Unlock Aid is a global coalition of leading innovators with solutions to the biggest challenges in global development. We're driving a campaign to unlock public resources to achieve the SDGs by 2030.
We're calling on USAID to make more of its foreign aid data publicly available.
Big Problems
Big Change
Unlock Aid is a global coalition of change agents changing the status quo of global development. We advocate for policy reforms to end barriers to entry, so world-class innovators operating around the world can access the funding they need to scale their impact
Many of the reformers who work at traditional donor agencies want to work with this next generation of innovators. They know these organizations can deliver impact faster, cheaper and more sustainably than the status quo. But they’re struggling to connect with them within the constraints of their archaic systems.
We need to bridge this gap to ensure we achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and meet climate targets. Through consultations with 150+ world-class innovators, we've developed recommendations that governments and donors can adopt to work more closely with this next generation of change agents.
We've written a blueprint for the way forward.
January 2011
“This agency is no longer satisfied with writing big checks to big contractors and calling it development.”
Former USAID Administrator Raj Shah
October 2019
“Eighty percent of all of [USAID’s] money was going to just 75 organizations…that’s a bad thing for an agency…I believe in competition and we need everybody’s best. We need everybody’s most innovative, ingenious ideas. That’s how we continue to be effective.”
Former USAID Administrator Mark Green
June 2021
Throughout much of USAID’s history, a majority of projects have been awarded to the same select group of large contractors—a reality that holds back healthy competition [and] limits our exposure to new approaches…
USAID Administrator Samantha Power
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Our Three Part Strategy to Unlock Aid
Change the rules
Advocate for legislative and executive actions that will advance our reform agenda.
Shape the market
Promote transparency and other incentives to support competitive and fair practices.
Strengthen the innovators
Share insights and experiences to build capacity and partnership among our members and supporters.
A Coalition for Change
Unlock Aid is a coalition of leaders and pace-setting organizations who are organizing to drive big structural change in global development, starting with our public institutions. Together we will unleash the power, creativity and speed of experienced innovators in development, helping to shape the market and drive faster, more sustainable and less expensive outcomes at scale.