To "empower" is to invest with official authority to make and implement decisions. Decisions are bound by organizational goals, Strategic Objectives, and intended results and by legal, policy, and ethical standards. Authority to make and implement decisions should be balanced by accountability for such decisions.

How does USAID practice empowerment and accountability?

USAID has given a significant level of empowerment and accountability to those organizational units closest to the development and humanitarian problems being addressed. Success requires this approach of pushing decision-making to those closest to the "front lines." USAID has invested its Strategic Objective (SO) Teams with:

Empowerment means that USAID allows SO Teams to take considered risks and to adjust their programs in light of new developments and the constantly changing broader environment affecting the Agency. Accountability rests upon a continual downward and upward flow of information, to and from SO Teams, about rules, regulations, and policies, and about changing foreign policy and Congressional factors.

Managers who delegate and empower their staff have a responsibility to ensure that staff are adequately trained and supported so that they can meet the accountability requirements that correspond to the authority delegated.

For a USAID or Development Partner activity manager, accepting authority to make and implement decisions requires:

• the personal (and Team) capacity to do what is required for performance and accomplishment of results,
• willingness to accept personal responsibility,
• willingness to claim ownership of successes and failures, and
• willingness to make personal commitment to the Agency's ideals and principles.

Related Sites:

Building Teamwork in USAID's Dominican Republic Mission (PDF 49KB)

Best practices on empowerment and accountability from other organizations