The U.S. decision to sign up to the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), signals a very welcome increase in their commitment to open, coordinated and transparent aid, said campaign group Publish What You Fund today. The announcement was made by the Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, at the fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, Korea.

Karin Christiansen, Managing Director of Publish What You Fund said: “This is a huge step forward for aid transparency and for the U.S as a responsible and effective aid donor. Increased transparency is vital for improving the impact of aid overall and this move by the U.S sends a strong signal to other donors who have not yet signed up. The tide is turning towards transparency.”

The U.S is the 25^th signatory to IATI, a common standard for publishing aid information that makes it easy to compare aid from donor to donor. Canada and the Asian Development Bank also signed up this week at the High Level Forum, meaning that signatories to the initiative now account for three quarters of global aid flows.

Christiansen: “The significance of this should not be underestimated. Greater transparency from donors has the potential to transform the way aid is managed, reducing waste, overlap and corruption and increasing impact.”

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Contact: Amy Barry in Korea on +82 (0)1056771829 or +44 (0)7908 664397 or Claudia Eliot in London on +44 (0)20 7920 6401