The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) released an update today on our progress toward our commitment to put local actors at the center of its work. In fiscal year 2022, USAID reached its highest level and percent of direct local funding in a decade and with the new report, is launching a transparent new indicator for tracking local leadership in USAID’s work.
In November 2021, Administrator Samantha Power announced two targets: first, by FY 2025, USAID will channel a quarter of its funding directly to local partners and second, by 2030, at least half of USAID programs will enable local actors to exercise leadership over priority setting, activity design, implementation, and defining and measuring results. The report released today, Moving Toward a Model of Locally Led Development: FY 2022 Localization Progress Report, documents USAID’s recent progress toward these goals.
In FY 2022, direct funding to local partners – organizations, firms, and individuals based in the countries in which we work – reached 10.2 percent of attributable obligations, as measured by the indicator. This is the highest level and percent of direct local funding in at least a decade. Over the last year, direct local funding increased by $623 million, a 66 percent increase in dollar value and a 38 percent increase in the percentage of funding going to local partners, as defined by the indicator.
USAID Missions and other overseas operating units directed 18 percent of their attributable obligations to local partners. The Africa region led the way, with nearly 25 percent of Mission and overseas office funding going to local partners during this period.
By sector, health stands out, with nearly 20 percent of attributable health obligations going to local partners last year. Within the health sector, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Response (PEPFAR) has long been a leader in localization with 34 percent of their attributable FY 2022 obligations going to local partners.
In addition to directly funding local partners, in FY 2022, USAID provided $57 million to partners working regionally and another $199 million in government-to-government assistance.
The Localization Progress Report also outlines a new indicator USAID will use to track its progress on the equally important goal of shifting power and enabling more local leadership of USAID-funded programming. This indicator covers multiple types of engagement with local actors, whether they are recipients of direct funding, sub-partners to an international intermediary, participants in a USAID program, or members of a community affected by USAID programming.
In issuing this progress report, USAID is holding itself accountable for implementing its commitment to a model of more inclusive, locally led development and humanitarian assistance. In the spirit of transparency, USAID has also published the underlying data for the analysis presented in this report.
Moving Toward a Model of Locally Led Development: FY 2022 Localization Progress Report
USAID is committed to shifting funding and decision-making power to the people, organizations, and institutions that are driving change in their own countries and communities.