How should Missions use the Agency indicators in their programming? Should Missions specifically design their programs to affect the Agency indicators?
Missions should certainly design programs around the Agency goals and objectives, which reflect what USAID would like to achieve as an Agency, but NOT around the Agency indicators themselves. These Agency indicators represent the best data USAID can obtain from secondary sources and reflect national level changes that are substantially beyond most Missions’ manageable interest and the scope of their Strategic Objectives. Changes in these indicators are likely to be only indirectly linked to Mission programming and budgeting, which should more directly reflect a Mission’s performance in achieving its own Strategic Objectives and intermediate results. The Agency indicators are not necessarily the best indicators of what USAID programs are trying to accomplish in particular countries, but reflect practical considerations and world-wide availability. Certainly, such high level Agency indicators should not drive Mission programming.
