Reflections on the Development Finance Debate

The debate on the role of private finance in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is intense and lively. The need for transparency comes up again and again. But how do we move from debate to action? In his new blog Gary Forster reflects on recent events and recent progress.

New Research Manager

We’re very pleased to welcome Alex Tilley to the Publish What You Fund team. Alex will be leading on the Aid Transparency Index and related research. He previously worked for the Natural Resource Governance Institute, overseeing grants and projects relating to transparency and governance of extractive resources in developing countries.

We will be announcing the research timeline for the next Aid Transparency Index in the coming weeks.

More Reading…

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

IATI’s technical team has launched a new quarterly update, providing news on what’s been happening, and future plans.

A new blog from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation reflects on the data revolution, champions an increased focus on supporting users, and calls for a better balance between investments in data collection versus longer term systems improvements.

Transparency International has released the Corruption Perceptions Index 2018. The index ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople. It reveals that the continued failure of most countries to significantly control corruption is contributing to a crisis in democracy around the world. While there are exceptions, the data shows that despite some progress, most countries are failing to make serious inroads against corruption.

A new blog from the Center for Global Development looks at the challenge of transforming private finance dollars from billions to trillions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. It asks if it is time to re-think the goals set in 2015 or take a hard, critical look at the institutions we rely on to propel mobilisation of private finance for sustainable development.

The OECD has published Social Impact Investment 2019. It depicts the state of play of SII approaches globally, comparing regional trends, and assesses its prospects, with a special focus on data issues and recent policy developments. It provides new guidance to help the key actors maximise the contribution of social impact investing to the 2030 Agenda, and makes recommendations on financing, innovation, data and policy.

Following the OECD’s Private Finance for Sustainable Development Week, Devex published this article on three development finance trends to watch. It discusses concerns around a lack of evidence and transparency.

Meanwhile, Eurodad has produced a blog on things to watch in 2019, focusing on international debt.
We’re looking forward to Open Data Day on March 2nd. Groups from around the world will use open data in their communities, to show its benefits and encourage the adoption of open data policies in government, business and civil society.