Chief FOIA Officer's Report - FY 2018

USAID is committed to the principles embodied in the FOIA and responds to all requests in an open and transparent manner. As such, USAID continues to take significant steps to improve its overall FOIA administration and compliance, as evidenced in its year-over-year improved processing performance. While USAID has made significant improvements in the administration of its FOIA program over the past several years including reducing a backlog that spanned several decades, there still remains a FOIA backlog. In its commitment to full compliance with the requirements of the FOIA, USAID has codified its best practices in a formal FOIA Backlog Reduction Plan (“Plan”). The Plan institutionalizes currently employed best practices and introduces other reforms that focus on key areas of success, such as: obtaining leadership support; routinely reviewing processing metrics; using resources more effectively; increasing staff training and engagement; increasing proactive disclosure; and communicating effectively with internal and external stakeholders.