The Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) is a branch of the USAID's Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance (DCHA), created in 1994 to "bridge the gap between emergency disaster relief programs and long-term development assistance".
In 2020, the program had outlays averaging approximately $100 million annually.
History Lawrence Eagleburger, former Secretary of State under President George H. W. Bush, urged USAID during the Cold War to find ways to move more quickly to address foreign policy priorities in order to stay relevant to national security decision-making. Incoming USAID Administrator J. Brian Atwood, three months after being confirmed, sent a proposal to establish a USAID Office of Crisis and Transition Management, which United States Congress approved. Congress approved language enabling OFDA funds being used for "reconstruction" and earmarked $10 million funds to be used for "transition" activities.
The Office of Transition Initiatives was officially formed in 1994 in order to provide emergency disaster relief programs and long-term development assistance. "Transition programs" were launched in Angola and Haiti that year.
Funding reached $60 million by 2000. In 2001, Congressional appropriators established a separate budgetary line item for "Transitional Initiatives", which were to be used to "support transition to democracy and long-term development of countries in crisis", including "assistance to develop, strengthen, or preserve democratic institutions and processes, revitalize basic infrastructure, and foster the peaceful resolution of conflict".
In the years following the September 11 attacks, funding for the OTI ballooned, reaching nearly $300 million by 2005. Funding sharply fell in the subsequent years, but remained higher than pre-9/11 levels.
The stated mission of the OTI is "to support U.S. foreign policy objectives by helping local partners advance peace and democracy in priority countries in crisis. Seizing critical windows of opportunity, OTI works on the ground to provide fast, flexible, short-term assistance targeted at key political transition and stabilization needs".
Partnerships The OTI works with a variety of intra-agency and other US government entities, local and international organizations, academic institutions and think tanks, nonprofit and private development firms, and military entities. OTI personnel share information and coordinate with other USAID units offices, including the now-defunct Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, Conflict Management and Mitigation, and Democracy, Human Rights and Governance, and Regional Bureaus.
Country Programs
Afghanistan By 2004, the OTI had supported the launch of Kabul's first privately-owned radio station, and created a network of 32 OTI-funded radio stations throughout the country. The OTI would engage in numerous other media-focused activities, including upgrading shortwave transmitters used throughout the country, and awarding a grant to the UK-based non-profit Institute for War and Peace Reporting to "build the capacity of local print and broadcast journalists".
The OTI also provided support for the country's loya jirgas throughout the 2000s.
In July 2009, the OTI launched the first phase of its program in the now-defunct Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to support the U.S. Government's stabilization and reconstruction initiatives. The objective of the Afghanistan Stabilization Initiative (ASI) was to address instability by fostering and strengthening conditions that build links between the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA) and local Afghan communities. In collaboration with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the OTI program aimed to support communities in violence-prone areas where stabilization projects are needed most.
In March 2012, OTI began the second phase of its current engagement in Afghanistan. Through the Community Cohesion Initiative (CCI), OTI stated it aimed to improve stability in areas vulnerable to insurgent exploitation in order to create an enabling environment for sustainable peace and traditional development programs by (1) strengthening ties between local actors, customary governance structures, and the GIRoA and (2) empowering community-based resiliencies to mitigate sources of instability.
OTI designed and implemented clusters of small grants. OTI utilizes both "soft" (community-leadership shuras, District Governor outreach visits) and "hard" (small-scale infrastructure) activities which aimed to strengthen linkages between communities vulnerable to insurgent exploitation and the government of the now-defunct Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
The OTI worked alongside the now-defunct Ministry of Women's Affairs, providing technical support, and funding the rehabilitation of its building complex. The office provided material support to Ariana, a women's rights organization that provided educational courses for women, including during the first Taliban regime, and the Afghan Women’s Network.
Bolivia The OTI had a program in Bolivia, which ended in 2007, designed to "reduce tensions and build community cohesion in areas prone to social conflict, reinforce government capacity to respond to citizen needs, and facilitate peaceful, constructive participation in the democratic process". The office provided support to Aymara youth organizations to organize workshops in rural communities about the country's electoral processes. In collaboration with the departmental government of La Paz, OTI programs contracted Motorola to install internet services in rural areas in the region.
Bosnia and Herzegovina Beginning in 1996, the OTI worked in Bosnia and Herzegovina to create messages "designed to reshape hardline nationalist attitudes and promote respect for human rights and basic freedoms". The OTI funded journalists, and worked with media outlets in the country to produce public announcements, distribute literature, and conduct call-in shows.
Burundi In Burundi, an OTI program in 2005 organized events to promote participation in the country's local elections.
Colombia In March 2007, the OTI launched a program to help "establish credibility" for the Colombian government in areas impacted by political violence and narcotrafficking. OTI aims included helping the government support local schools, sports programs, health centers, infrastructure, and to create income-generating projects in local communities. In addition to aiming to build rapport for civilian government representatives, the OTI worked to improve the reputation of Colombia's police and armed forces.
Part of the focus of OTI programs in Colombia was to aid small farmers, who historically lacked advanced irrigation systems and access to large urban markets, like Bogotá.
Côte d'Ivoire
The OTI engaged in missions in the Côte d'Ivoire following its contested 2010 presidential election. This election was a part of the 2007 Ouagadougou Political Agreement, which outlined steps toward reunifying the country after its division into a government-controlled south and a rebel-controlled north. The accord sought to aid the process of ensuring Côte d'Ivoire's democratic transition, but instead, the situation deteriorated into the Second Ivorian Civil War, where 3,000 people lost their lives, hundreds of thousands were displaced, and an already tense social and political environment throughout the region was inflamed.
To assist the new government of Alassane Ouattara, the OTI created a program aimed to support the priorities of Ouattara's administration. The program stated aim was to work with the government and local groups to identify and respond to community needs, to encourage a peaceful transition, and demonstrate the benefits of a responsive government.
Cuba Between 2009 and 2012 the OTI secretly created and funded a Twitter-like service for Cubans called ZunZuneo, initially based on the mobile phone text message service and later with an internet interface. Contractors and front companies in the Cayman Islands, Spain and Ireland were used to provide the service. A longer term objective was to organize "smart mobs" that might "renegotiate the balance of power between the state and society." A database about the subscribers was created, including gender, age, and "political tendencies". At its peak ZunZuneo had 40,000 Cuban users, but the service closed as financially unsustainable when OTI funding was stopped. USAID, however, said that the system was not for political purposes and many parts of news articles about ZunZuneo, such as the smart mobs, were not accurate, and that it actually had close to 70,000 subscribers.USAID Blog Post "Eight Facts About ZunZuneo""USAID Says Building Of 'Cuban Twitter' Was Part Of Public Record" , NPR.
Democratic Republic of the Congo Following the Sun City Agreement, the OTI provided material support for numerous radio stations throughout the country. OTI programs in the country provided the UN-founded Radio Okapi with two transmitters and four relay stations to expand its broadcasting reach.
Haiti The OTI has operated in Haiti for numerous years, in collaboration with the Haitian government, numerous UN organs, including the International Organization for Migration and the now-defunct MINUSTAH, as well as various local groups. A focus of OTI operations has been areas impacted by gang violence, and attempting to improve infrastructure local to these areas to improve government credibility.
The OTI began its "Haiti Transition Initiative" (HTI) in January 2004, with a dialogue meeting in Cité Soleil around restoring local infrastructure. By 2005, in collaboration with the Haitian government and MINUSTAH, the OTI had backed several labor-intensive infrastructure projects meant to improve government credibility, and provide short-term jobs. Initial OTI-backed programs did not require participants affiliated with gangs to relinquish their weapons, although this was later changed to encourage disarmament.
The OTI sought to support the US government's aims in Haiti through work in Port-au-Prince, Saint Marc, and Cap Haitien. Following the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the OTI embarked on a two-phase program.
Phase 1 of its program, "Earthquake Relief and Recovery", lasted from January 2010 to July 2011. Its stated aims were large-scale cash-for-work projects, rehabilitation of roads and other public infrastructure, public information campaigns related to the 2010s Haiti cholera outbreak and national elections, and providing technical assistance to the Government of Haiti.
Phase 2 of its program, "Transitional Assistance", lasted from August 2011 to September 2013. Its stated aims were to develop community engagement and strategic communications support for US government investments in northern Haiti, livelihoods development and vocational training, restoration and improvement of public spaces, resettlement of earthquake-affected families, and capacity building assistance to local and national government.
Honduras
The OTI began a program in Honduras in July 2012, with the stated aims of seeking to improve community security, and to increase citizen confidence in government institutions.
Iraq In Iraq, the OTI opened various women's centers to offer nutrition and health classes, literacy programs, civic education programs, and internet services.
Kenya The OTI launched its Kenya program in June 2008, four months after Kenya's competing political parties adopted a peace accord and power-sharing agreement to stem political and interethnic violence that followed Kenya's contested 2007 elections. Its program's initial stated aims were to "contribute to the overall U.S. goal of supporting peace and stability in the Greater Horn of Africa". The OTI hired Maryland-based company DAI Global as its contractor in Kenya.