Highlights from USAID Climate Strategy Focus Groups with Implementing Partner Organizations

In October and November 2022, USAID hosted focus groups with partner organizations to gain insights into how to advance the “Do Our Part” Special Objective of USAID’s Climate Strategy, which aims to strengthen the operations and approaches to programming to address climate change and further climate justice within USAID and our partner organizations. The focus groups aimed to achieve five main goals:

1. Understand how to socialize the Special Objective.
2. Learn about partner organizations’ current and planned sustainability and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) initiatives.
3. Identify challenges and barriers to implementing these sustainability and DEIA initiatives.
4. Inform actions USAID can take to support partners.
5. Create a space for partners to share and exchange ideas.

USAID found that partners are aware of the Special Objective and are already implementing initiatives aligned with it, like reducing greenhouse gas emissions and prioritizing local and in-country procurement. The focus groups also highlighted how partners are at various stages of maturity in implementing the Special Objective, with smaller organizations experiencing more constraints related to implementation than larger organizations. When it comes to their sustainability and DEIA efforts, partners emphasized that reducing their organizations’ carbon footprints and strengthening DEIA are not only social imperatives but also critical for their businesses' bottom lines. 

The focus groups provided a valuable opportunity for partners to share ongoing efforts, challenges, and ideas for how USAID can help them. They were also an opportunity for partners to learn from each other. Partners identified existing venues in which they can continue to have similar conversations, including InterAction’s Environmental Sustainability Working Group and the Sustainability Managers Roundtable, which is facilitated by the World Resources Institute, Natural Resources Defense Council, and The Nature Conservancy. 

External Dialogues: Summary of the Climate Strategy Special Objective Focus Groups with USAID Implementing Partners details these and other valuable insights that will enable USAID to build a stronger working relationship with its partners. Through the focus groups, USAID was able to benchmark related initiatives and identify areas where it can optimize partner engagement. By learning from the Agency’s partners and advancing its Climate Strategy, USAID is taking an important step towards a more sustainable and equitable future.