IMF Cheif Strauss-Kahn has suggested that there is hope for Haiti’s debt to be cleared, and for the IMF’s emergency loan of $100m to be turned into a grant. He has also stressed the need for, ‘not only a piecemeal approach, but something which is much bigger to deal with the reconstruction of the country – some kind of Marshall Plan.’ The issues of aid and budget transparency must remain at the fore as this planning takes place in order for Haiti to maximise its economic resources.

Embedded in the conservative pledge to increase the aid budget to 0.7% is its transformation from what we have known previously as ‘aid’, into a new ‘stabilisation and reconstruction force’ which will be overseen by the national security council. This new force will combine soldiers, diplomats, and aid workers in a joint project.  

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Rising Voices, a forum for global conversation, has announced the launch of the ‘Technology for Transparency Network’. This will map online technology projects that aim to promote transparency, political accountability, and civic engagement in many parts of the world. 32 case studies of technologies being put to use for these purposes will be documented; a very worthwhile project which similar initiatives will be sure to learn from.

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“Freedom of Information and Sustainable Development, Sealing the Link”: 

The final report of the UNESCO Experts Meeting held in Paris on March 17-18, 2008, drafted by Caroline Millet, can be found here.

‘Sufficient, measurable, accountable, responsive and transparent’ – aid should meet these criterion according to ONE’s SMART initiative, which are aligned with the principles of Publish What You Fund. Not only the need for aid, but the necessity of transparency of aid and its delivery are recognised by African leaders fighting against poverty. 

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Project-Level Aid (PLAID) and Development Gateway’s Accessible information on Development Activities (AiDA) are merging their efforts to track development finance and cooperation. The new database, AidData is currently in production and will be launched in the first quarter of 2010. A workshop – Aid Transparency and Development Finance: Lessons and Insights from AidData – will take place in Oxford (UK) in March.

For more information, click here.