Big Aid is one of the key payers at scale for solutions, but it mostly funds a small number of companies — known in our sector as the DC “Beltway Bandits” — who focus on massive development contracts as a business. This norm creates poor incentives and rewards the wrong behavior: instead of investing in solutions with lasting impact, Big Aid funds costly one-time projects.
Unlock Aid aims to change the rules of how development works, starting with USAID’s $50B budget. They do this through advocacy, engagement with civil service staff, and a coalition of high-impact organizations (including many from Mulago’s portfolio). Unlock Aid has a cheap, systematic approach to change development funding policies and practices, and it works.
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