The first ever ranking of the transparency of development finance institutions (DFIs) highlights a startling lack of public disclosure. The inaugural edition of the DFI Transparency Index examines the transparency of 30 DFI operations, with combined assets of $2 trillion. It reveals that across the board DFIs are insufficiently transparent.
While funding for international development projects in Bangladesh, Kenya, and Nigeria is increasing, funding for projects targeting women’s economic empowerment has remained the same since 2015. This is one of the key findings of new research, which outlines the state of funding for women’s economic empowerment in Bangladesh, Kenya, and Nigeria.
The majority of the agencies in the 2022 Aid Transparency Index now publish good quality aid data. 31 organisations, the highest number to date, now score “very good” or “good”. But this 10th anniversary report contains a stark warning about the deterioration in quality of data between editions of the Aid Transparency Index.
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The FCDO dropped 13.5 points in the 2022 Aid Transparency Index compared with DFID’s score in 2020. This means no UK agencies are in the “very good” category – the first time this has happened since the categories were introduced in 2013.
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.
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.
