Aid Transparency:Better Data, Better Aid

Simon Parrish, Development Initiatives & IATIYerevan, 4 October 2009

Information Works

We will make aid more transparent.

Developing countries will facilitateparliamentary oversight by implementing greater

transparency in public financial management, includingpublic disclosure of revenues, budgets, expenditures,

procurement and audits.

Donors will publicly disclose regular, detailed and timely information on volume, allocation and, when available, results of development expenditure to enable more accurate budget,

accounting and audit bydeveloping countries.

Accra Agenda for Action (2008)

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Why improve aid transparency?

1. Enables accountability2. More effective, coordinated and predictable

programmes3. Reduce the cost of aid, avoids waste and limits

corruption  4. Demonstrate how effective investment in aid can be 5. Facilitates research and learning about what works 6. Government 2.0?

(feedback loops and participatory government)

Why does it matter?Transparency of aid flows will help:• Governments to manage the aid they receive and

incorporate it into their sector/national planning and budgeting

• Citizens of developing countries to understand the aid their country is receiving

• Citizens of donor countries to understand how their taxes are being used

• Donors to coordinate their efforts• Parliaments and CSOs to track aid flows and ensure

their aid is spent wisely

Why improve aid transparency? Pt 2

Fundamental to all 5 Paris Principles: – Ownership: need good information to plan and budget,

and involve citizens– Alignment: better information critical for getting aid on

budget and aligning behind country plans – Harmonisation: donors need good information about each

others’ plans to harmonise – Results: need information on inputs to be able to

effectively monitor outputs and outcomes– Mutual accountability: information critical for

accountability between donors and partners, and to citizens

Paris Declaration evaluation 2008 noted the

continuing serious difficulties involved in securing and providing timely, transparent and comprehensive information on aid flows that enable partner countries to fully report on budgets to their legislature and citizens. This basic contribution by donors to mutual accountability is widely found to be missing or inadequate, even in relatively strong systems

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Mutual Accountability (cont’d)

The role of AIMS• Enable national governments to plan, monitor

and account for the use of resources in an effective manner

• Institutionalise transparency & accountability between Governments & Development Partners

• Help monitor PD & aid effectiveness

• Enable the Governments to do “gap analyses”, facilitate planning process and resource mobilisation

Making it Happen

aidinfo • Building evidence base for transparency

– Research of the need and opportunities for better info – Making the case for transparency and better information

• Promoting technology and policy solutions - standards– Identifying how can innovative technology solutions can help– Proposing the solutions to make this happen

• Accessible,• Comparable• Timely

• Improving availability and access of information• Knowledge of available information resources • Capacity development – workshops, guidance• Working with and supporting infomediaries• Encourage donors to improve publication of information

Introducing IATI

Launched at the Accra High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in September 2008

“Our aim is to bring together donors, partner countries and civil society organisations to enhance aid effectiveness by improving 

transparency”

Aims• To meet transparency commitments in the Accra

Agenda for Action• To bring together donors, partner countries, CSOs

and aid information experts to agree ways of sharing more and better information about aid

• To agree standards that will make information easier to understand, compare, and use

• To make standards useful to all stakeholders and build on what is already being used (including country-level Aid Information Management Systems)

• To commit donors to sharing more detailed, timely, and up-to-date information about aid

Partner Country Consultation• Identify information needs of partner country governments

• Identify capacity constraints and partner country support needs

• There were clear messages that:– IATI is important, and there are expectations on it to deliver them

the better information they need– IATI needs to cover ALL donors, not just DAC donors– IATI needs to address issues of quality data and deliver

• Timely information on current and future flows • Details about when, where and how, including sectors

– Want more details about

Benefits to stakeholders• Partner countries access more and better information about

expected and actual aid flows, reducing transactions costs and improving the coverage and quality of information available

• Donors need only publish information once, rather than responding to multiple, ad-hoc data requests which are transaction cost intensive.

• Civil society organisations and parliamentarians will have access to much more detailed and up-to-date information on donor spending, helping them to monitor commitments and hold donors and governments accountable

IATI and AIMSIATI will add value by

– Making it easier for partners to collect and use aid information from donors

– Creating political pressure to ensure that donors report fully to AIMS

– Reducing transactions costs to donors and partners

– Ensuring more qualitative information is published

– Promoting accessibility to stakeholders

– Ensuring information is public – many AIMS are not

IATI Scope

• Project details and financial flows• Future planning information & future flows• Aid effectiveness indicators & conditions• Documents• Results• Procurement• Broader donor aid policies and country strategies

What next?• IATI’s Technical Advisory Group has recently

published draft scope for IATI Standard

• IATI Global Conference in the Hague on 20-21 Oct

• Agreement on what will be published and code of conduct by the end of 2009

• Agreement on common definitions and common format by March 2010

I am here to learn!• What are your current experiences and how can IATI

help?• What information needs are – does IATI scope meet

your needs?• What capacity development needs could IATI help

with?• How are aid management systems being aligned with

other Government processes – budget planning and monitoring, domestic public investment planning

• Good news stories please! Where is information being used to have a real impact?

Thank YouSimon Parrish

simon@devinit.org

For more information on IATI please visit:

www.aidtransparency.netand

www.aidinfo.org