Acquisition & Assistance (A&A) Instruments & Localization Guide

USAID’s commitment to advancing localization means maximizing more leadership, ownership, and implementation by local actors. This includes not only increasing the number of direct awards and percentage of overall funding going to local actors, but also ensuring locally led co-design, priority setting, implementation, and evaluation. Collaborative management and building strong relationships are essential for success. Choosing the "best fit" instrument for the activity, and for the partner, can enable USAID to do this. This guide focuses on the instruments that may be most appealing or feasible for local actors, particularly those that are new to USAID, to implement. This guide is designed to provide an overview of assistance and acquisition instrument choices and the ways in which each instrument can be used with local partners and provides information that can be helpful to those selecting the most appropriate instrument for awards.