We often default to the assumption that our programs will lead to greater positive change over time. The rate of change may be incremental, exponential, or something else, but it’s always positive. The reality of what change looks like, however, depends on the status of the system in which we’re intervening. Is the system already in d...

USAID’s Bureau for Policy, Planning and Learning and the LEARN contract are happy to sponsor the fifth-annual Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA) Case Competition. The entry period was held March 4th - April 12, 2019 and this year, we received 97 case studies. Thank you, submitters!The objectives of the CLA Case Competition are t...

The attached DRG resources include evidence reviews and field assessments conducted in Armenia in 2019. The evidence reviews examine context relevant literature in the areas of good governance, civil society, media, integrity systems (anti-corruption), and rule of law. The assessments examine the Armenian context in more detail ...

Imagine you are watching a play, except, instead of sitting in a normal theater seat, you find yourself as part of the scenery. There are actors behind you, above you, next to you. You are surrounded by bright lights, rough textures, and woodsy aromas. You are not simply watching a performance; you are a part of it.This is the ethos behin...

This blog was written by Christopher Russell (Strategy Policy Analyst, Pact Ukraine) and Lauren Serpe (Deputy Technical Director, Global Results and Measurement, Pact).Collaborating, learning, and adapting (CLA) events commonly assemble partners, teammates, and donors at the midpoint of a project to reflect on lessons learned, to analyze ...

What does it take to increase income, improve food security and nutrition, raise literacy rates, or decrease malaria? To achieve these goals, we design programs that logically lay out the ‘how’ and then we implement, monitor, assess, learn, and course correct. Staff, the engine of our organizations and programs, strongly influence whe...

A composite indicator (or index) combines two or more data sources into a single measure. From the Self-Reliance Metrics to the CSO Sustainability Index, composite indicators are everywhere at USAID. They are in our Country Development Cooperation Strategies and in the Activity Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning plans.This webinar provi...

Rick O'Sullivan provided a presentation at USAID around some findings on how best to support civil society, and key considerations that are often missed by donors. He challenged many assumptions that we typically hold around how civil society organizations can garner resources and for what, what is effective in their efforts to change soc...

With the passage of the Evidence-Based Policymaking Act in January 2019, each federal agency is now required to have an agency-level “evidence-building plan” -- in other words, a learning agenda. “The head of each agency shall include in the strategic plan required under section 306 a systematic plan for identifying and addressing p...