RESULT: A significant, intended, and measurable change in the condition of a customer, or a change in the host country, institutions, or other entities that will affect the customer directly or indirectly. Results are linked by causal relationships; i.e., a result is achieved because related, interdependent result(s) were achieved. Strategic Objectives (SOs) are the most ambitious results that a USAID operating unit, along with its partners, can materially affect, and for which it is willing to be held accountable. Intermediate results (IRs) are important results that are seen as essential steps to achieving a Strategic Objective. IRs are measurable results that may capture a number of discrete and more specific results. IRs may also help achieve other IRs. (ADS Chapters 200-203)

What is a results-oriented assistance instrument?
A grant or cooperative agreement awarded to a Development Partner to achieve results that contribute to USAID's performance goals.

What are the principal elements of results-oriented assistance instruments?
A results-oriented assistance instrument is a grant or cooperative agreement that employs three key elements:

Each element performs an important role, but they are broad, evolving concepts to be applied flexibly and in a manner appropriate to the unique facts and circumstances of particular programs. The following table notes some of the main components or attributes of each of these elements of results-oriented assistance:

Key Elements	Components or Attributes
Results-Oriented Program Description	description of specific results to be achieved in support of intermediate results (and ultimately, strategic objectives), as well as how these align with the Agency's Strategic Plan description, without over prescriptive detail, of strategies and processes to achieve intended results assessment of key factors both within and outside the Development Partner's control customer needs analysis and other appraisals used in articulating intended results
Performance Management System (monitoring and evaluating performance)	performance indicators to measure and assess the achievement of planned results--at the output, outcome, intermediate result, and, where applicable, strategic objective level baseline data and performance goals at various levels of result (target level of performance against which actual achievement can be compared means to be used to verify and validate measurements reports and uses of performance information
Responsibility for Performance	responsibility for achieving results (accountability) distinction between unforeseen or external challenges, and real performance deficiencies within the Recipient's reasonable control reports and uses of performance information

Whose results? USAID's? The Development Partner's?

If you answered "both" to these questions, you are right! A distinguishing characteristic of assistance instruments is that they create a partnership relationship. In this partnership, both USAID and its Development Partners contribute to the formulation and refinement of the results to be sought, just as both will be cooperating to achieve these results.

The program to be implemented through a results-oriented assistance instrument is the Development Partner's program. But the program is supported by public funds tied to USAID's mandate of achieving results laid out in the Agency Strategic Plan and Strategic Framework. Part of USAID's mandate includes ensuring that the use of public funds achieves results that are customer-focused. USAID cannot do it alone. USAID achieves results in concert with its Development Partners, partners with shared objectives and strategies.

The purpose of results-oriented assistance instruments (grants and cooperative agreements is to achieve results that are aligned to the Agency Strategic Plan and performance goals. The emphasis in USAID and Development Partners' planning and implementation documents should be on delineation of results and performance measurement, not on inputs and processes. Achieving results at the output level and the outcome level is very much the responsibility of the Development Partner (Recipient). The Strategic Objective (SO) Team ensures the alignment of the various contributions of the different Development Partners to the Agency Strategic Plan.

What does results-oriented assistance mean for USAID and for Recipients?

Planning results-oriented assistance, achieving results, and monitoring and evaluating performance (PDF 695KB) of results-oriented assistance will require teamwork within the SO Team (USAID employees and those partners and customers considered to be essential for achieving the SO) on the following aspects:

• Customer-defined results.
• Up-front clarity on specific measurable results that the SO Team and Development Partner (Recipient) are committed to achieve within a timeframe.
• Alignment of Development Partner (Recipient) and SO Team results.
• Empowerment of the Development Partner (Recipient) to use reasonable management latitude to adjust its budget and program plans.
• Establishment of joint monitoring mechanisms that enable USAID and the Development Partner (Recipient) to know when results are, or are not, being achieved.
• Clarity on performance targets and responsibility for performance.
• Patience and objectivity to ensure that performance issues are handled appropriately, and the true causes of any failure to achieve intended results are identified.
• Flexibility for USAID, and the Development Partner (Recipient), to make adjustments when necessary.