In the run up to the OECD Private Finance for Sustainable Development conference we ask whether ten years from now, when progress against the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is tallied, we’ll be able to measure the contribution made by Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and the private finance they’ve mobilised.
Only three out of ten government departments have reached the level of transparency set out in its 2015 UK Aid Strategy. Our detailed review assessed ten government departments spending significant amounts of official development assistance (ODA) and found that they all now share some data on their aid and many have improved the regularity and quantity of information they make available through the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI). However, currently only the Department for International Development (DFID), the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy meet the aid transparency targets the government is due to meet by 2020.
On a recent visit to Nigeria we were keen to find out how aid and development data is currently being used, if at all, and with what impact. We wanted to know if there is demand for aid and development data, and if these demands are being met. We found two very different sides of the aid transparency coin – one wholly practical, and one intangible but arguably more important.
Our regular roundup of news from the aid and development finance community, including details of our new initiative focusing on the transparency of development finance institutions, and introducing our new Chair
Throughout 2019 we have been conducting a transparency review of 10 UK government departments and two cross-government funds. As these departments have come to understand the details of our methodology, learn about the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) standard and invest in the systems and processes to enable greater transparency, there has been a steady increase in the number of departments providing data, and the comprehensiveness of this data. Consequently there is now a lot more information freely available on UK aid spending which until as recently as August was simply not available. In a new blog, Elma Jenkins reflects on the newly available data, what it tells us about UK aid spending and the many questions it raises.
We are launching a new 2.5 year initiative to increase support for the transparency of Development Finance Institutions (DFIs). It follows a 12-month scoping exercise, and we’re now embarking on a focused, strategic programme to move things forward. Based on our initial research, and the previous work of academics, practitioners and policy-makers, we have set out a collaborative, evidence-based approach that we believe can inform and improve DFI transparency, accountability and decision-making.
