Since the launch of the USAID 2018 Acquisition and Assistance Strategy (A&A), the world’s new normal and USAID’s approach have both changed. Based on the current context and priorities, the new USAID A&A outlines an updated way of delivering humanitarian and development assistance. The A&A Strategy focuses on improving partnerships with local institutions, including governments, the private sector and community organizations, in the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
What is the Acquisition and Assistance Strategy?
The USAID A&A Strategy encompasses grants, cooperation agreements and various partnership contracts to fund the implementation of development programs. These are of particular importance given that 85% of USAID’s work is accomplished through acquisition and assistance and only 15% is implemented through government-level agreements. Acquisition refers to when USAID procures goods or services for its own purposes. Assistance is when it assigns a grant or cooperation agreement to an organization to carry out a program that contributes to the public good, in other words – promoting humanitarian assistance and development objectives.
“A&A is critical to realizing USAID’s vision of inclusive development. While we have great power in convening stakeholders, developing U.S. foreign policy, and influencing host governments, the majority of our work is accomplished through designing, managing, and evaluating the activities we fund,” states the USAID A&A division.
Why did USAID update the A&A Strategy?
USAID’s A&A Strategy was last updated in 2018 but the world has changed since then, in part due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, thus USAID’s development approach had to change as well. The changes in the business model and the new A&A are intended to increase localized assistance and address extensive humanitarian crises.
The Strategy sets out a way to boost cooperation with local institutions and an Implementation Plan has been drafted to support each of the three objectives of the Strategy in the first year. After one year, reflection sessions will be held with the key stakeholders to ascertain if the actions taken have had the intended impact on the A&A business model, workforce staffing level, systems efficiency, barriers, and the ultimate goal of sustainable development. As a result, the implementation plans will be reviewed and updated for the subsequent years.
What are the Vision and Objectives of the A&A Strategy?
The vision of the A&A Strategy is: USAID and its partners enable sustainable, inclusive, and locally-led development results through acquisition and assistance.
The vision and objectives defined in the A&A Strategy focus on the workforce, reducing administrative burdens and barriers for the private sector, including small businesses, faith-based and community groups, and local organizations and institutions of all types. The intention is to automate and streamline engagement with local partners and shift the focus to localization.
The 1st Objective of the Strategy defines the personnel needs of the A&A workforce based at the Washington headquarters and in more than 80 missions around the world, such as Contracting and Agreement Officers, A&A Specialists, Civil Service Contract Specialists, and contracted staff. To keep pace with growing budgets and programs, an appropriately sized and trained A&A workforce is needed to design, assign, and implement the programs.
In the last five years, the USAID Contracting and Agreement Officers awarded, on average, US$77.6 million to programs, compared to the U.S. Department of Defense Contracting Officers who awarded approximately US$14.7 million.
USAID’s current business model with the expected future number of actions and dollars to be met is not sustainable with current staffing levels without significant fiduciary and reputational risk to the Agency, mentions the A&A Implementation Plan.
A reduction in administrative/bureaucratic burdens and the rationalization of the A&A processes to increase effectiveness and efficiency are at the heart of the 2nd Objective. This will be achieved by integrating the adjusted and regulated guidelines, templates and samples in a single location that will be shared and searchable. Another option will be to develop automated solutions for repetitive administrative tasks in order to save the A&A workforce time. The automated creation of Negotiation Memos at a small scale has already been piloted and could save the Agency US$1.5 million in employee time annually, enabling the A&A workforce to be more strategically involved throughout the program cycle.
“This year, we are adding new tools and features to the platform, including the translation of the pages into multiple languages to increase accessibility for non-English speakers, a Sub-Opportunities Portal for USAID prime partners to share subaward and subcontract opportunities in one central location, a Funding Opportunity Feed to provide greater transparency, and a Partnership Pathway Tool,” said Paloma Adams-Allen, USAID Deputy Administrator.
The 3rd Objective of the A&A Strategy outlines the diversification of partners to implement locally-led development activities. Administrator Power has committed USAID to expand the organizational culture and policies to better address and be more responsive to the needs and priorities of local stakeholders and communities. The A&A Strategy implementation plan provides the steps necessary to boost engagement with local organizations and institutions around the world, as well as specific activities to more equitably engage small businesses and underserved U.S. partner communities.
For instance, in order to improve the Agency’s ability to reach new and underserved communities, the organizations will be able to submit concept papers in their native language. A support mechanism for ‘last minute’ translations during the pre-award process will also be rolled out. The use of simplified award mechanisms, such as pay-for-results awards, will be accelerated by setting milestones that are realistic and flexible. USAID has already raised the use of fixed-amount (lump sum) awards from US$97 million to US$141 million from Fiscal Year 2021 to FY 2022.
Who was consulted during the A&A Strategy update?
The drafting process of the Acquisition and Assistance Strategy involved discussions with USAID A&A professionals at the Washington headquarters and across the regions to understand their needs, requirements, and priorities. Given this commitment, the first objective of the Strategy focused on ensuring that the A&A workforce was enabled, equipped, and empowered to advance USAID’s mission.
Furthermore, 15 consultations were held with partner institutions, complementary to regular ongoing engagement such as Reverse Industry Days. Additionally, USAID received more than 1,800 responses to the first Partnership Experience Survey shared in October 2022 which were used to update the Strategy and the associated Implementation Plan.
The Implementation Plan is a living document available to the public which will be updated continuously. Thus, USAID welcomes public feedback on the A&A Strategy Implementation Plan and this can be submitted by email to industryliaison@usaid.gov
The USAID A&A Strategy defines a roadmap to catalyze the Agency’s localization goals which includes assigning 25% of funds to local partners by 2025, and 50% of activities towards institutionalizing local leadership by 2032. In addition, the A&A Strategy articulates USAID’s partnership goals on climate and sustainability, support for U.S. small businesses, and increased efficiency throughout business processes. However, USAID’s localization efforts expand beyond the A&A Strategy and are incorporated in other strategies and policies, such as the Local Capacity Strengthening Policy and the forthcoming Policy Framework.
