This brief provides guidance for USAID Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (DRG) stakeholders in applying Capacity Building indicator (CBLD) -9 to measure the impact of their local capacity strengthening (LCS) programming. In line with the LCS Policy, measuring results is essential for understanding LCS program effectiveness and making improvements for the future. This guidance helps DRG stakeholders to think creatively about how to measure performance of LCS activities, transcending the often used approach of tracking internal organizational processes or other procedural improvements.

USAID’s Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance’s (USAID/DRG) long-term emphasis on locally led development has allowed staff from across its subsectors to learn a number of lessons on how to more effectively operationalize this practice over the years. Indeed, the nature of the work undertaken by the DRG Bureau makes locally-led development inextricably linked to much of its programming.

USAID’s Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance’s (USAID/DRG) long-term emphasis on locally led development has allowed staff from across its subsectors to learn a number of lessons on how to more effectively operationalize this practice over the years. Indeed, the nature of the work undertaken by the DRG Bureau makes locally-led development inextricably linked to much of its programming. This document profiles some of the changes implemented by USAID/DRG’s Rule of Law subsector in response to these lessons. It should be noted that the lessons learned highlighted in this document should not be viewed as set in stone, keeping in mind that improving development programming is an ongoing process.

USAID’s Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance’s (USAID/DRG) longterm emphasis on locally led development has allowed staff from across its subsectors to learn a number of lessons on how to more effectively operationalize this practice over the years.