Promises Versus Progress: How transparent are foundations about their local funding commitments?

Abstract

The localisation movement has been gaining traction for a number of years, with calls to shift decision-making and implementation to the local level. These calls were primarily aimed at bilateral donors, but in December 2022, 26 philanthropic foundations joined donor governments in endorsing the Donor Statement on Supporting Locally Led Development. This was a public commitment to prioritise local leadership in development efforts. A key component of this commitment - Action 2 - focuses on increasing direct funding to local organisations. Having philanthropies join bilaterals was, and is, a welcome step – localisation is not an easy lift so having philanthropies and bilateral donors aligned bolsters the chance of success.What was not included in the statement, however, was a mechanism to track and report progress on these commitments.Publish What You Fund has been researching and assessing locally led development for several years. We assessed the United States Agency for International Development's (USAID's) progress on its target to channel 25% of its funding directly to local organisations, and compared five leading donors on their local funding efforts. This report focuses on the extent to which the 26 philanthropic foundations who signed the December 2022 Commitment are tracking and reporting their progress on locally led development