Key Technical Resources
Atrocity Prevention: A Development Practitioner's Guide
This USAID guide provides practical tools and information for development practitioners to prevent and respond to mass atrocities. It helps staff identify early warning signs, develop appropriate responses, and coordinate with government colleagues as part of comprehensive U.S. atrocity prevention efforts. The guide distinguishes atrocity prevention from general conflict prevention, focusing on perpetrators and how development tools can help dissuade potential actors from committing mass atrocities, while offering flexible reading approaches based on practitioners' roles and available time.
Policy for Countering Violent Extremism Through Development Assistance
This USAID policy provides updated guidance for countering violent extremism through development programs, emphasizing systemic strengthening of local institutions and communities rather than addressing isolated drivers. The policy focuses on building partnerships with local actors, engaging where U.S. assistance can be most effective, and adapting to evolving extremist threats. It aims to reduce recruitment into violent extremism and build partner capacity for self-reliant prevention and response, while integrating CVE efforts with broader U.S. development and security objectives.
USAID Humanitarian Assistance Anti-Corruption Integration Handbook
The USAID Humanitarian Assistance Anti-Corruption Integration Handbook is a comprehensive guide developed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to support the integration of anti-corruption strategies into humanitarian aid programming. It is aimed at USAID staff, implementing partners, and humanitarian practitioners, providing technical guidance, risk management tools, and accountability mechanisms to safeguard aid delivery in high-risk environments.
USAID Guide to Countering Corruption Across Sectors
This USAID Guide to Countering Corruption Across Sectors is the first comprehensive technical guidance document designed to transform USAID's anti-corruption approaches and programming. Developed by USAID's Anti-Corruption Task Force (ACTF) with contributions from staff across the Agency's offices, bureaus, and missions, the guide serves as part of a broader suite of anti-corruption resources. It provides sectoral guidance and practical tools to help USAID personnel integrate anti-corruption strategies into their development work across various sectors and programming areas.
Analyzing Transnational and Strategic Corruption and Kleptocracy (TASCK) in Sub-Saharan Africa: Phase 1 Findings & Co-Creation Workshop Summary Report
This research study examines transnational corruption, strategic corruption, and kleptocracy (TASCK) in sub-Saharan Africa to help USAID improve its anti-corruption programming. Following recent U.S. policy directives, the study addresses how these sophisticated, cross-border forms of corruption impact African communities and whether current development responses adequately address them. The research aims to provide Africa-specific insights to help USAID adapt its programming to more effectively counter corruption that undermines government legitimacy and diverts public resources.
Analyzing Transnational and Strategic Corruption and Kleptocracy (TASCK) in Sub-Saharan Africa: Phase II Findings Report
This study examines how transnational and strategic corruption and kleptocracy (TASCK) affect governance and development in sub-Saharan Africa. Phase I identified key sectors and regions impacted, while Phase II focused on elections and natural resources in Madagascar and Nigeria. Findings aim to help USAID and other agencies better address TASCK through targeted programming.
Rule of Law IDEAS CoLab
The Rule of Law IDEAS CoLab is an innovation hub reimagining justice. We design people-centered, data-driven solutions, offer practical tools and resources, and host the xUSAID Rule of Law Repository—all to help close the global justice gap and build trust in legal systems.
Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Reference Guide
The idea for creating an online CVE Reference Guide for Local Organizations came directly from civil society organizations implementing projects to prevent and counter violent extremism (P/CVE). Many of these local organizations in countries affected by violent conflict struggle to access practical, concise, and relevant materials and tools designed specifically for their use and in their primary languages.
DECfinder: Preserving Development Knowledge for the Future
DECfinder gives you access to over 111,000+ curated documents from USAID’s Development Experience Clearinghouse (DEC) — including evaluations, reports, and project insights from decades of U.S. development work around the world.
Collaborating, learning, and adapting informed by evidence (CLAIRE)
This study seeks to understand how USAID and its partners conduct CLA and to generate lessons for how it can improve CLA going forward. In particular, it employs a qualitative research methodology to explore the role of evidence in the CLA process and to disprove or validate the following hypothesis: IF monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) is planned and used to inform CLA, THEN adaptations are more likely to lead to program outcomes.
Election Management Assistance Donor Guide
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provides assistance to election management bodies (EMBs) as a core component of its electoral assistance and broader Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (DRG) programming. This guide provides a brief overview of election management assistance and offers strategic considerations and programming options for USAID and other donor agencies. While the primary audience of this guide is USAID staff, its content may be useful to other donors and other audiences.
Impact of Investing in Cities and Local Governments
The Making Cities Work (MCW) indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract (2014-2024) issued 18 task orders (TOs) for urban governance work, totaling over $500 million. MCW aims to provide access to short- and long-term technical services, training, and capacity-strengthening in areas related to improving urban and local governance.
Tools for asking better evaluation questions
The purpose of this research is to systematically explore the common challenges of developing quality DRG PE questions and to develop guidance for USAID staff to maximize the utility of PE questions.
Electoral Assistance After Action Review Methodology
This EA3 review methodology provides a standardized methodology for post-election assessments to ensure consistency and improve learning from the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) worldwide support of elections and political processes. This manual provides guidance to assessment teams conducting in-country reviews after an electoral process, outlining key areas of inquiry and research questions.
USAID Guiding Principles for Electoral Assistance
USAID’s Guiding Principles for Electoral Assistance are intended to enhance USAID’s support for democratic elections and political processes globally.
Measuring Local Capacity Strengthening in USAID/DRG Programming Using CBLD-9
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.
Addressing Pain Points in Qualitative Research
This guidance includes minimum standards to which all studies should adhere, good practices that studies should seek to implement when feasible, and guidance for study commissioners.
Women’s Political Participation and Leadership Assessment Framework
To encourage gender-inclusive programming in the Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (DRG) sector, USAID developed a toolkit for DRG staff to integrate gender into programming and advance gender equality in civil society and government institutions.
VCA Full Framework
USAID’s Violence and Conflict Assessment (VCA) is a tool to assist USAID Missions, U.S. government counterparts, and partners to better understand, address, and navigate the pervasive challenges of armed conflict and violence.
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