Our Development Principles

Nine principles guide U.S. development and reconstruction assistance and expertise. The principles are fundamental to the success of assistance as an instrument of U.S. foreign policy and national security. They are the “navigation” signs by which we design, implement, monitor and evaluate our assistance programs.

1. Ownership
   Build on the leadership, participation, and commitment of a country and its people.

2. Capacity Building
   Strengthen local institutions, transfer technical skills, and promote appropriate policies.

3. Sustainability
   Design programs to ensure their impact endures.

4. Selectivity
   Allocate resources based on need, local commitment, and foreign policy interests.

5. Assessment
   Conduct careful research, adapt best practices, and design for local conditions.

6. Results
   Focus resources to achieve clearly defined, measurable, strategically focused objectives.

7. Partnership
   Collaborate closely with governments, communities, donors, NGOs, the private sector, international organizations, and universities.

8. Flexibility
   Adjust to changing conditions, take advantage of opportunities, and maximize efficiency.

9. Accountability
   Design accountability and transparency into systems and build effective checks and balances to guard against corruption.

(For more on the Nine Principals see: USAID: Policy - Nine Principles of Development and Reconstruction Assistance)