Information on aid should be of sufficient quality to be meaningful for recipient governments, civil society organizations, other stakeholders, and the public in donor and recipient countries. To this end, information should be managed and published so that it is:

Comprehensive: Information should cover all aid given, both in terms of breadth (all the different types of foreign assistance- development, humanitarian, post conflict, security, etc) and depth (detailed enough for others to be able to plan on the basis of that information).

Relevant and Accessible: Information should be presented in plain and readily comprehensible language and formats appropriate for different stakeholders, whilst retaining the detail and disaggregation necessary for analysis, evaluation and participation. Information should be made available in ways appropriate to different audiences. To this end, proactive dissemination of information should not be limited to internet publication and should include use of radio and television, printed material disseminated directly to stakeholders, and, where appropriate, information delivered in person in meetings. Information should be made available in the languages spoken by the affected communities.

Timely and Accurate: Information should be made available in sufficient time to permit analysis and evaluation of aid and engagement in aid processes. This means that information needs to be provided while planning as well as during and after the implementation of aid projects and programmes. Information should be managed so that it is up-to-date, accurate, and complete. It is particularly important that relevant information is provided in line with annual and medium-term planning and budget cycles in recipient countries.

Comparable: Public bodies engaged in funding and delivering aid should collect, manage, compile and publish detailed information in formats that permit comparison within and between countries. In particular, donor-held information that relates to a particular recipient country should be made available in a format which can be easily reconciled with the recipient country’s detailed budget classifications and planning and budget cycles. Reporting of budget and financial information should be consistent with international accounting standards. Ensuring consistency with the recipient country information needs, public bodies engaged in funding and delivering aid should agree and implement a common standard for the classification and publication of statistical and budget information related to aid. This should include aid data published at the transaction level, and consistently classified, including by country, location, sector, recipient, purpose and modality.