Report to Congress on A Strategy to Increase the Use of Local Organizations and Staff Section 7019(e) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2022 (Div. K, P.L.117-103) and House Report 117-84
Background
As part of the Administration’s commitment to implement the U.S. Strategy for Addressing the Root Causes of Migration in Central America (RCS), on November 4, 2021, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Power announced Centroamérica Local, an initiative to dedicate $300 million from FY 2021 through FY 2025, subject to funding availability, to transform and expand engagement with local organizations and communities in the region. Under this initiative, USAID missions in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras are working to increase the amount of funding available to capable local partners; strengthen local capacity, including the ability to receive and manage funds; promote flexibility for USAID and local partners to collaborate effectively; and program responsively to local communities’ priorities. In partnership with local organizations and communities – including Indigenous community and women-led organizations – USAID missions in the region are striving to foster local leadership in agenda-setting, decision-making, management of resources, and accountability. USAID also continues to take steps to provide effective staffing to oversee and manage this increase in local activities.
In the FY 2022 State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Act, Congress directed we should not make available “less than $100 million” for programs supporting locally led development in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras in line with this initiative. This funding includes flexibility to use up to 15 percent of the directed funds for administrative and oversight costs for purposes including hiring and training of staff to oversee an expanded portfolio of direct local awards.