In the last year governments including that of the UK and US have made growing amounts of data available to the public. Although the intention behind increased transparency is hugely positive, there is still a vital step to be addressed if this information can be made appropriately accessible.

The confirmation hearing of Georgieva, new EU humanitarian affairs commissioner and former World Bank vice-president, took place at the European Parliament on 4th February, where she answered questions on her suitability for the international cooperation, humanitarian aid and crisis response portfolio. Georgieva identified Haiti as a priority, especially the need to provide shelter and health services and to restore the functions and service of the government, so as to start work on reconstruction and long-term development.

Karin Christiansen gives a comprehensive overview of the aims of the Publish What You Fund campaign, specifically focussing on the role that innovative technologies will have in facilitating aid transparency.

The Copenhagen Accord states that developed nations must provide ‘new and additional resources, including forestry and investments approaching US $30 billion for the period 2010 to 2012 with balanced allocation between adaptation and mitigation […] In the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation, developed

Liberals are now working on Parliament Hill to try to reverse the negative view they believe the world has taken of Canadian development assistance in Harper’s government. The meeting will be attended by representatiives of NGOs, academics and development groups.

The aim will be to improve the overall aid performance. This includes increasing their overall financial contribution to aid, and tackling issues of transparency: