Three aid transparency predictions for 2014
It’s the second week of 2014, we are all back at work, and it already seems like Christmas was a distant memory. But that doesn’t mean it’s too late to think about what the long year stretching out before us might have in store.
Here are my three aid transparency predictions for 2014:
- France will be the biggest donor to make the most progress in 2014. We have high hopes for France in the year ahead, and we look forward to 2014 marking their first IATI publication.
- In fact, all donors will make more progress this year. We will spend much of this year pushing donors towards the 2015 Busan deadline, starting with the launch of our ‘Road to 2015’ campaign. I think savvy donors will use this push to not only stay on top of their aid transparency commitments, but try to get ahead of them this year.
- Aid transparency will continue to feature highly on the development agenda. Last year was all about the ‘Open Data Revolution’, and I don’t see transparency slipping off the agenda anytime soon, particularly as the development community will spend much of this year discussing the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals. The only question is, what will the buzz-phrase be this year?
I’d be really interested to know what others think. Am I on the money? Way off the mark?
Failing that, I’m always up for a friendly bet, so get in touch.
Dear Nicole,
The big questions is…does it really matter? I have been spending 3 (if not 4) years having discussion at the local level with host country governments about transparency in aid delivery…what does it really tell you at the end …and how useful is it for a local governments? Does it help measure it’s effectiveness? Why… when looking at the data from three different sources ….the final result is not the same (in this case I looked at OECD, World Bank, and host country website)
Most countries are now looking at Private Development Assistance to fill the gap for their shrinking commitment. Should we really care about the numbers they will publish? There are more human and financial resources flowing via private sources than through ODA. The definition itself of what can be counted as ODA keeps on changing. CSR, philanthropy, volunteering…local efforts and solidarity are channeling resources at the intended “cause” but in an accelerated “hyper-individual” way!
I can only hope that the “open data revolution” will soon focus on what really matters…which is (for me) how relevant and useful the data is!
Jean Michel Severino wrote about Hyper-collective …maybe this could be a 2014 reality. Sharing data from many sources for the ultimate purpose of efficiency and true impact.
Luc Lapointe
CEO & Founder, Keen TO
PS – Keep up the good work