While hardly the only major donor to steadily move funding to the local level in recent years, few donors have been as ambitious in going local as the U.S. Agency for International Development. Back in 2010, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah set the target of funneling 30 percent of USAID’s funding to local organizations by fiscal 2015 — a key pillar of his sweeping reform agenda called USAID Forward.
Four years on, USAID’s latest data set on USAID Forward — released in April — reveals that the agency is now more than halfway toward its 30 percent local funding target. According to the agency’s data set, which only tracks direct awardees, 17.9 percent of the agency’s funding was channeled to local organizations in fiscal 2013 — up from 14.3 percent in fiscal 2012 and 9.7 percent in fiscal 2010.
About the author
Lorenzo Piccio@lorenzopiccio
Lorenzo is a contributing analyst for Devex. Previously Devex's senior analyst for development finance in Manila, he is currently an MA candidate in international economics and international development at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington. Lorenzo holds a bachelor's degree in government and social studies from Wesleyan University.
