Localization is the set of internal reforms, actions, and behavior changes USAID is undertaking to ensure its work puts local actors in the lead, strengthens local systems, and is responsive to local communities.1 To advance localization, USAID is working to adapt its policies and program practices, shift power to local actors, channel a larger portion of assistance to local partners, and serve as a public advocate and thought leader.

Though its support for localization has been evident through decades of development policies and strategies, in recent years, USAID has gained momentum for this initiative with the 2014 Local Systems Framework, the signing of the Grand Bargain in 2016, the 2018 Acquisition and Assistance Strategy, 2018 Journey to Self-Reliance Country Roadmaps, 2019 New Partnerships Initiative, the 2021 Local Capacity Development Policy, and in 2021, Administrator Power’s New Vision for Global Development. Localization is now a key priority of USAID practice, programming, and procurement. At Integra, we believe that localization progress will lead to improved development programming outcomes, cost efficiencies for the U.S. Government, and greater, large-scale, and sustainable impact.

USAID/Kenya and East Africa (USAID/KEA) is one of the localization leaders at the Agency, beginning its most recent process of localization in 2019 during the development of its 2020–2025 Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS). In line with the CDCS, the Mission aimed to redefine how it works with local partners under a collaborative framework, supporting Kenya’s commitment to self-reliance at the local level. The Mission worked with counties throughout the country to develop Annual Program Statements and subsequently designed a country strategy for Kenya-owned, Kenya-led, and Kenya-managed development. Concurrently, the Mission instituted approaches to localization that considered Kenya’s devolved system of government, including using County Liaison Teams, planning for Local Development Organizations, and initiating plans for co-creating local development initiatives through local partners to include non-government entities. The Mission worked with the national government to sign a Development Cooperation Framework Agreement, sign implementation letters with government ministries, sign memoranda of understanding with county governments, and begin issuing development assistance awards to local organizations.

OPPORTUNITY

https://www.usaid.gov/localization.
https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2022-12/USAIDs_Localization_Vision-508.pdf.

In 2023, under the Kenya Evaluations, Assessments, and Analysis IDIQ, USAID/KEA requested assistance from Integra to assess their localization efforts. The Localization Engagement Assessment aimed to understand the extent of the Mission’s implementation of localization approaches and its achievements to date through its local partners, awards, and internal operating framework. Additionally, it was designed to identify best practices and bottlenecks in its approaches, processes, and structures and to generate actionable recommendations and tools to integrate improved localization efforts into future programming.

The Integra Team began the assessment by conducting a desk review, desk research, and stakeholder identification and outreach. Data collection included online questionnaires and 50+ in-person and virtual interviews with Mission staff, international implementing partners, local partners, and local county government officials. Interviewees included staff from USAID service line offices and stakeholders involved in 18 selected USAID activities across technical offices.

METHODOLGY

Integra mapped the assessment findings against four categories: 1) USAID skills and level of effort, 2) risk mitigation, 3) outcomes, and 4) local community involvement. For example, the team mapped the existing and needed skills to effectively work with local partners, such as financial management and compliance, risk management, and growth facilitation. The team made specific recommendations for enhancing co-creation and community engagement during the design and implementation phases, which could help ensure localization is a priority throughout the program lifecycle. The team also noted successes, such as increased funding to local engagements, and challenges, such as insufficient data to measure activity-level outcomes to date. It found that there is a high level of appreciation for USAID’s efforts, that additional capacity strengthening is needed, and that stakeholders could benefit from clearly defined localization objectives and metrics. Integra challenged USAID to consider their return on investment, utilize a CLA approach to support portfolio management, and cultivate shared-value partnerships.

Along with the final report of findings and recommendations, the team also produced a stakeholder matrix, a summary of the current extent of localization, a process roadmap for best practices, localization objectives and metrics, three case studies, a localization ranking tool, and stated dis/advantages of four program pathway structures. Pathway structures include Direct, Accelerate, Project, and Collaborate Pathways.

IMPACT

Ultimately, this assessment aids USAID/KEA in understanding its stakeholder and localization engagement achievements. USAID will use the report to inform localization approaches and tools related to projects and activities’ current and future design and implementation. Our findings and recommendations also support the development of the Mission’s localization strategic framework and achieving its CDCS’ localization objectives. Our work will help USAID further empower local actors, respond to local priorities, and draw on local capacities and networks for development results better sustained by local institutions.

Integra is excited to have had the opportunity to support USAID/KEA in its localization journey and looks forward to supporting the Agency in its continued localization efforts.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has profoundly impacted the global economy, spiraling food and fuel prices, significant energy shortages, and the prospect of protracted recession in the US and EU. The countries in the immediate geographical neighborhood were also affected. Both Russia and Ukraine are among the top five export destinations for Georgia. Ukraine accounted for 9.5 percent of Georgia’s exports in January 2022, while Russia for 12.9 percent. The biggest linkages, however, come not from the export of goods but services, such as tourism.

To provide a deeper understanding of the effects of Russia’s war on Ukraine on the Georgian economy, USAID utilized the Learning, Evaluation, and Analysis Project (LEAP III), implemented by Integra, to assess to estimate the impact of Russian sanctions on the economy of Georgia with deep dives into the agricultural, transport/logistics, and

tourism sectors of the Georgian economy.

Preliminary results based on the first six months of 2022 revealed some surprising findings not anticipated initially by most analysts. Contrary to the initial expectations, the financial sanctions against Russia did not significantly curtail goods trade with Georgia. Moreover, Georgia’s May and June growth estimates remained strong primarily due to the positive trends in tourism, massive inflows of money transfers from Russia, and significant immigration from Russia and Ukraine, which boosted local consumption.

Despite the signs of economic resilience, substantial risks to the Georgian economy remain. One of the main risks is double-digit inflation (especially food inflation) emanating from demand and supply pressures. Real estate prices, particularly for rental real estate, nearly doubled, hurting vulnerable populations. Financial inflows from Russia strengthened the Georgian Lari to the point where the country’s exports may become less competitive. At the same time, the outflow of the Georgian labor force abroad in the wake of weakening COVID regulations is further hurting local businesses.

The preliminary results suggest that the government should strive to strengthen the protection of the vulnerable groups while closely monitoring the risks emanating from massive money transfers from Russia.

ABOUT LEAP III

LEAP III provides a mechanism for USAID field missions and bureaus to efficiently and cost-effectively access rigorous, independent, and high-quality analytical services to support economic and policy analyses, strategy and project design, monitoring and evaluation, training, and knowledge management.

Integra Government Services International LLC, an international development firm delivering solutions to promote self-reliance among emerging economy governments and markets through academically grounded analytical tools and private sector engagement, announces the transfer of ownership and leadership to industry executive, Timothy Schur.

With the completion of this transaction, Integra will continue to serve its clients by developing and managing results-oriented, innovative strategies for social and economic development in the areas of economic growth, agriculture and food security, gender and women’s empowerment, climate and environment, and information and communication technology. Integra maintains a roster of world-class experts with analytical, consultative, and managerial skills in several key areas of expertise.

Robert Otto, Founder and retiring President, said, “After an extensive search, I am confident that Tim has the values and experience to lead Integra into the future.”  With more than 30 years of experience in advisory and consulting services to government, Mr. Schur has filled wide-ranging roles in corporate finance, strategy and innovation, impact investment, business development, and business practice leadership. For the last decade, he has been supporting International Development programs and investments for the United States, United Kingdom, and Australian governments as well as direct investments by governments across the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Most recently, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Palladium.

Mr. Schur started his career more than 30 years ago as a founding employee in a small business and is looking forward to repeating that growth journey. “Bob has attracted and developed a highly talented and experienced team at Integra. I’m looking forward to guiding that team in delivering sustainable impact in emerging economies.” Mr. Schur and the Team at Integra will be building on firm’s nine-year history and track record of success in 35 countries, impacting millions of stakeholders, and leveraging over $1.2 billion in public and private investment for development reforms.

Under the Learning, Evaluation, and Analysis Project (LEAP III), Integra is conducting the Performance Evaluation of USAID/Vietnam’s Environment Remediation at Da Nang Airport. The Environmental Remediation at Da Nang Airport Project is part of the United States Government’s (USG) efforts to carry out Agent Orange/dioxin health and remediation activities in Vietnam, in close collaboration with the Government of Vietnam (GVN). The purpose of USG participation in dioxin remediation is to address the legacy of the American-Vietnam war through the reduction of dioxin contamination.

This end of project performance evaluation will obtain an independent, third-party review and evaluation of the overall effectiveness of the project in addressing legacy dioxin-contaminated soil and sediment, and document the benefits of USAID/MND cooperation on remediation of Danang Airport to the region. With this objective in mind, and understanding the political sensitivities surrounding the project, Integra rapidly assembled an environmental remediation evaluation team, including economists and remediation experts from third-party countries with experience dealing with environmental remediation, and rigorous evaluations.

Based on the evaluation’s findings, the evaluation team will develop recommendations for future cooperative efforts addressing legacy dioxin contamination at Bien Hoa Airport, slated to begin at the end of 2018.

The Government of Fiji’s effort to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and sustainable forest management practices (REDD+) requires a mechanism for responding to complaints, disputes, and grievances arising from the readiness and implementation phases of the Fiji National REDD+ Programme. The Ministry of Fisheries and Forests, with funding from the World Bank, awarded Integra a contract in September 2017 to develop a feedback and grievance redress mechanism (FGRM) for all stakeholders in the National REDD+ Programme.

As of June 2018, Integra concluded its consultancy with the World Bank and the Government of Fiji, the first of the REDD+ Readiness Assessments to be completed. The consultancy ended with the design of a communications strategy and a training of trainers. The communications strategy was designed specifically for the FGRM and supported greater awareness on REDD+. The training was conducted for targeted groups over a two-day period on the FGRM structure, procedures, process, and roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders involved – this also included the use of recommended reporting and recording forms in both English and iTaukei languages.

The FGRM Team then presented their findings and recommended design to the REDD+ Secretariat and Steering Committee for acceptance and approval. For more information on this activity, you can reference the project page located here.