News Roundup – Publishing high quality data, research manager vacancy and reports review
Vacancy: Research Manager
Are you an experienced researcher with a passion for aid transparency? Are you skilled at working with large data sets, a great communicator and effective networker? Do you want to join a small, friendly team committed to improving the availability and use of aid and development finance information for better development outcomes?
If so, we’d like to hear from you!
We’re seeking a talented researcher and project manager to join our London-based global advocacy organisation. This is an exciting role right at the core of our operation. It will involve leading the planning for and delivery of the Aid Transparency Index – our flagship product – and other associated research outputs.
See more details and apply here
How to publish high quality data
This week we’ve produced a new briefing note, sharing some of our learning from the research for the 2018 Aid Transparency Index. It is full of examples of published data, and full of tips for improving performance-related information as well as basic data.
How much do you know about the work of Publish What You Fund?
Do you know about our work in Liberia and Nicaragua, our advocacy efforts and our 250 technical fixes? Following the launch of our new three-year strategy we’ve produced a short briefing on our work, our goals and our future plans.It’s a quick way to get to know us a little better!
We also wanted to bring you a quick roundup of just a few of the reports we’ve been reading over the last few weeks…
History RePPPeated – How Public Private Partnerships are Failing
Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are increasingly being promoted as the solution to the shortfall in financing needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This report from Eurodad gives an in-depth, evidence-based analysis of the impact of 10 PPP projects that have taken place across four continents, in both developed and developing countries.
The Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index 2018
In 2017, Development Finance International and Oxfam produced the first index to measure the commitment of governments to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor. The index is based on a new database of indicators, now covering 157 countries, which measures government action on social spending, tax and labour rights – three areas found to be critical to reducing the gap.
This second edition of the index finds that countries such as South Korea, Namibia and Uruguay are taking strong steps to reduce inequality. Sadly, countries such as India and Nigeria do very badly overall, as does the USA among rich countries, showing a lack of commitment to closing the inequality gap.
Investments to End Poverty 2018
This data-led report from Development Initiatives explores how development finance is responding to the demands set by the SDGs, and what further change is needed to ensure financing is driven by Agenda 2030 and will enable its success. It finds that income inequality between the poorest 20% of people and everyone else is growing, while most international financing bypasses the poorest people and places in the world and aid is often not going where it is needed most. The report highlights where and how improvements are possible in terms of scaling up resources and improving the development impact of all financing.
Commercial Confidentiality in Open Contracting
The Center for Global Development’s Working Group on Commercial Confidentiality is seeking to answer the question, how open should public contracts be? Government contracts are worth trillions of dollars. Publishing contracting information is critical to enabling fair competition, allowing public scrutiny, and reducing opportunities for corruption. But when is it legitimate to redact commercially sensitive information from these documents? The group is currently seeking comment on its draft principles.