There’s a growing consensus within the global development community that shifting international aid and decision-making power to local organizations is the right thing to do.
Less is known about the financial argument for localization.
A new study attempts to put a dollar figure on these benefits by modeling a shift of official development assistance from international to local intermediaries. It finds that local intermediaries can deliver aid that is 32% more cost effective than their international counterparts, mostly due to lower overhead and salary costs.