Two reports are launched today in Washington DC at an event organised by the Board of Friends of Publish What You Fund and Oxfam America. The reports outline the gains made to date on aid transparency in the U.S. and provide recommendations to the next Administration on how to maintain and indeed improve progress.

Featuring data from surveys and in-depth interviews with 52 key stakeholders in the U.S. government and civil society, Putting Data at the Centre of U.S. Global Development – An Assessment of U.S. Foreign Aid Transparency is an evaluation of aid transparency over the past decade. The report recognises the progress the U.S. has made, including political commitments from both the Bush and Obama administrations to aid transparency.

However, aspects of implementation have proved to slow the pace, including the ‘whole of government’ approach, which held back leaders such as MCC from publishing their information initially. Furthermore, the duelling dashboards of USAID’s Foreign Aid Explorer and State’s ForeignAssistance.gov provided conflicting data given their different approaches to data publication.

A short policy document accompanies the report. The Data Revolution and U.S. Global Development: Transparency and Accountability in U.S. Foreign Assistance provides clear recommendations to the next Administration, calling for them to:

• Implement the U.S. commitment to publish humanitarian aid data
• Invest in gender equality through publication of robust gender data
• Improve U.S. aid transparency for stronger U.S. global development

Download the reports

You can download the Appendices for this report here.

About Friends of Publish What You Fund

Friends of Publish What You Fund was established in May 2015 with the objective of promoting transparency among donors, users and implementers of international assistance in order to ensure effective spending, evaluation and accountability. Its particular focus is on U.S. transparency and accountability and it works in partnership with a number of stakeholders with similar objectives. It also grants to organizations that further its work, including to Publish What You Fund.

Friends of Publish What You Fund, a 501(c)(3) organization, is registered as a non-profit in the District of Columbia. Its Board is chaired by George Ingram. Visit the Friends of Publish What You Fund website for more information.