Aid transparency has become a familiar term in development rhetoric. Now is the time for aid transparency to move from abstract theory to concrete reality: to real conversations about how it will affect both aid recipients and people who work in international development.
Since the re-ignition of the aid transparency movement in 2008 at the aid effectiveness summit in Accra, donors and civil society have been developing an international standard for publishing aid information that will allow us to see where aid money is going, who is spending it, and the impact it is having. In a fortnight, this standard will be finalised, and the information will begin to flow. Now that donors are putting their promises into action, it is time to explore the implications of this quiet revolution on the way we work.
Why is aid transparency crucial to development?
Aid is a scarce resource, and when it is spent well it can make a real difference to the lives of people living in poverty. At present, the aid information we have is often incomplete, out of date and inaccessible. Governments giving or receiving aid have to make budget allocation decisions with little knowledge of the bigger picture. Ultimately, this lack of information undermines the potential of foreign assistance to make a difference, our ability to improve the way it is given, and government accountability. We need to make the most of the aid we have; to do so we need to know more about how it is being spent.
Donor governments need to know where other donors are planning to spend their aid so they can coordinate efforts. Without being able to see what others are doing, it is impossible for a development minister to ensure money is going to the places that need it the most. For example, if a minister could see that too many donors were focusing aid efforts on health care in a given country, they would be able to adjust plans to ensure that one sector is not overwhelmed with activity while another is underfunded.
Similarly, recipient governments need to know what money is being invested in their country both now and in the future so that the country’s own funds can be allocated to compliment the international investment. In other words, a finance minister may direct more of the taxpayers’ money toward education if it was clear that foreign assistance was being directed toward the health sector. Moreover, if donors’ plans for the future were made available, recipient countries could make longer-term development plans.
Equally important to the aid transparency movement is the citizens’ right of access to this information. Citizens may not be the people responsible for deciding next year’s infrastructure budget, but they have a right to know that their government is using their money well.
Taxpayers in donor countries should be able to see that their money is being spent to best effect in developing countries without having to submit freedom of information requests or translate reams of data into something more meaningful. Similarly, citizens in recipient countries should have access to up-to-date information on the money coming into their country if they are to hold their government to account for delivering the intended services. Without government accountability, there is an increased risk of waste and corruption.
We need more information, but it must also be better information, which means it should be to be up-to-date, regularly published, and easily and freely accessible to everyone. Most importantly, information needs to be published in a common format so that every stakeholder is interpreting the same information in the same way. It is this comparability that makes more information better information as it will allow everyone to see the bigger picture.
How will increased aid transparency affect your work?
Things are about to change for ministers of finance, ministers for development, and their staff. But how will aid transparency change the way you do your job?
The impact of more and better aid information will be far-reaching:
NGOs in recipient countries will be able to see where best to spend their money now and in the future. They will be able to see where their money is going in relation to others, and how their activities fit into the bigger picture.
NGOs in both donor and recipient countries will be able to see what other projects are taking place in an area they intend to work in, and position themselves according to the area of greatest need, or collaborate with those already operating in the area.
People evaluating and monitoring aid will be able to see the amount of aid which has gone to a particular region, programme or activity in relation to other spending and therefore judge more accurately what financial contribution has been made.
Researchers in the wider area of development, such as public health, governance or economics, will also be able to draw on more meaningful data and project documentation in order to inform their research.
Policy advisors will be able to assess more easily the impact of different ways of giving aid.
Fundraisers will be able to track the impact of their projects more accurately.
As donors start to publish what they fund, we will be exploring what aid transparency means to different sectors, and the impact it can have to the day-to-day lives of those working in development.
We hope you will join the conversation: Pose a question or post a comment below by logging into your Devex profile; suggest a topic or write a blog post by e-mailing fulldisclosureblog@devex.com. Tweet using #aidtransparency. We’d love to hear from as many different voices as possible.
Read more of Full Disclosure: The aid transparency blog, written by aid workers for aid workers.
