Learning Matters

Last month, USAID released its first Local Capacity Strengthening (LCS) Policy. The policy places a strong emphasis on how we can better collaborate with, learn from and adapt to local actors' priorities. It builds on decades of Agency experience in capacity strengthening and recognizes the central importance of partnerships - particularly collaboration with local partners - to strengthen local communities.

To find out more about the LCS Policy, staff and partners may find it useful to watch a recording of the policy launch event hosted on October 19, 2022 before reading the policy itself. Additional resources are also available on Learning Lab, such as a new Guide to Distinguishing Tools Used for Local Capacity Strengthening.

Furthermore, useful information on many of the cornerstones of the LCS Policy, such as capacity building, locally led development, and systems thinking, can be found on the site and cut across aspects of learning and CLA.

• Staff in the USAID Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation wrote a blog on designing a collective action approach. This is the fourth blog in the Collective Action Blog Series.
• USAID MOMENTUM synthesized highlights from a new USAID-commissioned landscape review of tools and indicators measuring 'capacity strengthening.'
• Social Impact is hosting a webinar on November 16, 2022 introducing their Theory of Change Workbook (available on Learning Lab), with emphasis on making TOCs locally-driven and context-specific.