Transition Initiatives

Description

Transition Initiatives support USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI), which advances U.S. foreign policy objectives by helping local partners around the globe promote peace and democracy. OTI programs provide fast, flexible, short-term assistance designed for specific political transition and stabilization needs.

What does it buy?

Funds are provided to partners through rapid grants, cooperative agreements, and other mechanisms to implement programming that lays a foundation for longer-term development in countries facing instability or political transition. Programs are designed to promote reconciliation, jumpstart local economies, support emerging independent media, and foster freedom and democracy.

Why is it important?

• Violence and violent conflict are now the leading causes of global displacement. OTI’s capacities are critical to stemming the tide of violent conflict, which costs the global economy $14.76 trillion per year.
• OTI provides fast, flexible, short-term assistance targeted at critical political transition and stabilization needs, catalyzing and supporting local initiatives.
• Programs are agile and innovative, measuring success by positive changes in local communities and how effectively and rapidly programs adapt.
• OTI has assisted a range of communities during times of volatility, including establishing administrative service centers in Ukraine, strengthening community resilience to violent extremism in Burkina Faso, and launching recovery programs across Syria and Libya.

Why should Americans care?

• Promoting and upholding global peace directly contributes to U.S. national security and the safety of Americans, both in-country and abroad. In Myanmar, OTI convened political parties, civil society, and ethnic armed groups to engage in the peace process. These efforts, which contributed to the signing of a Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement by eight ethnic armed groups, help maintain momentum toward a sustainable peace between all groups after decades of armed conflict.
• In Honduras, which has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, the OTI Safe Schools Initiative brought together school officials, parents, the surrounding community, local government, and the police to plan and implement small-scale security improvements to schools suffering under gang influence. In one case, a high school’s enrollment had dropped from 1,700 students to 412 due to violence. OTI programming resulted in a 98% enrollment increase to 816 students. The Honduran police then reached out independently to 16 additional schools to begin developing similar security plans. This work is consistent with U.S. objectives of fostering global education access and developing self-reliance.

What more could be done?

• Additional investment could allow OTI to seize critical windows of opportunity, supporting significant transitions across the globe and reducing the need for costly military interventions.
• OTI often works in fewer than 15 contexts at a time; however, more countries are in crisis. With additional investment, OTI could quickly apply its fast and flexible model to more countries, not just the most extreme cases.
• Strategically targeted assistance to additional local partners around the world would allow for specific communities to combat vulnerabilities to violent extremism.