Henry Lewis

How visible is development cooperation beyond the DAC?

By Henry Lewis | Oct 13, 2026 | Blog

As the traditional aid landscape shifts, a wider group of governments is playing a growing role in development cooperation. But how much of their contribution is visible in public data? The second report in our Making Impact Visible series assesses the transparency of 47 providers of international development cooperation that are not part of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC). In this post, Henry Lewis sets out what the research covered, the strong data foundations it identified, and the information that’s missing.

How visible is the UN’s impact?

By Henry Lewis | Mar 16, 2026 | Blog, News

UN transparency is essential to support coordination, accountability, learning and effective use of resources. In a new brief, Publish What You Fund has reviewed the transparency practices of 20 of the largest operational UN agencies, focusing on how consistently and effectively they publish financial and programme information in the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) Standard.

Localisation re-imagined: Is it time for a new aid system?

By Henry Lewis | Jul 16, 2025 | Blog

In May, we released our Metrics Matter III report, which found that major donors are still only directing a tiny portion of their funding to local organisations. Our findings provided the springboard to a broader discussion on what’s holding locally led development back – and what needs to change. In this blog, Henry Lewis reflects on the conversation among civil society leaders, donors, and policy experts, and where we go from here.

Watch Now – Localisation re-imagined: Funding for local actors in a changing aid landscape

By Henry Lewis | Jun 3, 2025 | Events

Publish What You Fund’s three recent localisation studies have found that commitments from major donors and philanthropies to increase local funding have not yet led to meaningful change. Our latest research, Metrics Matter III: Counting Local, shows that five major bilateral donors are still only providing a fraction of their funding directly to local organisations. […]

Are donors delivering on local funding promises? Not yet.

By Henry Lewis | May 22, 2025 | Blog

Today, we are launching Metrics Matter III: Counting Local, the third instalment in our Metrics Matter research series tracking direct funding to local organisations. Our findings reveal that despite strong rhetoric, donor funding practices have yet to meaningfully reflect the localisation agenda.

Localisation re-imagined: Funding for local actors in a changing aid landscape

By Henry Lewis | May 9, 2025 | Events

Join us on 28 May as we bring together voices from local groups, INGOs, think tanks and funders to explore the current state of locally led development, the old and new barriers to change, and what needs to happen for local actors to have the power, resources and recognition they deserve. We’ll discuss if this is the time to rethink how we approach localisation.