Performance Goal Statement: By September 30, 2017, the U.S. government will strengthen civilian security by working with 40 partner country governments to build their capacity to address transnational organized crime and improve government accountability.
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Performance Goal Overview
The Department of State and USAID collaborate regularly on SSA, ROL and CT/CVE and on the policy level, worked with other interagency partners to craft the SSA Presidential Policy Directive. In addition, DCHA, the Department’s Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, and other bureaus have been working to revise the indicators for civilian security. On the practical level, the Department and USAID are coordinating on new initiatives (for example, WPS and the JusTRAC project; field assessments [e.g., Burma, Colombia, Mali, and South Sudan]; country-specific project designs [e.g., Morocco], and analysis [e.g., collaboration on security sector accountability]).
Transnational criminal networks challenge and undermine the legitimate authority of nation states and
governing institutions, and destabilize vulnerable communities. Transnational criminal groups today are diverse in nature, engaging in human trafficking, as well as trafficking in drugs, intellectual property, wildlife, money, weapons, cyber-crime, and intellectual property. Transnational and localized organized crime threatens the United States and the global community. It can be countered by strengthening the capacity of like-minded foreign governments to extend the reach of justice; detecting, investigating and prosecuting crimes;
incarcerating criminals; and ultimately preventing violations of law and building a rule of law culture.
Government institutions must be sufficiently competent, transparent, and accountable to carry out their respective functions. These institutions must also have the respect and support of the communities they serve.
Challenges include: evolving nature of threats; political instability in many countries; lack of political will;
corruption; threats to the security of our implementers; flexibility to respond to changing threats; inadequate community engagement; and minimal involvement of marginalized or vulnerable populations.
There is no one-size fits all solution to transnational criminal threats. Every solution must be tailored to support specific objectives. The fluid nature of transnational crime, corruption, and human rights abuses should be addressed by utilizing a variety of tools, both programmatic and diplomatic, to undermine the criminal threat wherever it exists.
Opportunities for enhanced partnership include joint staff training in ROL and SSA; increased country-level collaboration on ROL and law enforcement assistance (to include assessment, project design, implementation and evaluation); improved linkages between CT, CVE and community security; and joint analytical efforts on rule of law.
U.S. government strategies, including the National Drug Control Strategy, the White House Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime, the U.S. NAP on WPS, the SSA Presidential Policy Directive, and strategies derived from the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, are guiding principles influencing this strategic objective. The Department of State and USAID will continue to support U.S. national interests by promoting international anti-crime and anti-trafficking policies, and implementing criminal justice and wider rule of law programs bilaterally and through multilateral engagements. The Department of State and USAID’s work will be undertaken in collaboration with federal partners, international colleagues, civil society, non-governmental and academic institutions, state and local government experts, and private industry. State and USAID will continue
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to support the SSA Presidential Policy Directive which established an interagency framework to plan, synchronize, and implement security assistance through a whole-of-government process.
Performance Goal Progress Update
Key Indicator: Number of countries with which the U.S. has signed agreements to strengthen the criminal justice system, or with the judicial, police, or corrections sector
FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017
Target 40 40 40 40
Result 72 41
Indicator Analysis
In order to embark on partnerships to develop the criminal justice systems of our foreign governments, using U.S. assistance, the Department of State signs bilateral agreements outlining the commitment of both governments to specific programs moving forward. This outlines both the U.S. commitments for capacity assistance, and the commitments of our partner government moving forward. INL has exceeded the target of working with 40 partner country governments in FY 2015 to build their capacity to address transnational organized crime and improve government accountability. Bilateral agreements are used to detail the precise nature of our efforts with partner countries, in order to develop criminal justice capacity to address civilian security, transnational organized crime, and government accountability. They represent specific commitments both by the U.S. Government and by our partner governments to our efforts moving forward.
Indicator Methodology
Data for this indicator is derived from the number of countries that Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) have entered into Letter of Agreements (LOAs) and Amended Letter of Agreements (ALOAs) with partner countries. These agreements are the result of often lengthy negotiations on the nature of our criminal justice assistance partnerships. The number of agreements consists of a combination of
agreements with new countries, the continuation of work with partner countries and changes to existing agreements. The changes may include new commitments in capacity building to address civilian security.
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Key Indicator: Number of U.S. government-assisted courts with improved case management systems
FY 2012 FY 2013
Baseline FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017
Target N/A N/A 917 339 297 170
Result 702 1,344 1,256 409
Indicator Analysis
By helping build effective case management systems, assisted governments are able to increase the
effectiveness, compliance, and accountability of justice systems. Improved case management leads to a more effective justice system by decreasing case backlog and case disposition time, reducing administrative burdens on judges, increasing transparency of judicial procedures, and improving compliance with procedural law.
The U.S. government did not meet its FY 2015 target of 714 for this indicator due a miscalculation of targets for Indonesia of 320. In actuality the target should have been 20. Despite that overestimated target, overall progress for this indicator is due to greater than anticipated interest from cooperating courts, adjustment of the methodology for improving courts, and expansion of the types of eligible courts in several countries.
Indicator Methodology
Data Source: FY 2015 Performance Reports as collected in the Foreign Assistance Coordination and Tracking System.
Data Quality: Performance data, verified using data quality assessments (DQA), must meet standards of validity, integrity, precision, reliability, and timeliness. Each Operating Unit must document the methodology used to conduct the DQAs. DQA and data source records are maintained in the Performance Management Plans;
Missions certify via the Performance Plan and Report that a DQA has occurred within the last three years. (For details, refer to USAID's Automated Directive System [ADS] Chapter 203.3.5,
http://www.usaid.gov/ads/policy/200/203).
Key Indicator: Number of domestic non-governmental organizations engaged in monitoring or advocacy work on human rights receiving U.S. government support
FY 2012 FY 2013
Baseline FY 2014 FY 2015 FY 2016 FY 2017
Target N/A N/A 777 920 604 292
Result 818 914 1,001 1,253
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Indicator Analysis
The U.S. government promotes and defends human rights through a range of activities including: supporting NGOs that advocate for and monitor human rights; training and supporting human rights defenders and other watchdog groups; providing legal assistance and medical and psycho-social care and treatment to victims of organized violence and torture; supporting atrocity prevention efforts; supporting counter-trafficking in persons efforts; promoting transitional justice initiatives; and promoting and protecting the rights of vulnerable groups including LGBT persons, indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, war victims, and displaced children and orphans. With the release of the new USAID Strategy on Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (DRG) and creation of a DRG Center at USAID, “human rights” has been elevated as a co-equal pillar alongside democracy and governance, a new Human Rights Team has been created, and a Human Rights Grants Program was launched in order to assist Missions with the development of human rights programs.
The U.S. government exceeded its FY 2015 target for the number of domestic NGOs engaged in monitoring or advocacy work on human rights by 333 NGOs due to the expansion of the definition for targeted recipients and increased demand for training.
Indicator Methodology
Data Source: FY 2014 Performance Reports as collected in the Foreign Assistance and Coordination System.
Data Quality: Performance data are verified using Data Quality Assessments (DQA) and must meet five data quality standards of validity, integrity, precision, reliability, and timeliness. The methodology used for
conducting the DQAs must be well documented by each OU. (For details, refer to USAID's Automated Directive System [ADS] Chapter 203.3.11, http://www.usaid.gov/policy/ads/200/203.pdf).