PRESS RELEASE: Publish What You Fund Welcomes UK Aid Transparency Guarantee
London – Publish What You Fund yesterday welcomed the announcement of a new “Aid Transparency Guarantee” by the UK Government. The Guarantee promises that “aid information will be made fully transparent to citizens in both the UK and recipient countries”. Implementing these standards in the UK and advocating for other donors to adopt the same will result in a significant increase in aid effectiveness.
Upon being appointed Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell pledged to increase aid transparency as a means of achieving greater value for money in aid for the UK taxpayer, contributing to the government-wide drive toward financial accountability.
Building on the UK’s leading role within the International Aid Transparency Initiative, the Guarantee states that:
· “Information published will be comprehensive, accessible, comparable, accurate and timely.
· We will allow anyone to reuse our information, including to create new applications which make it easier to see where aid is being spent.”
Critically, the UK will also advocate for these standards of aid transparency internationally:
· “Requiring, over time, any civil society organisation that is in direct receipt of DFID funds to adhere to similar standards of transparency and accountability, and pushing multilateral organisations to do the same. This means that UK taxpayers will be able to better see where their money is being spent.
· Pressing other donors – bilateral, multilateral and non-traditional – to adhere to similar standards of transparency as set out in the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI). This will make it much easier for people to see all the aid from all donors, and get a full picture of the aid being spent in each country.”
“This important announcement gives the international campaign for aid transparency fresh momentum – with new UK leadership on IATI the possibility of a meaningful global consensus on aid transparency is closer than ever before. The UK government deserves praise for this dramatic step towards ensuring aid transparency by making sure all information is made available, accessible, comprehensive, timely and comparable,” said Publish What You Fund Director Karin Christiansen.
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/News-Stories/2010/The-UKAid-Transparency-Guarantee/