Message From The Director

Dear Partners,

It is my pleasure to share with you the Bureau for Management’s Office of Acquisition and Assistances annual Progress Report for Fiscal Year (FY) 2020. This past year brought on numerous challenges, but we continued to make great progress in our efforts to effectively execute the Agency’s mission.

USAID obligated over $21.4 billion in acquisition and assistance (A&A) mechanisms last year, far exceeding our previous high of over $17 billion. In terms of the breakdown of funding, $15.1 billion was obligated in Washington and $6.3 billion was obligated in the field. Finally, we continued to see a consistent breakdown in acquisition vs. assistance, with $6.2 billion obligated to contracts, $5.1 billion to cooperative agreements, and $10 billion to grants. With regards to the Agency’s small business utilization, we continued our upward trajectory of record levels of funding to U.S.-based small businesses.

Over the last year we have seen great progress with the implementation of the A&A Strategy and the Effective Partnering and Procurement Reform (EPPR), strengthening how we design, solicit, and execute our programs around the world. Similarly, the New Partnerships Initiative (NPI) has continued to make inroads within the Agency as a successful model for engaging new, underutilized, and local partners. Additionally, we were able to meet our Agency Priority Goals for Category Management
and use of co-creation and collaborative approaches.

I am proud of our efforts this past year to strengthen our acquisition and assistance workforce through training as well as hiring new staff. We are in the process of bringing on 40 new Foreign Service Contracting Officers. We have created three new Senior Technical Advisor positions in our Regional Bureaus, as well as created new positions to strengthen our efforts around strategy, engagement, and innovation.

There is no doubt that COVID-19 has had a major impact on how we do our work around the world. Similarly, the implementation of Section 889 of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act, which went into effect on August 13, 2020, has impacted how we operate. However, reflecting on this past year, I think that we have strengthened our partnerships by working collaboratively to face the new operating environment.

I would like to give my deepest appreciation to the implementing partner community, the various partner associations, and all of our A&A colleagues here in Washington and around the world. In addition, my sincere thanks as well to my leadership colleagues–Deb Broderick, Luis Rivera, and Mike Ashkouri.

As you review this year’s Progress Report, you will see the outstanding work of the Agency’s workforce worldwide as well as the work of our partners. I look forward to continuing our progress in FY 2021.

Mark Walther
Director
Office of Acquisition and Assistance