Country-Led Strategy: A Foundation for Localization

Moving Power to the Countries Where Pathfinder Works

A Country-led Approach to Localization

At Pathfinder, we are moving assertively to make sure our leadership and organizational structures reflect a country-led, community-focused model, with equity and inclusivity are at the heart of everything we do. Our country-led strategy ensures that leadership, resources, and decision-making are anchored directly in the countries where we work in Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East, making our impact more sustainable, relevant, and effective.

Our country-led approach centers the expertise of individuals in Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East in how we deliver on our mission. It deepens local ownership of our work, mirroring our approach to localization that centers the voices, ingenuity, and self-determination of the communities we serve. Our well-resourced country teams are equipped to partner closely with local organizations and communities—working together to identify and meet their own health and development goals.

We recognize that international development programs, including our own, have been rooted in a legacy of colonialism and structural oppression that devalued the expertise, ingenuity, creativity, and inherent dignity of local partners and communities in many countries around the world. Our country-led strategy, grounded in the principles of localization, seeks to dismantle these harmful power structures.

Shared Leadership Model

Pathfinder’s Global Leadership Council brings together senior leaders from the organization’s offices in Africa and South Asia with members of our existing leadership team to lead and make key decisions for the organization. The Global Leadership Council reflects Pathfinder’s commitment to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive governance structure.

Pathfinder has an interim CEO based in Pakistan and two regional Presidents: a President, Africa, and a President, South Asia, Middle East, and North Africa. Pathfinder’s Presidents are based in the regions they lead, providing close oversight of country programs, fostering important new partnerships across their regions, and developing locally relevant strategies that allow Pathfinder to deliver on its mission and advance country-led solutions for sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Country-led Operations

We’ve made a series of operational changes that leverage the full spectrum of talents across the organization and allow decisions to be made closer to the point of impact. This includes shifting our planning, budgeting, and business development processes to be driven by our country teams; offering our country teams more resources and core staffing for sustainability beyond a project lifetime; significantly increasing the number of global roles in countries outside of the US; moving granting, contracting, safeguarding, and security authorities to countries of operation; and revolutionizing our IT and data systems to better meet the needs of country offices.

Localization

Our country-led strategy is foundational to upholding our commitment to localization. Through our approach to localization, we commit to:

Creating a partnership of equals with regional, national, and community-based organizations that honor and uplift the unique value these organizations hold.
Supporting a sustainable transformation towards local ownership, where we work alongside local partners to advance key skills and systems that prepare them to lead globally funded projects.

Our localization activities look different based on the diverse contexts in which we work and the many partners we engage. Central to our approach is the co-creation, participation, and meaningful engagement of communities and local organizations in the design, delivery, oversight, and monitoring of projects and project activities. We pay special attention to the meaningful and equitable inclusion of historically underserved or marginalized groups during the co-creation process.

We also work to transition project leadership functions to our local partners, seeking to redefine our role as a prime implementer to that of a steward, convener, or facilitator. We support regional and national NGOs interested in receiving direct funding from global donors, anchoring our transition support within the context of a transparent, collaborative three-way relationship between ourselves, our partner, and the donor. And we continue our nearly 70-year legacy of strengthening the technical, operational, and management capacity of our partners, looking to our partners for guidance on how they would like to work together and where they need assistance.

Countries using this approach

Burkina Faso

Côte d’Ivoire

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Ethiopia

India

Kenya

Mozambique

Nigeria

Tanzania

Uganda

Featured Projects

Merankabandi II (Be Like the Others)

In Burundi’s Kirundo province, Pathfinder’s Merankabandi II project supports marginalized communities to adopt healthy behavior and strengthen their capacity for…

Youth Champions for Climate Resilience in West Africa (YCC)

The Youth Champions for Climate Resilience in West Africa (YCC) project is funded by Fondation CHANEL and implemented by Pathfinder…

FC2 Education and Promotion Project, Africa

The FC2 Education and Promotion Project, Africa is funded by the Female Health Company and implemented by Pathfinder International. Now…

Preventing Child Marriage in Cabo Delgado

Preventing Child Marriage in Cabo Delgado improves the lives and livelihoods of adolescent girls and young women by reducing child,…

Hands Off II

Hands Off II seeks to reduce all forms of violence against sex workers and violations of their human rights in…

Shaping Adolescent Girls’ and Young Women’s Lives through Improved Sexual and Reproductive Health Outcomes

The project, which takes place in 12 districts across three provinces—Maputo City, Cabo Delgado, and Maputo provinces—reaches adolescent girls and…

USAID Efficiencies for Clinical HIV Outcomes (ECHO)

In Mozambique, Pathfinder supports the Government of Mozambique to achieve HIV and AIDS epidemic control and establish a sustainable government-led…

Women-Led Climate Resilience (WLCR)

In Egypt, Pathfinder is working together with its partners to establish greener health clinics and communities The Women-Led Climate Resilience…

Strengthening Health Systems to Increase Access to Post-Pregnancy Family Planning (Qadam-Ba-Qadam)

This project seeks to ensure provincial health departments in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, and Balochistan offer quality postpartum and postabortion…

Promoting Results and Outcomes through Policy and Economic Levers (PROPEL) Adapt

By working with partners to strengthen policy, advocacy, financing, and governance, PROPEL Adapt aims to build the resilience of health…

Building Healthy Families

The Building Healthy Families (BHF), funded by the US Agency for International Development, seeks to improve health outcomes in Pakistan…

Droit en Santé Sexuel et Reproductive – Ado & Jeunes

Nearly 30% of women in the DRC have experienced sexual violence. We are working to change that. Pathfinder joins local partners…

All Projects