For immediate release: Wednesday 23 October 

Campaigners highlight transparency with week of global events

A series of high-profile events to highlight the importance of transparency for development, innovation, equitable growth, and poverty reduction will begin tomorrow. The first ever Global Transparency Week (October 24 – November 1) is taking place at a time when public interest in government and corporate transparency has never been higher.

Hosted by twenty-two organisations, the week will demonstrate how global the movement for transparency has become: with organisations from Washington, Kabul, Geneva, Ottawa and London participating.

Global Transparency Week will start with the launch of the Aid Transparency Index in Washington on October 24, and finish with the Open Government Partnership summit in London from October 31 to November 1.

David Hall-Matthews, Managing Director at Publish What You Fund said: “Global Transparency Week brings together campaigners from all over the world to unite and compare efforts to drive openness, accountability and transparency for social good. With the community of transparency campaigners growing every year, we hope this is just the beginning.”

Robin Hodess, Director of Advocacy and Research at Transparency International said: “Global Transparency Week demonstrates the strong commitment worldwide to make openness a universal principle. When governments and companies are transparent, they can fight corruption more effectively which in turn benefits more people and provides a development dividend.”

Among the events taking part during Global Transparency Week is a virtual session on mapping global aid. In ‘Towards a Global Open Aid Map’, organized by the World Bank’s Open Aid Partnership and Publish What You Fund, speakers from Washington D.C., Nairobi, Lilongwe, La Paz, and Kathmandu will explore the power of open data to inform development decisions and improve results.

On Monday October 28, the North-South Institute will discuss the importance of open data for development in Ottawa, while GAVI will examine transparency in development funding in Geneva. In London, Thomson Reuters will debate whether open data has failed to live up to its hype. On Wednesday October 30 in London, Clare Short will introduce a series of short films made by Publish What You Pay about the extractives industry.

For full events listing, see http://www.globaltransparencyweek.org.

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Contacts: Katie Finnegan-Clarke on 07514 751543, katie@publishwhatyoufund.org or Nicole Valentinuzzi on 020 3176 2512, nicole.valentinuzzi@publishwhatyoufund.org.

Notes to the editor:

Participating organsiations: Aid Data, BOND, Development Initiatives, Engineers Without Borders, Gavi Alliance, HEC Paris, Integrity Action, Intergrity Watch Afghanistan, mysociety, ODI, ONE, Open Aid Institute, Open Aid Partnership (World Bank), Open Knowledge Foundation, Open Government Partnership, Publish What You Fund, Publish What You Pay, Sunlight Foundation, Technology Salon, The North-South Institute, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Transparency International.

For more information visit www.globaltransparencyweek.org

The full list of events is available online at http://globaltransparencyweek.org/events/

Interviews available with participating organisations. Contact the numbers above.