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Local Organizations in Development
March 1984
>> This Is USAID >> USAID Policy Papers >> Local Organizations in Development
Executive Summary II. Types of Local Organizations
III. The Role of Local Organizations in USAID's Program
IV. Overcoming Limitations of Local Organizations
Wednesday, 11-Jul-2001 16:50:20 EDT
The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 as amended, directs USAID to involve the poor effectively, in development by working through "local-level" institutions (Section 102). Also; USAID's assistance in the areas of agriculture, rural development, and nutrition is to be carried out in part by 11 creation and strengthening of local institutions" linked to regional and national organizations (Section 103). More generally,, USAID is required to encourage the development of indigenous institutions" in conjunction with all forms of assistance authorized in Chapters One and Two of the FAA (Section 281). This policy paper outlines how, USAID intends to carry out these legislative directives by addressing generic issues in local organization development; other policy statements on narrower topics such as indigenous cooperatives and local government will provide more specific guidance where necessary and appropriate. 1. Introduction
USAID and its predecessor agencies have a long history of activity in support of local organizations, perhaps epitomized by the cooperative development experience in Latin America. More recently, a number of Asian missions have developed programs that build on local governments and community-level water management organizations. In Africa and the Near East, decentralization programs, community-based primary health care, and other activities have brought USAID into association with diverse local organizations. The literature examining the results of these experiences and other donor attempts to deliver assistance to local organizations is large and often contradictory; hence the goal of this paper is to identify some consistent lessons learned and consequently point to areas where the Agency can now build on the results of previous experience. This policy paper thus does not point the Agency in radically new directions, but rather suggests some policy guidelines based on assessments of activities in which USAID has been involved for a substantial period of time.
The paper is organized in five parts. Following the Introduction, Part 11 defines "local organizations" in development, and discusses linkages and complementarities among them and other organizations. Part III focuses on the role of local organizations in three areas critically important to successful development: planning and decision-making, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. Part IV discusses the limitations of local organizations, some of which are inherent, and some of which derive from the way in which these organizations interact with broader entities. Important topics include resistance, subordination, factionalism, and ineffectiveness Guidance on addressing these limitations is presented as Nell Part V, Policy and Program Implications, Presents conclusions on the implications of this Paper or Agency policy and program development. The primary point is that support for local organizations is not an end in itself, but rather a means to achieve USAID's broader developmental objectives in supporting development among the rural poor through institutional development, technology transfer, policy reform, and private enterprise development.
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Last Updated on: July 11, 2001 |
