“If we truly want to make aid inclusive, local voices need to be at the center of everything we do.” – Administrator Power, November 2021
LOCALIZATION GOALS
USAID/Cambodia’s Localization Plan captures the Mission’s commitment to proactively engage and support local actors to achieve their vision, while ensuring accountability for the appropriate use of USG funds and achievement of development results. The plan has three overarching goals:
GOAL ONE: Implement resources closer to communities and support local partners by advancing achievement of the global, Agency-wide target of 25 percent of direct funding going to local organizations by 2025.
GOAL TWO: Engage, empower, and advance local leadership throughout design, implementation, and evaluation processes to achieve USAID’s 50 percent local leadership target by 2030.
GOAL THREE: Increase staff capabilities and ensure Mission systems are aligned to achieve localization objectives.
THEORY OF CHANGE
If the Mission empowers its staff and plans for increased attention to local awards, and if the Mission uses Partner Landscape Assessments to identify local partners working in spaces relevant to the Mission’s planned activities, and if the Mission conducts regular outreach to familiarize local partners with USAID’s strategy, compliance requirements, and award processes, and if the Mission designs awards based on the readiness of local partners to directly work with USAID, then the Mission’s collaboration with local partners will result in more sustainable, equitable, and cost effective development results.
A CULTURAL SHIFT
While localization at USAID/Cambodia is not a new concept, the Mission’s Localization Plan takes this initiative further by prioritizing localization principles and elevating the expertise and talent of Cambodia’s people, communities, and organizations. Our approach to programming will shift away from “delivering solutions” and focus more on supporting and catalyzing local change processes. This evolution in our way of working will better reflect our values and respect for the knowledge, commitment, and integrity of local actors by engaging them as partners, rather than intermediaries. USAID/Cambodia will not only build on but also enhance previous reform efforts by embracing a more holistic approach to localization, devolving more power and leadership to local actors, elevating diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility across our programs, and addressing the systemic and operational constraints at USAID.
A MISSION-WIDE APPROACH
Advancing the Mission’s localization vision will require continual evolution of our assessment tools, programming models, staffing levels, skills, incentives, award types, and funding arrangements. This learning and adapting commitment will enable us to better empower Cambodians to address today’s pressing challenges. USAID/Cambodia is implementing its localization approach Mission-wide,
encompassing all technical and support offices. We are committed to the principles of learning and adaptability. This commitment involves revisiting our strategies, discussing what is and is not working, embracing potential setbacks as valuable learning experiences, and charting our course for improvement. Lastly, a pivotal Mission goal is to serve as a localization leader, collaborating with others in shaping and executing the Agency’s localization agenda. We will use regional exchanges and sector-specific platforms to share our best practices, innovations, and lessons learned throughout the Agency.
CONTACT INFORMATION
For updated information, guidance, and resources, visit the Agency Localization page at www.usaid.gov/localization. You can also participate in localization discussions and contribute to decision-making by joining the Localization Community of Practice at www.workwithusaid.org At USAID/Cambodia, the Localization Working Group is currently co-chaired by Sophea Tan stan@usaid.gov and Marc Bonnenfant mbonnenfant@usaid.gov.
