In 2010, the U.S. Agency for International Development launched USAID Forward, an agency-wide reform agenda aimed at strengthening aid mechanisms, improving the impact of development programs and fostering innovative solutions for the most pressing development challenges. One key component of this strategy involves allocating 30 percent of agency funding to local partners by 2015. Five years on, USAID remains below that target. But while the aid agency fell short of its ambitious goal, recent years have shown a steady increase in the percentage of funding channeled to local institutions.
Devex takes a closer look at the most recent data to see how aid spending for local solutions has taken shape under USAID Forward.
The big picture