Background

In an effort to strengthen the Agency's core competencies and achieve the President's vision of USAID as the world's premier development agency, USAID has taken several steps to rebuild and strengthen policy and strategy development. The Bureau for Policy Planning and Learning houses the Office of Policy and the Office of Strategic and Program Planning, both of which are critical for the USG’s development leadership.

Year One Progress

• USAID now has a new strategy- and policy-formulation process, involving experts across the Agency, including the field, through Policy Task Teams (PTTs) charged with developing evidence-based process in the Agency Substantive consultations--including consultations with State—and outside stakeholders ensure quality, buy-in, and interagency support.  As a result, USAID has issued the following Agency-wide policies and strategies:
  • The Development Response to Violent Extremism and Insurgency Policy
  • USAID Policy Framework 2011-2015
  • Evaluation Policy
  • Education Strategy
  • Forthcoming: Global Climate Change and Development Strategy; Donor Engagement Policy; Policy on Youth; and a Policy on Gender Equality and Female Empowerment. 
  • PTTs to be launched: Broad-based Economic Growth, Democracy, Rights and Governance; and Sustainable Services in a Rapidly-Urbanizing World.  
• Country Development Cooperation Strategies (CDCS) have been embraced by the Agency.  By the end of 2013, nearly all USAID Missions, working in close coordination with State and our interagency and host country partners will have a completed CDCS that operationalize aid effectiveness principles and informs the budget request to State.
• USAID is finalizing project design guidance and training.  We have created a corps of senior and junior officers to ensure Missions have solid designs based on rigorous analysis, incorporating clear goals, benchmarks and evaluations.
• As part of QDDR implementation, State and USAID have worked collaboratively to develop streamlining recommendations that have the potential to repurpose about 20% of the total time State and USAID are now spending on foreign assistance planning and reporting toward other development activities like engaging with host country governments, monitoring and evaluation, and project design.
• We have strengthened USAID’s interagency role and coordinated very closely with State in preparing papers to implement the PPD-6 and foster interagency debate on key development issues, as well leading the implementation of the Partnerships for Growth.