The Publish What You Fund team has so far checked over 6,000 pieces of data published by 47 aid donors, and we’re only halfway through the Aid Transparency Index process. In this blog Elma Jenkins discusses why quality checks are essential for the Index and why, whether you’re looking for an Italian restaurant or details on aid projects, we all need data we can trust.
Our regular roundup of the latest news, including our blog on aligning private finance with the SDGs and news on the aid spending of New Zealand, China and the EU, the DFI Dashboard and the Corruption Perceptions Index.
In the run up to the OECD Private Finance for Sustainable Development conference we ask whether ten years from now, when progress against the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is tallied, we’ll be able to measure the contribution made by Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and the private finance they’ve mobilised.
Only three out of ten government departments have reached the level of transparency set out in its 2015 UK Aid Strategy. Our detailed review assessed ten government departments spending significant amounts of official development assistance (ODA) and found that they all now share some data on their aid and many have improved the regularity and quantity of information they make available through the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI). However, currently only the Department for International Development (DFID), the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy meet the aid transparency targets the government is due to meet by 2020.
On a recent visit to Nigeria we were keen to find out how aid and development data is currently being used, if at all, and with what impact. We wanted to know if there is demand for aid and development data, and if these demands are being met. We found two very different sides of the aid transparency coin – one wholly practical, and one intangible but arguably more important.
Our regular roundup of news from the aid and development finance community, including details of our new initiative focusing on the transparency of development finance institutions, and introducing our new Chair
