The 2020 Aid Transparency Index — launched today — brings with it some good news — more and better data overall — and some bad news — persistent lack of impact evidence and a number of major agencies lagging behind. And there is an emerging challenge for all of us looking to make sure greater transparency delivers not only more effective development, but also serves to build a
The 2020 Aid Transparency Index reveals an improvement in overall transparency among the world’s major aid agencies, but a worrying lack of transparency on the impact of aid projects. Produced by Publish What You Fund, the Index is the only independent measure of aid transparency among the world’s major aid donors. As billions of aid dollars are re-directed to the COVID-19 emergency, it provides a timely reminder of the importance of aid transparency and what can be achieved when it is valued and institutionalised.
The 2020 Aid Transparency Index reveals an improvement in overall transparency among the world’s major aid agencies, but there remains a gulf in the performance of the two UK donors included in the ranking. Released today by Publish What You Fund, the Index is the only independent measure of aid transparency among the world’s major aid donors. The research, undertaken before last week’s announcement of a merger, shows that while DFID remained in the ‘very good’ category as a global leader in aid transparency, the FCO ranked 38th out of 47 donors and failed to publish adequate information on the performance of its aid projects. As the shrinking UK economy puts aid under increasing financial pressure and resources are redirected to respond to the COVID-19 emergency, the Index results provide a timely reminder that we need to know that our aid is being spent in the most effective way to achieve the greatest impact.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has come out as the top bilateral aid agency globally in the 2020 Aid Transparency Index. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) also showed significant improvement, increasing its score to put it near the top of the “good” category for the first time.
In this guest blog, George Ingram of the Brookings Institution looks ahead to the launch of the 2020 Aid Transparency Index and previews the opportunities offered by USAID’s new Development Cooperation Landscape Tool.
In the lead up to the launch of the 2020 Aid Transparency Index, Publish What You Fund’s CEO Gary Forster talks to Ary Tahir of the Public Aid Organization in Iraq about his experience of using aid data, the demand for data, why aid transparency matters and the role of trust and engagement.
