Bill > HR6196

This bill, the Locally Led Development and Humanitarian Response Act, aims to shift how the United States provides foreign aid by prioritizing and expanding partnerships with local organizations and communities in developing countries. It emphasizes that development and humanitarian efforts are more effective and sustainable when local actors lead the process, from setting priorities and designing projects to implementing and evaluating them. To achieve this, the bill proposes several key changes, including increasing direct funding to local entities, simplifying access to U.S. foreign assistance resources for them, and allowing for more flexible and multi-year funding. It also seeks to enable foreign assistance agencies to accept applications and proposals in local languages, provide support in those languages, and offer increased indirect cost rates for local partners to help cover their operational expenses. Furthermore, the bill allows for limited competition exclusively among local entities for certain contracts if it leads to cost savings or better program delivery, and permits foreign entities to use their own national or international accounting principles instead of U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) for some grants and contracts. The bill also mandates reporting requirements to track progress and assess the impact of these new approaches.

Military Affairs and Security

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/6196/all-info