We are proud to launch Publish What You Fund’s 2025–2030 strategy—an ambitious roadmap to reinforce transparency as a pillar of effective, accountable development finance. This strategy builds on years of progress while responding to the new challenges of our time.
Publish What You Fund will not be running the Aid Transparency Index in 2026, and all future editions are in doubt unless further funding can be secured. The Index has provided an independent assessment and ranking of the transparency of the world’s largest aid agencies since 2012. It has had a significant impact on the quality and quantity of aid data that is published to the IATI Standard. Without it, there is great risk of an unchecked decline in aid transparency.
Our new report shows a troubling lack of transparency among philanthropic foundations that pledged to increase direct funding to local organisations. Despite commitments made in 2022 through the Donor Statement on Supporting Locally Led Development, the vast majority have failed to report targets or progress.
Aid transparency is the law. The 2016 Foreign Aid Accountability Act and 2018 Evidence-Based Policymaking Act mandate public access to U.S. foreign assistance data. The removal of key USAID data sets and websites limits the ability to assess program effectiveness and spending. Without transparency, accountability weakens. The solution isn’t less data, but better data. Expanding subcontractor details and evaluations would strengthen oversight—not erase it.
Our regular roundup of news on aid and development transparency – featuring our new training on using aid data, details of where to find USAID data, our new programme to review the transparency of UK aid, plus the latest news and publications on aid and development statistics, US foreign assistance, climate finance and development finance transparency.
What is UK aid being spent on, how much of it is being channelled through non-FCDO departments , how is the UK’s aid changing, and what impact is it having? In order to answer these questions we need detailed, transparent data about UK aid. Over the coming eight months Publish What You Fund will review the availability, accessibility and quality of information published by eight of the largest (non-FCDO) UK aid-spending departments, plus the Integrated Security Fund.
