Aid data, impact and the Sustainable Development Goals: Launch of the 2024 Aid Transparency Index

Tuesday 16 July 2024

Transparency of data and other information on development and humanitarian assistance helps stakeholders understand where aid is provided, for what purpose, how it is delivered, and what results it achieves. Transparency also promotes collaboration among aid donors and implementers and ensures accountability to citizens of both donor and partner countries.

With the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) deadline just six years away, many assessments show these global goals are off track. Improved transparency in aid and development data has led to tools that assess progress, identify gaps, and highlight where more effort is needed. How can aid and development data meet information needs for assessing and directing SDG efforts? Specifically, how can this data inform decisions about SDG 2 and emergency food needs? How do donor agencies use aid and development data to understand their own and others’ programmes, including results and evaluations? What information do countries need for SDGs, what do they currently use, and what is still required?

On 16 July, the Center for Sustainable Development at Brookings hosted the release of the 2024 Aid Transparency Index in partnership with Publish What You Fund. This event examined the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), United Nations Development Programme’s SDG dashboard, and country statistical data as three essential tools that, when combined, can help countries, donors, and citizens better focus their efforts.

We were delighted to be joined by:

• Christophe Tocco, Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau of Planning, Learning and Resource Management, United States Agency for International Development
• Samuel Kobina Annim, Government Statistician for Ghana and Professor of Economics at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana
• Zacharey Carmichael, Senior Economist in the World Bank’s Agriculture and Food Global Practice
• Laurel Patterson, Director for SDG Integration, United Nations Development Programme (presentation)
• Gary Forster, Chief Executive Officer, Publish What You Fund (presentation)
• George Ingram, Senior Fellow Global Economy and Development, Brookings Institution (moderator)