The Reality of Aid 2010 Report was presented in Brussels on the 7th December. The biennial report on aid and development cooperation issues is written by authors from NGOs worldwide, whose research draws on knowledge and expertise from aid agencies, academia, community-based organizations and governments.

This year the report highlights aid transparency’s central role in improving development effectiveness, stating:

“Accountability and citizen participation require all development organisations and recipient governments to work within a culture of full transparency. This should cover decision- making and implementation of all aid transactions and development programs. Over 50 countries have already introduced national freedom of information legislation. Mechanisms to enhance implementation must be brought forward, including appeals procedures for citizens who feel their rights to information have been compromised.

At the minimum, international donors must sign up to and implement the principles outlined in the International Aid Transparency Initiative. These include detailed technical standards and a code of conduct to ensure that donor documents and financial transaction data are made available rapidly and in a format that is comparable, freely accessible, and easy to understand.8 Each donor ministry involved in aid decisions must sign up to a comprehensive national aid transparency plan drawn up in consultation with civil society groups and parliamentarians.

Recipient governments must also continue to become more transparent so that their citizens can see how aid and the national resources put up as counterparts are allocated. The Open Budget Index is a useful reference point for such budget transparency.” (Reality of Aid 2010 Report p.20 -21)

The report states that Reality of Aid’s “effectiveness approach will be the basis for advocacy in the period leading up to and beyond the South Korea High Level Forum” (Reality of Aid 2010 Report p. 15). Publish What You Fund will be working to ensure that aid transparency remains a priority in this process.