In a recent interview, Samantha Power, U.S Agency for International Development Administrator (USAID), made a case for localization. Power’s argument is that “local actors are best positioned to drive their country’s development.” Local partners are crucial for delivering development projects because they have a good knowledge of the area in which they live and operate. “Evidence indicates that working with local partners improves the effectiveness and sustainability of foreign assistance programs,” says U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro. Local partners must then participate fully, bringing their ideas, visions, and plans to the table. Their inputs are essential for the successful implementation of development projects worldwide. According to the United Nations, a successful development agenda requires inclusive partnerships at the global, regional, national, and local levels. There is a need to involve local organizations in their own countries’ development.
The development community understands that local partners play a crucial role in implementing effective initiatives. However, for these localization efforts to be mutually beneficial, local actors must understand their strengths and what they are uniquely capable of bringing to projects. International partners too must be open to working with local partners, not only giving them a seat at the table but the opportunity to co-lead projects. According to the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development), “a partnership is likely to be ineffective if one person or partner has all the power and drives the process from beginning to end.” Inequalities in partners’ resources and expertise determine their relative influence in the partnership and their decision-making ability. Development organizations and foundations should work with local partners to improve locals’ contributions.
Local partners often rely on their international partners, since these larger organizations are typically the ones that fund and lead projects. The responsibility for projects’ success rests with both the local and international partners, so local partners need to come prepared with ideas and solutions to development issues also.
International partners should endeavor to engage local actors on projects from inception through implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. Usually, when local partners are bidding for projects, the various aspects of the project have been decided on by the institution putting out or receiving the bid. After this point, local partners are only needed for implementation, which means they cannot contribute to the creation of the project. In addition, local partners are excited to partner with international organizations because of the benefits – pay, and global appeal. These benefits can sometimes lead to local partners not wanting to rock the boat, going along with their international partner’s plans even if the locals may have more useful ideas. Local partners’ desire to work with international partners can limit local contributions because they know their suggestions might not be accepted or are afraid of losing the partnership. Furthermore, even international partners are generally implementing big contracts and are limited in how much they can alter a project.
While global partners provide funding and international know-how, local partners come with local know-how—they understand the people and the community, speak the language and know what works and what will not. Sometimes local partners worry that if they advise international partners to alter programs to fit a specific model, they may lose the support of those partners, or the international partners might simply insist on doing the project their way. To complete the work, local partners might go along with decisions knowing that they won’t have the desired impact. A mutually beneficial development partnership allows the local partner to express their views freely without fear of reprisal.
The USAID current administration is pushing for the promotion of localization. Ms. Samantha Powers, the administrator, noted that “previous initiatives for locally-driven development had failed”. The challenges faced included a greater amount of time involved in working with local organizations and paperwork that local organizations often lack the capacity to handle. While measures to promote localization might not have been as successful in the past, local partners still have the opportunity to push to be more involved in creating and implementing development programs.
To help improve their efficiency, minimize the effects of these challenges, and be prepared to work with international partners, here are some ways local partners can play their part so that localization efforts are successful and have their intended impact:
- Strengthen capacity – While local partners are already more knowledgeable on local affairs and people, it’s important to seek out ways to improve your capacity so you can add further value to projects. Identify skill and knowledge gaps and areas for improvement and work towards bridging those gaps.
- Communicate – As the local expert, when projects are presented, let the development partners know what works and what doesn’t with the chosen delivery or implementation method. Provide insights on intended participants. Do not just work on a project because your proposal was accepted—take the time to provide additional knowledge to help your partners.
- Collect data – The best way to provide expert information is to gather and keep useful data. Collect data on your own projects was well as those you carry out with your partners. This data can be quite useful for future projects. Development organizations and foundations need these kinds of specific answers about what works in local areas, so they need local partners to assist them. Local partners must understand their strengths and capitalize on them by maintaining this information.
- Be involved – Participate in the development of the program or project by helping set goals. Provide sound analysis of the community, its inhabitants, people’s behavior and expectations. This level of partner involvement ensures better project implementation and a higher overall impact.
These four strategies can help local actors be more effective in their partnership with international organizations. Additionally, local partners should always be aware of occurrences in the development space and adjust their operations to match current and future agendas if they want to be effective. To facilitate these efforts, international partners should also endeavor to encourage the opinions and suggestions of local partners and put those suggestions into practice when possible. In addition, international partners should support local ownership of programs and help build the capacity of local organizations to help solve global problems.
People should lead in their community development, and local partners play an essential role in helping meet this objective. Local partners must equip themselves with the requisite knowledge and skills to hold up their end of the partnership.
Conclusion
For a partnership to succeed in the development arena as well as in any other field, all partners must be fully involved, providing their ideas based on their expertise. One partner could have the resources and partial knowledge, while the other has additional knowledge. Successful partnerships require maximizing the strengths of both sides. Both partners benefit from a shared commitment to make a more significant impact by working together.
Meeting the sustainable development goals requires collaboration from all actors. While local partners are responsible for building their own capacity in different ways, their international counterparts have the responsibility to support and encourage local participation at every level of a project.
