Sally Paxton

Why US foreign assistance data must stay public: The case for aid transparency

By Sally Paxton and George Ingram | Feb 23, 2025 | Blog

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.

USAID’s localization progress: encouraging steps, but measurement challenges remain

By Gary Forster and Sally Paxton | Jan 22, 2025 | Blog

We’ve been tracking USAID’s localization journey since Administrator Samantha Power first announced the agency’s intention to provide 25% of its funding to local organizations in 2021. Our work has focused on the issue of how much money is actually channelled directly to local organizations. In this article, we reflect on USAID’s new FY 2024 localization progress report, highlighting where USAID is leading the way, identifying areas that still need attention, and looking ahead to what’s next.

A common thread for scaling development finance: transparency

By Sally Paxton and Guest | Nov 13, 2024 | Blog

Following the World Bank Annual Meetings, and amidst negotiations for the replenishment of the International Development Association, Sally Paxton and Nancy Lee sift through some of the issues holding back the scaling of public and private resources. They find a common thread – transparency – and argue that multilateral development banks should be using the power of their own data to help fill the information gaps that stand in the way of progress.

Transforming our understanding of what works to mobilise private investors

By Sally Paxton and Gary Forster | Oct 16, 2024 | Blog

Ahead of next week’s World Bank Annual Meetings, Sally Paxton discusses the critical role of development banks in mobilising private capital to meet global development goals, and why we still don’t understand what is working. She presents new recommendations from Publish What You Fund to fill the current knowledge gap by improving the measurement and disclosure of private capital mobilisation, and stresses why action is urgently needed.

USAID’s measurement approach is undermining its progress on localization and its goal to diversify its local partner base

By Sally Paxton and Henry Lewis | Jun 20, 2024 | Blog, News

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has made a bold
commitment to the localization agenda: it has set a target that 25% of its funding will go directly to local partners by 2025. However, our new analysis shows that how USAID defines and measures localization is actually undermining its progress and at odds with its aim to increase the diversity of local partners and amplify under-represented voices. It is allowing perverse incentives – such as affiliates of international organizations to be counted as local – and leaving significant funding opportunities – such as projectized funding that currently goes to UN agencies and multilaterals – untapped for local partners.

Is IDA’s Private Sector Window mobilizing the private sector?

By Sally Paxton | May 8, 2024 | Blog

Since the establishment of the International Development Association’s (IDA’s) Private Sector Window (PSW), there have been concerns about its structure, use of blended finance, and the inability to measure its progress and impact. With the start of IDA21 replenishment discussions, it is an appropriate time to analyze the PSW – especially to understand whether and how it is mobilizing the private sector. Finally, in the context of broader MDB reform efforts, how do we scale up private capital mobilization to close the significant financial gaps needed to meet the Sustainable Development Goals?