Beneficiary numbers are the easiest figure in the sector to inflate, and the hardest to interrogate.
Almost every organisation in this sector publishes a headline number of people reached. Very few publish the definition that produced it. The difference between the two is where most of the sector’s credibility problem lives.
A "person reached" can mean someone who received a month of food support, or someone who walked past a health education poster. Both are defensible. They are not comparable, and presenting either without its definition invites a reader to assume the stronger one.
What we publish
- Direct beneficiaries and indirect reach are reported separately, never combined.
- Each figure states what it counts and over what period.
- A household is counted once, not once per activity it took part in.
- Where a programme underperformed against its target, the target is published too.
This produces smaller headline numbers than the alternative. We think that is the correct trade: a figure that can be interrogated is worth more to a serious donor than a larger figure that cannot.
Verified quote from an LAHDI beneficiary or community partner. — to be supplied and verified by LAHDI.
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