Today, over 4 billion people around the world – more than half the global population – live in cities. By 2050, with the urban population more than doubling its current size, nearly 7 of 10 people in the world will live in cities. USAID’s “Sustainable Service Delivery in an Increasingly Urbanized World” Policy (the Urban Policy) was launched in 2013 in order to “promote sustainable service delivery that brings large-scale benefits to urban residents.” The Urban Policy was the first Agency-wide urban guidance since the 1998 Making Cities Work: USAID’s Urban Strategy, and built on USAID’s 50-year history of urban programs. What has been the impact of the 2013 USAID Urban Policy on the Agency’s processes and programs over the last five years? What lessons can one draw from that Urban Policy experience? What are the implications of these findings for USAID’s approach to urban challenges in the future?

The SID-Washington Infrastructure & Urban Development Workgroup invites you to a public discussion of the recent ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF USAID’S URBAN POLICY commissioned by the Agency’s Bureau of Policy, Planning and Learning. The assessment drew on semi-structured interviews with over 70 USAID staff and implementing partners, survey responses from over 100 USAID staff in Washington and the field, as well as in-depth analyses of program cycle documents. Rebecca Lawrence, the principal author of the report, will present the findings and conclusions.  

Chris Milligan, Counselor to the Agency, will reflect on the context for the current Urban Policy and there will be a USAID panel discussion of the report featuring the Deputy Director of the Office of Policy Jeff Szuchman, the Urban Team leader Kevin Nelson, and Rebecca Lawrence. We invite attendees to join in an open discussion with the USAID representatives on the past, present and future of Urban Policy in the Agency.

Please note that registration for this event has closed. If you are still interested in attending, please send an email to [email protected]

To view the event summary, click here. 

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