The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) submits this report pursuant to Section 7019(e) of Division K of Public Law 117-103, the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2022, which incorporates by reference the requirements of House Report 117-84. The House Report provides:
“Not later than 120 days after enactment of this Act, USAID shall submit a report to the Committees on Appropriations detailing programs awarded to local and national nongovernmental entities from funds made available under this heading. The report should include a description of how USAID is working to increase funding to capable local and national nongovernmental entities.”
1. Background
Localization of development and humanitarian assistance is a top priority for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Under Administrator Samantha Power, USAID is committed to empowering local and national actors as leaders, decision-makers, and drivers of change in their own countries and communities. USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) leads the agency’s localization efforts within the humanitarian sector.
USAID defines localization as the process and actions that USAID will undertake to ensure our work puts local actors in the lead, strengthens local systems, and is responsive to local communities. For USAID/BHA, this means supporting humanitarian responses that are as local as possible, a goal that aligns with the Grand Bargain – a 2016 agreement by the U.S. government (USG), other donors, and the humanitarian community to streamline funding, remove systemic barriers to entry, and make resources of all kinds more accessible to local partners.
USAID/BHA has a long history of working at the local level; however, these efforts mostly encompass early recovery, risk reduction, and resilience (ER4) programming in a handful of countries. Under USAID’s new vision, BHA commits to placing local and national actors at the forefront of humanitarian efforts where possible and appropriate, building on previous successes, learning from past challenges, and expanding these efforts into responses to complex humanitarian crises. BHA also understands that its localization efforts must be measured and realistic. In response to USAID’s long-term targets, BHA is developing an actionable strategic framework for localization to ensure coherence with both Agency efforts and initiatives in the broader humanitarian community.
