Lessons Learned from USAID/Ecuador Mission

I lived in Ecuador as a volunteer teacher from 2003 – 2004, so when the opportunity to return arose in April 2014, I couldn’t wait to see what had changed. I was amazed from the moment we landed at the Quito airport. Gone was the old Mariscal Sucre airport near the center of the city. In its place, about 10 miles east of downtown, was a thoroughly modern facility. This contrast extended into Quito and in countless experiences over the course of the week: in 10 years time, Ecuador had emerged as a middle-income country with all the accoutrements to match.

So imagine how much has changed over the past 50+ years that USAID has been supporting development programs in Ecuador. In fact, this was the purpose of our visit. As the USAID/Ecuador Mission prepared to close, USAID’s Policy, Planning and Learning (PPL) Bureau was called upon to help capture the existing knowledge base. So much had been accomplished and it was no small task to identify, gather, package, and share such a wealth of resources and expertise.

We began by talking to as many staff as we could squeeze into the course of a day. Many had been there for decades, and their level of commitment to implementing responsive, local solutions was unparalleled. It quickly became clear that we needed to record these conversations, to preserve their voices and perspectives on both what had been accomplished and what they had learned along the way. These informal interviews became the basis of four digital stories (an Overview, and one for each of USAID/Ecuador’s technical sectors: Economic Growth, Democracy and Governance, and Environment) that aim to provide the context, approach, select highlights, and lessons for what was accomplished by the Mission during these years.

In addition to the digital stories, hundreds of documents were collected and reviewed in a search for tools and templates that could help inform similar efforts in Missions around the world. The Knowledge-Driven International Development (KDID) website now hosts these materials, including the videos and documents, to share these experiences from USAID/Ecuador more widely.

The closing of the USAID/Ecuador Mission in September 2014 was bittersweet. As development professionals, we often assert the aim to work ourselves out of a job and certainly the progress made in Ecuador is, in part, a testament to the significant accomplishments of the USAID Mission. To that end, and in an effort to preserve and honor their good work, check out the stories from USAID/Ecuador and reflect on the ways in which their experiences can resonate in development programs globally.

Find more information about USAID/Ecuador’s legacy at www.usaid.gov/ecuador.

For specific lessons and resources, visit kdid.org/Ecuador.