The Global Civil Society Strengthening (GCSS) LWA

Led by Counterpart International (Counterpart), the five-year Global Civil Society Strengthening Leader with Associates (GCSS LWA) will serve USAID Missions, Regional Bureaus and Offices in the implementation of civil society, media development, and program design and learning activities around the world.

Global Presence

Counterpart and its GCSS Consortium partners have active programs and/or offices in 139 countries on every continent around the globe, including:

100 percent coverage in rebuilding and transforming countries,
88 percent coverage in developing countries,
91 percent coverage in restrictive countries,
79 percent coverage in sustaining partnership countries, and
77 percent coverage in non-presence countries.

This geographic breadth perfectly positions the Consortium to respond quickly and effectively to the civil society programming needs of USAID missions around the world.

Resource Partners will be called upon to meet niche programming needs and to assist with identifying credible local groups, government contacts, private sector actors, under-served or minority groups, and youth and women’s organizations.

Access to More than 23,000 Local and Regional Partners

The GCSS Consortium has access to more than 23,000 local and regional partners around the world (including NGOs, CSOs, trade unions and professional associations, businesses and media outlets, and government institutions at all levels) and can at any given time tap into local, sector-specific technical expertise that will serve as resources for project design, start-up, and implementation—ensuring that our interventions are culturally and contextually relevant and sustainable, and enabling us to keep costs as low as possible.