Meeting in Paris on 26 November 2008, the Steering Committee of the International Aid Transparency Initiative, which includes Publish What You Fund represented by Director Karin Christiansen, agreed a plan of activities for advancing standard-setting on aid transparency.

The agreed actions include development and testing of a standard format for the exchange of information about aid between donor and recipient governments. The plans also include development of a code of conduct for the information that aid donors should publish proactively and how users will be able to access that information. Consultations with civil society groups will be held during 2009 and a summit meeting is planned for May or June 2009.

Publish What You Fund is working to ensure that the standards developed by the International Aid Transparency Initiative fully reflect the Publish What You Fund Principles. These principles include the proactive publication of a number of classes of information in a timely, accessible and comparable form as well as governments ensuring the existence of functioning mechanisms for requesting and receiving information about aid.

The International Aid Transparency Initiative is a government-lead response to increasing calls by civil society organizations for greater access to information about aid. Its stated aim is to “deliver a step shift in global public availability and accessibility of information on aid flows, for increased effectiveness and accountability of aid.” Launched during the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra on 4 September 2008, International Aid Transparency Initiative has 15 donor signatories to date: Australia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Spain, United Kingdom, the European Commission, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Program, the GAVI Alliance, and Hewlett Foundation.