The United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) work on complex issues in ever-changing environments makes the knowledge of our staff and partners one of our most valuable resources. The effectiveness of our work depends on how well we create, retain, share and apply this knowledge so we can continuously learn and improve our programs. To continuously improve our work, USAID intentionally builds knowledge management and learning into organizational infrastructure, systems, and staff skill sets. The USAID Knowledge Management and Organizational Learning (KMOL) Policy strengthens these processes to generate, retain, transfer, and use knowledge to achieve Agency priorities and systematically embed KMOL throughout USAID’s structure and functions.
The vision of the KMOL Policy is to improve USAID’s ability to harness our cumulative knowledge, learn from it, and apply those lessons to its work to achieve better results. To achieve this, the Agency will improve KMOL efforts, infrastructure, and norms to strategically leverage knowledge and reduce burdens associated with accessing and transferring knowledge. Ultimately, this is intended to improve USAID’s ability to achieve humanitarian and development outcomes.
The Policy’s goals are for USAID to:
- Steward knowledge as a shared Agency asset
- Leverage knowledge and learning to enhance program impact
- Invest in local knowledge systems to support locally led development
The Policy identifies key leverage points for action (people, practices, systems, governance, culture, and resources) on three core business processes:
- Programming: Activity design, acquisition and assistance, and implementation.
- Workforce: Hiring, training, retaining, and transitioning staff.
- Budgeting and Reporting: Budget formulation and execution and results reporting.
To advance the vision and goals, the Policy includes two requirements: (1) The Agency will establish a governing body to address Agency-level KMOL issues and (2) Operating Units (OUs) will establish KMOL plans.
A forthcoming Automated Directives (ADS) Chapter will support implementation of this Policy and provide guidance on how to meet the Policy requirements and strengthen KMOL processes.
