DFI Transparency-getting into the detail

In this blog, our CEO Gary Forster outlines the reasons for launching our new Development Finance Institutions transparency initiative. With the changing nature of the aid and development landscape, DFIs are playing a more prominent role. In order to properly capture the true state of aid transparency globally, we have to take into account these new sources of funding. Read on to find out more about this exciting new research!

What’s Happening at TAG 2018?

We are heading to Kathmandu next week for the IATI Technical Advisory Group (TAG) meeting – and we hope to see many of you there! The annual TAG meeting brings together technical experts, open data advocates, IATI data publishers and users from around the world.
We will be leading/contributing to a number of sessions:

Gary Forster will be presenting on the work that goes on behind the scenes for the Aid Transparency Index.
James Coe will be running workshops with USAID (on our user-donor feedback experience), with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (on using visualization techniques to make IATI data more user-friendly), and the Danish Government (on how to make the strategic level data on IATI more useful).
Andy Lulham will be showcasing our new visualisation tool – which enables users to easily access IATI organisation file data for the first time! More details will follow in our next newsletter about how you can download and use the tool, and what you can uncover…

Our Top Four Takeaways from the UN World Data Forum

We recently attended the United Nations World Data Forum in Dubai, where the importance of good quality, open data to the success of the Sustainable Development Goals was clear. We were keen to share the findings of our US Foreign Assistance Project, and to experience all the different ways transparency is important to the Sustainable Development Agenda. In a new blog, our Advocacy Assistant Charlotte Smith sets out her top 4 takeaways from the event.

Farewell to Elise

This week we’re saying a sad farewell to our Research and Monitoring Manager, Elise Dufief. Elise has played a central role in our research and policy work and managed the design and delivery of the Aid Transparency Index. She will be greatly missed, and we wish her well on her new adventures in Paris.
It means we are currently recruiting a new Research Manager. If you are a skilled researcher and project manager, with excellent data skills and a strong communicator we’d love to hear from you. It’s a great opportunity to lead an innovative research programme for our global advocacy campaign.

And here’s a quick roundup of what we’ve been reading this week…

Africa’s rising debt – How to avoid a new crisis

“Responsible debt management requires transparency and information-sharing among borrowers and lenders, but this remains a challenge, exacerbated by the rise of new lenders and more complex types of debt financing.”

This ODI briefing paper offers an overview of the risks faced by sub-Saharan African countries as they try to keep their debt on a sustainable track, particularly the challenges relating to relatively new sources of finance. It recommends critical reforms for both borrowers and lenders to ease vulnerabilities and build resilience into debt management.

Counting on Statistics: How can National Statistical Offices and Donors Increase Use?

This new report from AidData surveys hundreds of government officials in developing countries to understand what they need to better produce and use official statistics. It contains five key findings and six recommendations.

As always, we’d love to hear your views on any of the issues raised above – please do get in touch.

Best wishes,

The Publish What You Fund Team