Today, Publish
What You Fund released its 2011 Pilot
Aid Transparency Index. The index was developed
with the goal of encouraging a higher level
of transparency among aid donors. Fifty-eight donor agencies were ranked based on 37 different indicators. To compile the index, Publish
What You Fund collected primary data on aid transparency levels, with support
from civil society organizations in 34 countries.
The
average score is 34%, while no donor scores above 78%,
leaving the top quintile vacant. The 5 best
performing donors are the World Bank, the Global Fund, the African Development
Bank, the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the UK’s Department for
International Development. Some of the worst performing donors, among others,
include Spain, Portugal, Italy, the U.S. Treasury, Poland, Cyprus, China and
Greece. The index indicates that the accessibility
of useful aid information is low. Interestingly, some of the donors that are traditionally considered to be transparency
leaders, such as Canada, New Zealand and
Norway, received rather low scores.
In
its assessment
of the pilot index, Publish What You Fund concludes that greater aid transparency is an eminently achievable goal. Increased political
commitment to making information accessible and engagement with the
International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) standards are listed among the key recommendations. In its
press release,
Publish What You Fund calls on donors to improve their standing on transparency
and accountability and highlights the importance of such efforts for the effective
use of aid funds.
On Wednesday, Nov. 16, a launch
event will be held at the Overseas Development Institute in the UK (12:30-14:00,
GMT+00) and streamed live online. You can also read about the index from
the BBC, the Financial
Times, and the Guardian.
This
post was contributed by Alexey Dorofeev, an intern at Development Gateway.
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