Nine principles guide U.S. development and reconstruction assistance and expertise. The principles are fundamental to the success of assistance as an instrument of U.S. foreign policy and national security. They are the “navigation” signs by which we design, implement, monitor and evaluate our assistance programs.
Ownership
Build on the leadership, participation, and commitment of a country and its people.
Capacity Building
Strengthen local institutions, transfer technical skills, and promote appropriate policies.
Sustainability
Design programs to ensure their impact endures.
Selectivity
Allocate resources based on need, local commitment, and foreign policy interests.
Assessment
Conduct careful research, adapt best practices, and design for local conditions.
Results
Focus resources to achieve clearly defined, measurable, strategically focused objectives.
Partnership
Collaborate closely with governments, communities, donors, NGOs, the private sector, international organizations, and universities.
Flexibility
Adjust to changing conditions, take advantage of opportunities, and maximize efficiency.
Accountability
Design accountability and transparency into systems and build effective checks and balances to guard against corruption.
