Global Development Alliance

USAID has launched its “Global Development Alliance” initiative aimed at forging public/private alliances to leverage additional funds for sustainable development activities in the countries where USAID works. USAID/Guatemala has been a leader in promoting such alliances and is currently managing a variety of them, both in Guatemala and in the region, through which it has leveraged some $39.4 million from the private sector and other sources.

The USAID Global Development Alliance (GDA) is our commitment to change the way we implement our assistance mandate. The initiative is an innovative Agency-wide way of doing business that allows USAID to combine better its strengths with the resources and capabilities of other actors.

In the 1970s, 70 percent of resource flows from the United States to the developing world were from official development assistance and 30 percent were private. Today, 80 percent of resource flows from the United States to the developing world are private and 20 percent are public. This shift reflects the emergence of the private for-profit sector and the non-governmental sector as significant participants in the development process. The Global Development Alliance approach responds to this changed environment, and it extends USAID’s reach and effectiveness in meeting development objectives by combining its strengths with the resources and capabilities of other prominent actors.

Specifically, GDA mobilizes the ideas, efforts and resources of governments, businesses, and civil society by forging public-private alliances to stimulate economic growth, develop businesses and workforces, address health and environmental issues, and expand access to education and technology. Strategic public/private sector alliances are working on development challenges such as more opportunities for youth, crime prevention, small business development, and improved education.

Alliances incorporate a breadth of USAID and partner resources to arrive at solutions only available through pooled efforts. USAID considers an "alliance" to be a formal agreement between two or more parties created to jointly define and address a development problem. Alliance partners combine resources, risks and rewards in pursuit of common objectives. Alliance partners make financial and/or in-kind contributions to increase the impact and sustainability of development efforts.

A successful public-private alliance has the following key features: a shared understanding of the development problem or issue; a shared belief than an alliance will be more effective than any approach taken by a single actor; a shared commitment of resources; and perhaps most important, a willingness to share risks.

(More on: www.usaid.gov/our_work/global_partnerships/gda/ and GDA Report: Public-Private Alliances for Transformational Development)

USAID/Guatemala is currently implementing nine alliances in Guatemala and the Central America region. The alliance partners and programs are:

Guatemala

• Crime Prevention for Vulnerable Youth Alliance, September 2004 through March 2006.
• Market Led Rural Diversification (Phase 2), October 2004 to December 2005.
• Alliance for Social Investment (Alianzas), January 2005 to September 2009.

Regional

• Continuous Improvement in the Central American Workplace, September 2004 to September 2006.
• Certified Sustainable Products Alliance, March 2004 to March 2007.
• Central American Coffee Initiative, March 2004 to March 2007.
• Next Generation of Microfinance, January 2004 to January 2006.
• Alliance for CAFTA Action: Produce to Prosper, September 2004 to September 2006.
• Mesoamerican Reef Alliance, March 2003 to February 2006.

Completed GDAs in Guatemala

• Enhancing Equitable Economic Growth, ended September 2005.
• Alliance to Advocate for Education, ended May 2004.
• Alliance for Mentally Handicapped, ended February 2005.
• Information Communications Technology, built on Enlace Quiché program, ended February 2004.
• Market Led Rural Diversification (Phase 1), ended September 2005.