LACLEARN LAC DRG Learning Agenda

The agenda was developed in consultation with the USAID LAC Bureau and relevant Functional Bureaus to identify and address knowledge gaps critical to guiding improvements. Priority themes and questions were finalized in August 2021, with corresponding learning activities and products scheduled through September 2024. The agenda's priority themes include citizen security and crime and violence prevention, accountable, transparent, and effective governance, democratic backsliding and authoritarian resurgence, and innovations in monitoring, evaluation, and learning. Key questions and topics for exploration include survivor-centered approaches to prevent or promote accountability for gender-based violence, adapting citizen security interventions for use in LAC, and addressing clusters of crime and violence. Additionally, the agenda seeks to understand the impact of improved citizen security on economic, environmental, and social outcomes, and to identify institutional reforms that foster an enabling environment for community violence prevention. The agenda also explores approaches to strengthen citizen commitment to democracy, prevent or reverse democratic backsliding, and mitigate the effects of disinformation and misinformation. Furthermore, it examines effective approaches to reduce corruption and promote transparency, and the potential for "bottom-up" interventions to promote accountability and transparency. The agenda also considers the effectiveness of local governance programming in improving access to and quality of government services, and the potential for innovative approaches and technologies to track program performance and gauge hard-to-measure DRG activities and concepts. The LAC DRG learning agenda aims to inform USAID's programming and improve its work in democracy, human rights, and governance in the region. The agenda's findings and recommendations are expected to contribute to more effective and sustainable programming, and to help address the complex challenges facing LAC countries. The agenda's priority themes and questions will guide learning activities and products through September 2024, with the goal of improving USAID's work in the region and promoting more effective governance and citizen security.