The chances for joint objectives and programmes initiated by the Maldives and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to succeed, will be boosted if they are Maldivian-led, says USAID Mission Director assigned to Maldives and Sri Lanka, Reed Aeschliman.
This was revealed by the during an exclusive interview with RaajjeTV where the USAID Mission Director talked about the efforts by USAID to ensure its development assistance is spent on the best interest of the public and that it supports those who are in need the most.
Highlighting that ensuring its development assistance is demand-driven is the root of what the agency does, Aeschliman stated that the host country will be required to champion the effort and lead it, with USAID stepping in to support these efforts as a good development partner.
So that's kind of we refer to it as development 101 that has to be demand-driven. So how do we determine the demand? I mean, one of the first things we do, obviously, is assessments, research surveys and that is not just our own internal assessments, we look at what's been written or researched by other development partners, by the government, by academia.”Reed Aeschliman, USAID Mission Director to Maldives and Sri Lanka.
Aeschliman went on to reveal that following assessments and research surveys, efforts are then carried out to reach out to talk to the public sector as well as the private sector and civil society.
Once this is done, USAID works in tandem with the host country partners to design a programme that meets the areas identified as the needs and where the government desired to move forward in their development agenda.
After the design is done, USAID solicits contractors and assigns grants and contracts to implement the joint objectives.
With this being said, Aeschliman revealed that 95 percent of the people employed as grantees and contractors are Maldivians and that USAID attempts to ensure the efforts are Maldivian-led to boost chances for success.
Speaking about ways organizations or individuals interested in partnering with USAID supported projects can reach out, Aeschliman urged to reach out by searching up USAID Maldives and visiting their website and access their social media address and other information where they can go to find out if there are grant opportunities, contract opportunities or if USAID is hiring. He went on to urge the potential partners to reach out via email.
We welcome feedback, ideas in exchange and a lot of what I do is introducing people that are interested in what we're doing with some of the people that are doing it. So we're happy to exchange information. We're happy to receive information and I think going online and visiting our site would probably be the first place to start.”Reed Aeschliman, USAID Mission Director to Maldives and Sri Lanka.
Highlighting that USAID Maldives always welcomes feedback, Aeschliman stated that they also monitor and implement a monitoring and evaluation plan on every project.
