Publish What You Fund is the global campaign for aid and development transparency

We envisage a world where aid and development information is transparent, available and used for effective and inclusive decision-making, public accountability and lasting change for all citizens.

We work to ensure that all aid and development data is transparent and available, usable and used. We believe that this kind of data has the potential to be transformative and contribute to better development outcomes and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We combine robust research and technical expertise with targeted advocacy and engagement in order to make aid and development efforts more transparent and effective.

In order to achieve our mission, we focus on three strategic pillars:

1. Engaging with data: Collaborating to ensure that actors engage around development data and that this data is used to contribute to improved outcomes and achievement of local, national, and global development goals, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
2. Full transparency: Making all aid and development finance data transparent, available and usable.
3. More quality data: Strengthening and extending our research, advocacy and technical expertise to improve the quality and usability of aid and development finance information.

The way we think and talk about aid transparency is evolving. We are moving towards a definition of transparency which includes not just publication but engagement and accountability. We have also been reviewing the language we use and reflecting on our position and power. Our 2021-2024 strategy sets out how we want to work and what we want to achieve by 2024.

We are an independent NGO and have been central to the aid and development finance transparency movement since 2008. Our team is now spread across four time zones; our head office is in London and we maintain representation in Washington DC, where our work is supported by Friends of Publish What You Fund.

Publish What You Fund’s annual assessment is a very powerful driver for improving reporting on aid transparency…you [Publish What You Fund] really motivated us to work very hard…

we’ve seen [the Index] as a huge incentive to work to excel.

- Helen Clark, Administrator, UNDP, 2016 Index launch