$700M per year goes to data for development. Who are the top donors?

Devex has reported extensively on the power of data to improve development outcomes. In June, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development published the report “Data for Development Profiles,” which emphasized the importance of accurate, open, and transparent data in low- and middle-income countries, both to set policy and to implement projects. The report showed that donors mostly integrated their official development assistance spending on data and statistics into larger crosscutting programs, with annual allocations from public and private sources worth about $700 million per year ​​— or 0.3% of total aid spending. Top countries funding data and statistics projects About $250 million of the average ODA for data and statistics that was disbursed between 2017 and 2019 came from five donors: the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Canada, and South Korea. Four of these donors allocated more than a third of their funds to Africa. The exception was South Korea, which allocated just 28% to the region while disbursing 65% in Asia. The EU, U.K., and Canada channeled large portions of their funding through multilateral institutions such as the Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations Population Fund, and UNICEF, as well as initiatives such as the World Bank’s Trust Fund for Statistical Capacity Building and the International Monetary Fund’s Data for Decisions Fund. The U.S. spent 63% of its disbursement through the private sector, while South Korea allocated 91% through the public sector. 1. United States Average annual spending: $70.1 million. Key agencies: Millennium Challenge Corporation and U.S. Agency for International Development. U.S. ODA for data and statistics is mainly integrated into the country’s health and population projects. Since the inception of USAID’s Demographic and Health Surveys Program in the 1980s, it has supported over 90 countries in the collection, analysis, and dissemination of health, nutrition, and population data. Last year, USAID released a digital strategy for 2020 to 2024 — the first such document from the agency — with the aim of using technology and data to improve program development and outcomes. The other main projects included: • The Data Ecosystem Rapid Assessment in Djibouti. • The development of health information system investment plans in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. • The Rapid Feedback Monitoring System in Malawi. • A $7.5 million initiative funded by Feed the Future involving digital feedback loops in Uganda. Millennium Challenge Corporation activities ranged from supporting statistical systems in Niger to strengthening the health systems in Lesotho. 2. European Union Average annual spending: $66.1 million. Key agencies: Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, Directorate-General for International Partnership, and Eurostat. Eurostat, the EU's data and statistics agency, launched several projects with data and statistics as the main development objective. These included: • The Statistics Through Eastern Partnership program, with €4.7 million ($5.4 million). STEP aims to strengthen the capacity of the national statistical institutes of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. • The Pan African Statistics program, which supports the African Union Commission’s statistical capacity. The EU has focused on the use of statistics for macroeconomic management and policymaking in low- and middle-income countries. It allocated 47% of its 2017-2019 ODA for data and statistics to Africa. 3. United Kingdom Average annual spending: $54.8 million. Key agency: Department for International Development, now merged as part of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. The U.K.’s main project was the Geo-Referenced Infrastructure and Demographic Data for Development program, co-funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The project aims to support African countries generate and validate geospatial data for better policymaking. The U.K. partners with multilateral agencies, with about a third of its data and statistics ODA channeled through the World Bank and UNFPA. 4. Canada Average annual spending: $28.8 million. Key agencies: Global Affairs Canada, International Development Research Centre, and Statistics Canada. Canada’s contributions to data and statistics are a component of its key programs: the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Initiative and sexual and reproductive health and rights programming. Canada’s main projects included: • The Project for the Regional Advancement of Statistics in the Caribbean, implemented by Statistics Canada to strengthen the statistical systems of Caribbean Community countries. • Global Affairs Canada’s partnership with UNFPA on Evidence for Empowerment in Mozambique. • GAC’s partnership with UNICEF to scale up birth registration in Tanzania. 5. South Korea Average annual spending: $28.8 million. Key agencies: Export-Import Bank of Korea, Korea International Cooperation Agency, Ministry of Economy and Finance, and Statistics Korea. The country focuses on economics and environmental statistics, as well as general statistical capacity building. The main projects included: • Supporting e-government services in Laos, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Uzbekistan with investment from the Economic Development Cooperation Fund. • Funding statistical capacity-building initiatives in Bangladesh, Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam through the Korea International Cooperation Agency. • Strengthening economic and social statistics in Azerbaijan, Colombia, and Laos with the support of Statistics Korea. The Ministry of Economy and Finance also made contributions to the Trust Fund for Statistical Capacity Building and the International Monetary Fund’s Data for Decisions Fund. Of the ODA for data and statistics that was allocated between 2017 and 2019, two-thirds went to Laos, Tanzania, and Uzbekistan combined. Janadale Leene Coralde contributed to this article. Try out Devex Pro Funding today with a free 5-day trial, and explore funding opportunities from over 850+ sources in addition to our analysis and news content.