The UK government has published its latest Open Government Partnership National Action Plan, but it has failed to include a commitment on the transparency of aid spending and failed to gain civil society support. Urgent action is now needed to improve aid transparency, build public trust and accountability.
In a world where we are facing such dire news, we were delighted to see an outcome that shows that sometimes good government prevails. This concerns the resolution of an issue that we – and others – have devoted considerable ink and effort, which we coined “the dueling dashboards.”
In this blog we timeline the communication of, and reactions to, the UK government’s aid cuts and pose the question, is this a new era of UK aid transparency?
The Gender Financing Project: Video Tutorial Series is for anyone who would like to learn how to track aid and development funding for gender equality. The main focus of the four videos is to help you track international donors’ funding to improve gender equality, using some of the most trusted and well-used data sources.
Aid NGOs are calling for transparency around how the UK government is cutting its aid programmes. Publish What You Fund, Bond and Development Initiatives warn that decisions are being taken behind closed doors without proper scrutiny or consultation, arguing that this poses a serious threat to the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.
There is an increased need for clear and consistent data on the extent to which bilateral and multilateral donors are prioritizing gender equality in their financing, and to what end. Without accurate data on the funding of and results from gender equality projects, we cannot hold donor institutions accountable for their gender equality commitments, nor ensure that funds spent are meeting populations’ needs. Preliminary findings from the Gender Financing Project shed light on how donors are spending on global gender equality—and what we still don’t know based on available data.
