A responsible exit is giving sufficient time to people, showing the communities what they were able to accomplish, and helping them to become resilient and responsible.
-SEGAMIL program director, ECADIS Guatemala case study, part of the Stopping As Success project 2017-2020

Increased local leadership is a stated goal of many humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding actors, and yet rhetoric is outpacing change. In an effort to make effective models more visible, we’re learning a good deal about what’s missing and where to invest.

For the past five years, the Stopping As Success (SAS+) project has been studying responsible transition processes¹ from international to local entities. We’ve explored questions like: What does it look like in practice for international and local actors to transform? And what does it take for both groups to support communities’ own vision for sustainability and leadership within the development sector?²

Unsurprisingly, capacity development and strengthening has been a central theme throughout. In nearly all 20 global case studies, and every consultation or conversation regardless of context or circumstances, we saw the critical role that focusing on capacity played in contributing to effective and responsible transitions. We have also seen how, through joint learning between and among local and international partners, all emerge stronger and often more sustainable.

New focus on a familiar concept

The recent feedback period of the draft USAID Local Capacity Development Policy has brought this familiar concept to the forefront of many conversations yet again. The SAS+ team welcomed the chance to discuss our perspectives - as individuals, organizations, and a consortium - on the Policy and its implications in our sector. Our feedback was grounded in the evidence gathered through our joint research, and centered that investment in capacity:

• • must acknowledge and address power imbalances present in relationships between stakeholders in the sector when working in a spirit of mutuality, respect, authentic partnership, and collaboration;
  • must be based on the needs and interests of local actors - as expressed by local actors - and focused on longer-term sustainability; and
  • have the potential to strengthen the Agency and staff implementing the activities.

The Policy sparked many feedback processes that resulted in shared resources. While significant parts of the conversations on local capacity discuss the principles, practicalities, and processes needed to “get capacity development right”, there is little in the way of discussions on longer-term sustainability of both the international and local entities involved in the process - and how we all get there together. If the ultimate goal of local capacity development is to ensure the independence of the local entities, then shouldn’t all of the activities be informed by local entities’ goals and vision for success, working toward their sustainability?

Responsible transitions as a way to support long-term sustainability

In order to achieve the goals of and capitalize on this moment for locally led development, donors and international organizations must be ready to cede power to follow the lead of local partners, intentionally structuring activities and ways of working that are centered around the vision of and impact for the people that programs are designed to benefit. SAS+ offers valuable evidence for the role of capacity in advancing the long-term sustainability and leadership of local organizations in their own contexts - whatever that means and looks like for them.

“Developing leadership skills during transition was considered by several case organizations as ‘perhaps the single most important ingredient in the change management process.’”
- Guidelines for Joint Learning and Mutual Capacity Strengthening Before, During, and After Transition, quoting the Great Lakes Inkingi Development (GLID) case study

It is also important to recognize how international organizations are also strengthened through capacity development with local partners, a dynamic that is often overlooked due to the power dynamics between international and local actors. SAS+ has documented the important technical, contextual and programmatic knowledge that international organizations gain from their relationships with and transitions away from local partners.

SAS+ is also using this moment as an introspective one. At the start of the original SAS program in 2017, it was still commonplace to use the contested “capacity building” term; therefore we used “capacity development” (and at times, “strengthening”) as a way to reject the premise that there is an externally defined need to “build” capacity, and instead place emphasis on supporting communities to enhance human and social capital that already exists. Currently, there are growing concerns about “capacity development” as a term, similarly recognizing that community capacity doesn’t need to be “developed” but rather exists and needs to be recognized and strengthened. Language matters - and we will strive to use specific and descriptive language instead of general terms to align with the values SAS+ upholds.

Let’s continue learning together

SAS+ will continue to learn, adapt, and accompany organizations in their own contexts and communities. We will highlight insights from the experiences of organizations (both international and local) as they journey together through transitions. And we will continue to seek ways to support organizations, USAID, and the development sector more broadly to take up the actionable lessons.

Join us whether through accessing practical resources, reaching out to the SAS+ Transition Helpdesk, or inquiring about longer-term accompaniment so that we can learn together.

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¹ In the SAS+ content, transition is the transfer of responsibility and ownership of a program or organization from an international to a local entity.

² The project, now in its second phase, is applying what we’ve learned since 2017 by accompanying organizations going through transition processes, lending support and continuing to learn as we go.