By Lorenzo Piccio, Devex
Originally posted on Devex
Four years into the U.S. Agency for International Development’s localization agenda called Local Solutions — a key pillar of the USAID Forward reform agenda — the premier U.S. aid agency is a little more than halfway toward its target of funneling 30 percent of its funding to local organizations by the end of fiscal 2015.
As USAID missions everywhere struggle to meet the agency’s 30 percent local spending target, the agency’s mission in the Philippines is keen to go even further. Under the leadership of Mission Director Gloria Steele, USAID Philippines has set a goal of channeling 40 percent of its funding locally by next year.
“We talk about the importance of sustainability and I think that for something to be truly sustainable, it should be run by, managed by and implemented by the people for whom the programs are intended to benefit,” Steele told Devex from her office in Manila.
Steele admitted that her mission may fall short of meeting its 40 percent local spending target by 2015. But she does expect USAID Philippines to come fairly close and to funnel between 33 and 40 percent of its spending to local actors by next year.