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 believe full and fair access to global aid and development data empowers local actors, increases the accountability and effectiveness of aid agencies and creates a more just and equitable world. We use aid and development data to share understanding of spending and impact, to address global challenges and drive greater transparency. Through quantitative and qualitative analysis, often using vast open aid datasets, we identify and encourage improvements in policy and practice.

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