Foreign assistance, USAID venture capital approach relies on evidence of results but could strengthen collaboration among similar programs : report to congressional requesters

"December 2015." "Accessible version." "GAO-16-142." Includes bibliographical references. USAID established the DIV program in 2010 with a goal of creating a portfolio of innovations that contribute to reducing global poverty. Borrowing from the venture capital model, DIV seeks to identify and test innovative development solutions based on three core principles: rigorous evidence, cost-effectiveness, and potential to scale up. As of 2014, India was the largest recipient of DIV funding, representing approximately one-third of the program's portfolio. In this report, GAO examines the DIV program's (1) distribution of funding and (2) efforts to measure progress toward achieving its goals, and for DIV's activities in India, GAO examines (3) the extent to which DIV uses evidence to make funding decisions and assess results and (4) DIV's collaboration with similar U.S. development assistance innovation programs. GAO reviewed and analyzed DIV documents and data for fiscal year 2010 to 2015, and interviewed agency officials and grant recipients. GAO selected India as a nongeneralizable case study and conducted fieldwork in that country. GAO recommends that USAID establish (1) performance targets to assess DIV's progress toward its goal and (2) a joint approach to collaboration for similar programs in India, while considering such an approach in other countries, as appropriate. Description based on online resource; title from PDF cover (GAO, viewed Jan. 22, 2016).