Book excerpt: As more providers commit to support locally led development – whereby local actors have agency in framing, design, delivery, learning and accountability – this peer learning synthesis report provides a comprehensive overview of their efforts and strives to develop a common understanding and definition of locally led development co-operation. Building on existing practices, the report analyses to what extent providers’ systems can enhance or hinder the agency of local actors, looking in particular at policies, financing mechanisms, partnerships, and management processes. Rather than prescribing a singular pathway, it emphasises the importance of context-specific, sequenced, and locally defined approaches. Pathways Towards Effective Locally Led Development Co-operation: Learning by Example is a useful read for policymakers, practitioners and anyone committed to more equitable and effective development co-operation.