance. “That is a fundamental shift.” To do so, the agency will “deliberately and fully link the range of its development investments (from health to climate adaptation, employment, social protection, and economic growth) to DRG improvements.” The pivot also includes a requirement: Going forward, USAID will be establishing a democracy review process, which will enable the agency to examine how it can adapt, shift, and change its programming in autocratic, kleptocratic, or backsliding countries. The first pilots for that component of the policy will be conducted this fall. “We are clearly at a critical juncture,” said Green. “We must act boldly and collectively if we want to reverse the negative democratic trends of the last two decades, and that is exactly what the DRG policy seeks to do.”