SI congratulates our staff and partners in Zimbabwe and Liberia for earning recognition in USAID’s 2016 CLA Case Competition. The annual Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) Case Competition recognizes innovative examples of CLA in action among USAID missions and implementing partners. The competition drew 63 qualifying entries from 11 USAID missions and operating units and 37 implementing partners in 26 countries.

SI’s work with the USAID/Zimbabwe Mission was named the winner in the Emerging CLA category. SI assisted the Mission in developing a new five-year strategy appropriate to a volatile operating environment.  The new strategy will promote development and guide USG-funded poverty reduction in Zimbabwe in the post-Mugabe era.

“We used a collaborative, scenario-based strategy development process. Over an intensive, four-week period in Harare we built a strategy based on consultations with Zimbabwean experts and additional evidence sources to produce a plan that is agile and nimble,” reported SI technical director Dennis Marotta. This strategic planning support also fed into SI’s follow-on contract with USAID/Zimbabwe to assist production of a Performance Management Plan (PMP) that incorporates a CLA Action Plan as required by new USAID guidance.

SI’s work in Liberia was also recognized as one of the top 20 finalists. Through the Liberia Strategic Analysis contract, SI provides monitoring, evaluation, and learning support to the USAID/Liberia Mission. The Ebola crisis in Liberia underscored the importance of coordination, community engagement, and mobilization for emergency response and for development. To facilitate learning and future coordination SI and the USAID program office formed four communities of practice with over one hundred members.

SI Vice President Elise Storck commented, “ I want to congratulate all the Case Competition winners. It is an honor for us to be recognized among this group of implementers and USAID staff  who are making tremendous strides in advancing CLA in global development.”