From Money to Action : Strategies in U.S. Support to Education in the Developing World

The United States provides substantial amounts of development assistance to lowand middle-income countries, much of it administered by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). While the motives are complex, reasons include the desire to provide humanitarian relief, promote economic and social development, encourage political values and practices compatible with those of the U.S, and build international goodwill toward the U.S. International assistance agencies, such as USAID, have tended to utilize three mechanisms for allocating development assistance funds: problem oriented funding, sector-oriented project funding, and program funding. Of these, USAID has relied most heavily on project assistance, even at a time that many other donors are emphasizing program assistance. In awarding project assistance, USAID staff have choices about the mechanisms through which project funds can be converted into on-the-ground development activities, choices that can shape the eventual impact and effectiveness of the assistance. This paper examines the advantages and challenges associated with using these different mechanisms, with particular attention to aid to education, and suggests implications for the evaluation of development assistance activities.