USAID General Publications

Enhancing Water, Sanitation, & Hygiene (WASH): Ghana

EnWASH seeks to fill knowledge gaps and improve rural water services. 

The study covers Northern, Savannah, North-East, Upper-West, and Volta regions, focusing on expanding sustainable piped water systems. 

EnWASH Study Objectives: 

• Explore the drivers of financial and service delivery performance
• Document financial health of water systems 
• Pilot different strategies to improve financial management

Energy for All: A Guide to Key Concepts and Institutions in the Energy Sector

Why is this Guide Necessary? 

Energy is the driving force behind everything. The word that originally comes from the Greek language (ἐνέργεıα) has found its place in most living languages. It is used in different scientific disciplines, physics, biology, chemistry, technology, economy or in a philosophical sense.

It is present in the famous formula (E = m c2 ) in which Albert Einstein stated that energy is the product of mass and the square of the speed of light. We know that energy is present in everything that surrounds us, in every substance, microparticle and even in the unimaginably distant depths of space. Everyone needs energy and everyone should use it, but also know and understand it. With the spread of knowledge about energy and its manifestations, a special scientific and practical field called energetics (energy technology) emerged. Energetics deals with energy sources, the transformation of different forms of energy into the required form, the generation of electricity, transmission and distribution, procedures for its rational use, but also the effects of energy use on the environment.

The energy sector has strategic importance because energy is necessary and vitally important for everyday life - for lighting, heating, transportation, but it also represents a key element for all other sectors of the economy such as agriculture, industry, services and research and development

Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment (DECA): Mali 2023

The U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) Digital Strategy1 was launched in April 2020 to achieve and sustain open, secure, and inclusive digital ecosystems that contribute to broad-based, measurable development and humanitarian assistance outcomes through the responsible use of digital technology.

The Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment (DECA), a flagship initiative of the Digital Strategy, informs the development, design, and implementation of USAID’s strategies, projects, and activities. The DECA looks at three pillars of a nation’s digital ecosystem: (1) digital infrastructure and adoption; (2) digital society, rights, and governance; and (3) digital economy. The DECA aims to inform how USAID/Mali can understand, work with, and strengthen the country’s digital ecosystem. The section below outlines how DECA findings and recommendations can directly support USAID/Mali’s Development Objectives (DOs) and Special Objective (SO). To maximize utility and impact, the section below outlines how DECA findings and each resulting recommendation can directly support USAID/Mali’s DOs. The DECA does not evaluate existing programs but rather assesses Mali’s digital ecosystem and identifies how USAID/Mali’s current or future programming can build upon or strengthen that ecosystem. DECA findings and recommendations are mapped to USAID/Mali’s Results Framework.

Defining Evaluation Questions: Module 5

By the end of the module you will be able to: 

• Identify the 3 types of evaluation questions.
• Identify what makes a good evaluation question.
• Know difference between typical performance evaluation and impact evaluation questions.
• Break questions down into sub-questions.
• Use the design matrix as an organizing tool.
• Identify additional sources to tap for questions.
• Use a results framework to develop questions.
• Identify and apply criteria for prioritizing questions.

Vietnam: Country Profile

Despite Vietnam’s dramatic economic transformation into a lower middle-income country, numerous development challenges threaten Vietnam’s continued pace of economic growth and hamper its deeper integration into the global economy. The United States supports a strong, prosperous, and independent Vietnam that contributes to international security, engages in mutually beneficial trade relations, and respects human rights and the rule of law.

USAID and Vietnam enjoy an increasingly cooperative and comprehensive development partnership aimed at ensuring Vietnam is effective and inclusive in solving its own development challenges. By engaging all of Vietnam’s citizens, including vulnerable populations, and through strategic partnership with the Government of Vietnam, the private sector, and civil society, USAID strengthens local leadership at the same time we work to increase economic competitiveness, modernize higher education, combat infectious disease, address war legacy issues, conserve forests and biodiversity, and promote renewable energy.

How to Conduct a Data Quality Assessment

DQA Fundamentals
A DQA is a process to help USAID staff and implementing partners understand the strengths and weaknesses of their data and the extent t o which the data can be trusted to influence management d ecisions. A DQA refers to USAID’s standard practice for assessing data quality, documenting any limitations in data quality, and establishing a plan for addressing those limitations. A DQA should be conducted to understand and document the extent t hat data meet o r do not meet t he five data quality standards documented in ADS 201.3.5.7:

1. Validity: Data should represent the intended result clearly and adequately.
2. Integrity: Data should have safeguards to minimize risk of bias, transcription error, or data manipulation.
3. Precision: Data should have a sufficient level of detail to permit informed management decision making.
4. Reliability: Data should reflect stable and consistent data collection processes and analysis methods over time.
5. Timeliness: Data should be available at a useful frequency, should be current, and should be timely enough to influence management decision making.

Private-sector Engagement Policy

USAID, 2021

Private-sector engagement is fundamental to our goal to end the need for foreign assistance. This policy is a call to action for staff from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and our partners to embrace market-based approaches as a more-sustainable way to support communities in achieving development and humanitarian outcomes at scale. This is based on our premise that private enterprise is one of the most powerful forces for lifting lives, strengthening communities, and accelerating countries to self-reliance.

I believe the future of international development is enterprisedriven. “Enterprise-driven development” means aligning with private enterprises as co-creators of market-oriented solutions, with shared risk and shared reward. It means recognizing the value of engaging the private sector in development and humanitarian assistance to help shape solutions that achieve sustained impact and can carry forward long after USAID’s support has ended, and reorienting our investments to open markets for U.S. firms.

Disinformation Primer

USAID, February, 2021

This primer presents an overview of disinformation culture to give readers a sense of key concepts, terminology, select case studies, and programmatic design options. Disinformation is by no means new. Although social media platforms have emerged as the most efficient spreaders of false information, disinformation is also spread through analog media such as radio, television, and newspapers. It is, however, the combination of traditional analog media, in concert with new digital technologies, that allows information to spread faster and more broadly (even across borders) in unprecedented ways. Experts have described this phenomenon as “information disorder,” a condition in which truth and facts coexist in a milieu of misinformation and disinformation—conspiracy theories, lies, propaganda, and half-truths. They have labeled its ability to undermine democracy and individual autonomy “a wicked problem,” i.e., a problem that is difficult and complex, such as poverty or climate change. Despite the immensity of the challenge, there are promising ways that journalists, civil society organizations, technology specialists, and governments are finding to prevent and counter misinformation and disinformation. This primer presents several programmatic ideas to consider for standalone or integrative approaches as part of democracy and governance-related programming.

Advancing Climate-Resilient Education Technical Guidance

USAID, 2023

Education programs and activities that seek to integrate climate change considerations and action should aim to achieve climate-resilient education systems and build climate-resilient learners, while adhering to the USAID Education Policy and identifying meaningful opportunities to contribute to the USAID Climate Strategy. The seven steps to facilitate the design of climate-resilient education programming and the strategic entry points for application across the education continuum should serve as a guide to Missions’ and partners’ strategic approaches to integrating climate change and education as well as advancing climate action in local contexts.

Policy on Promoting the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

USAID, March, 2020

The identification of Indigenous Peoples can be challenging. Not all countries in which USAID works recognize the rights, or even the existence of, Indigenous
Peoples. This Policy provides USAID’s Missions with a consistent approach to identifying and working with Indigenous Peoples to improve the measurable impact and sustainability of our programs.

Indigenous Peoples are not a monolithic group, and it is critical to recognize that many distinct voices exist within each community. It is important to address this heterogeneity in USAID’s programming. USAID has developed an Inclusive-Development Analysis (IDA)8 annotated9 to help our Operating Units to identify and understand Indigenous Peoples.

This annotated IDA provides a helpful resource for understanding the socio-political dynamics within and among Indigenous Peoples’ communities and organizations.