Transition Initiatives

Description

U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) advances U.S. foreign policy objectives by helping local partners promote peace and democracy. OTI programs provide fast, flexible, short-term assistance for specific political transition and stabilization.

Use of Funds

OTI funds support long-term development. Programs are designed to promote reconciliation, jumpstart local economies, support emerging independent media, and foster freedom and democracy.

Justification

• Conflict, violence, and disasters triggered 38 million internal displacements in 2021. More specifically, conflict and violence triggered 4 million movements, almost a 50% increase from 2020.
• Annually, OTI initiates about 1,750 activities worldwide, often in fragile states that have not reached the stability needed to initiate longer-term development programs.
• OTI has assisted communities during times of volatility. In Burkina Faso, OTI works to mitigate the destabilizing impacts of violence and insecurity through locally-led solutions that address the most pressing sources of instability.
  • In the Est region, the program worked with traditional leaders to establish a network of 73 local leaders, including 21 women, from 11 villages to champion community-level resilience to extremist threats and influence.
  • Over 98,000 national identification documents and 41,000 birth certificates were delivered to Burkinabe in insecure areas in response to increased security checkpoints and curfews.
• In Ethiopia, OTI programming helps support peaceful and political transition. Flexibility is prioritized to remain responsive to changes and to adjust program objectives. OTI also promotes human rights reporting and accountability efforts in Ethiopia, including investigations into human rights violations.