We’re looking into transparency in humanitarian emergencies . We started tracking humanitarian spending in Iraq using the two main global reporting standards: IATI and OECD-DAC. The results are striking, & confusing… In this blog we visualise the data that has got us thinking.
We have encountered many citizens and activists who are seeking answers on aid spending. This blog recalls just a few of their experiences and examines how transparency can help to build trust.
In this guest blog, Michael Roberts of Giveth.io reflects on the development of open data standards, the differing technology and approaches that have been adopted and what we can learn from this. He argues that initiatives like IATI must continue to focus on addressing internal organisational challenges on governance and capacity. He also contends that we should be open to new forms of technology integrations and not be locked into any one approach.
The Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act (FATAA) was passed by Congress in 2016 to require the US agencies involved in implementing foreign assistance to publish detailed country-based information on their activities. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently assessed how well the 22 agencies are complying with the data requirements. Our US representative Sally Paxton and the Brookings Institution’s George Ingram have been analysing the OMB report and conclude that it falls short in a number of ways. In this blog they summarise the gaps and missed opportunities.
Tracing resources along the development chain, from source to frontline expenditure, is an important element of transparency for all data users. We recently produced a visualisation of all the links between current IATI data. The results surprised us, and this blog explains why.
The full potential of more transparent humanitarian information is yet to be realised. This can only be done if the information made available is actively used and benefits local and national humanitarian responders. In this blog, James Coe explains why and how Publish What You Fund is working with Ground Truth Solutions to understand the information needs of humanitarian actors.
