Aid transparency campaigners were given a reason to rejoice on the second day of the ongoing aid effectiveness forum in Busan, South Korea, as major donors announced support for an international initiative to improve the way development aid is tracked.
In her keynote speech at the Fourth High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said her country is supporting the International Aid Transparency Initiative. Campaigners describe this move as a “huge step forward” for the United States and the aid transparency movement in general. Earlier, the International Fund for Agriculture and Development also signed the initiative, while the Asian Development Bank published its aid data to the IATI Registry.
Canada and the Inter-American Development Bank have joined the initiative on the first day of the Busan summit.
Clinton’s announcement, to be sure, is a boost for the aid transparency movement, particularly since the United States is among the donors that performed poorly in a ranking of countries based on the transparency of their aid programs. But the jury is still out on how significant its impact on the aid transparency movement would be: Will the United States and other donors follow through on their commitments? Will this announcement from the United States lead more parties to sign the IATI as campaigners hope?
If there’s anything sure, it’s that China is nowhere near signing the IATI and even the Busan outcome document. China, along with fellow emerging donors India and Brazil, has distanced itself from global development partnership negotiations. China has so far been unenthusiastic to make its aid information more accessible — not surprising for a country that has yet to clearly define its aid program.
Aid transparency groups have also expressed alarm during the early days of negotiations for the Busan outcome document that some donor countries are attempting to push back their transparency commitments.
Officials in charge of developing the outcome document for the Busan forum have yet to produce a final draft acceptable to all parties. Aside from transparency, issues over tied aid and NGO regulation are said to be among the key sticking points stalling negotiations.
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