US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, announced a new strategy for diplomacy and development in an effort to conduct, for the first time, a Quadrennial Development and Diplomacy Review (QDDR).

The QDDR will require the State Department and USAID to align their resources as well as their policies, identify shortfalls in capacity, and undertake necessary institutional changes.

The quadrennial review hopes to pave the way for the advancement of US foreign policy objectives in a more coordinated, comprehensive and cohesive fashion. 

The Conservative Party’s One World Conservatism Green Paper has stated its “strong support for the global campaign for aid transparency”. If elected, Tory leader, David Cameron promises to:

The US House of Representatives has approved legislation to spend $48.8 billion to strengthen US foreign policy by enhancing both diplomacy and development efforts.

The aid and development community’s focus will now shift to Congressman Howard Berman’s Initiating Foreign Assistance Reform Act so as to ensure the kind of transparency and accountability this diplomatic and development spending will require to have the best possible effect.

Access the bill here.

The British government has announced its support for a move towards ‘country-by-country’ reporting – a requirement which could see “more transparency into [multinational companies] negotiations with developing countries.”

The Ministry of Finance of Georgia have published a breakdown of international aid spending in Georgia. The publication of the mapping of donors by the Ministry comes as a welcome improvement in the aid transparency and accountability of donors in Georgia. The problem demonstrates that it is recipient governments rather than the donors who have had to step-up and solve the problem. This demonstrates the need for donors to proactively disclose information themselves, mapping it to the Georgian governments spending and tracking how the funds are actually spent.

The Department for International Development (DFID) has reaffirmed its commitment to aid transparency in its 2009 White Paper.
The document reiterates DFID’s pledges to: