The UK Department for International Development (DFID) has this month released its updated Business Plan for 2011–2015.   This states that “DFID is committed to being a global leader on transparency. DFID regards transparency as fundamental to improving its accountability to UK citizens and to improving accountability to citizens in the countries in which it works. The transparency agenda will also help us achieve our goal of delivering more value for money in the programmes we deliver. Greater transparency will improve the effectiveness of aid in reducing poverty.” (p.25, DFID Business Plan 2011 – 2015)

Among the commitments which they will continue to implement are:

• Publishing full information on all new DFID projects over £500
• Expanding project data included in the new project database in line with international best practice, providing more detail and more frequent updates
• Making data more accessible by changing the format of the information published

(p.26, DFID Business Plan 2011 – 2015)

DFID has also been advancing efforts to integrate transparency within the partners that they fund and other donors. As well as leading on The International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), they plan work with other to ensure that standard of aid transparency and accountability are integrated into their work also.   Particularly, they will continue to press other donors – bilateral, multilateral and non-traditional – to adhere to IATI standards. (p.27, DFID Business Plan 2011 – 2015)

Publish What You Fund welcomes DFID’s ongoing work towards greater aid transparency. As well as focusing on its own breadth and quality of publication, its commitment to influencing others sets important precedents for aid transparency on a global level.