Gary Forster

A fair share? Reflections on USAID’s first localization progress report

By Sally Paxton and Gary Forster | Jun 28, 2023 | Blog

USAID has just provided a detailed update on its goal to direct 25% of its funding to local actors by 2025. Earlier this year, Publish What You Fund investigated the measurement of this 25% target and concluded that the choice of methodology could determine whether more than US$1.4 billion of additional funding is channeled to local actors each year. So we have been taking a close look at USAID’s progress report and the measures used.

Moving toward improved 2X disclosure

By Alex Farley and Gary Forster | Jun 6, 2023 | Blog

As 2X Global works to develop a new certification process for gender lens investors, we set out why greater transparency must be integrated into this process. Our new working paper provides four recommendations for improving the disclosure of 2X investments – so that we can understand their impact on women and girls, and ensure we are making the most effective use of our scarce resources.

The International Aid Transparency Initiative – We’ve come a long way in 15 years

By Gary Forster | Mar 9, 2023 | Blog

Ahead of the IATI Members’ Assembly in Copenhagen, we wanted to reflect on the growth of IATI, and highlight the burgeoning number of examples of stakeholders using IATI data for research, policy insights and ultimately to make development more effective.

$2 trillion in public assets but little transparency

By Gary Forster and Paul James | Jan 25, 2023 | News

The first ever ranking of the transparency of development finance institutions (DFIs) highlights a startling lack of public disclosure. The inaugural edition of the DFI Transparency Index examines the transparency of 30 DFI operations, with combined assets of $2 trillion. It reveals that across the board DFIs are insufficiently transparent.

The biggest challenge for the 2X Challenge? The urgent need for transparency

By Gary Forster | Dec 5, 2022 | Blog

The 2X Challenge has mobilised $11.4bn for women. But what do we know about these investments and how they’re advancing gender equality? Our team has looked back through the data to see how successful the 2X approach has been so far in channelling funds to women and girls. We found a transparency problem – and we’re calling for it to be fixed as part of the certification process.

Aid transparency comes of age

By Gary Forster | Jul 22, 2022 | Blog

On 13th July we launched the 2022 edition of the Aid Transparency Index. This was the 10th anniversary of the Index, and it marked a special moment. For the first time we’re witnessing data use examples flourishing. We’re seeing a variety of stakeholders, both locally and globally, using open aid data for research, programme design and engagement. Gary Forster summarises his key takeaways from the launch event.