Roadblock on the Journey to Self-Reliance:

In 2018, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) embarked on USAID Transformation, an effort to realign USAID’s structure, workforce, programs and processes to more effectively advance national security and support host country partners on their Journey to Self-Reliance. 1 Part of this effort is aimed to “strengthen in-country capacity and facilitate locally-led development.”2 This builds on past reform efforts like USAID Forward, which also targeted the advancement of local partners to lead their own development. Similar “localization” efforts are also underway through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), whose Global AIDS Coordinator has laid out the Plan’s own goals to directly implement 70% of its funding through local indigenous partners by 2020.\