Democratizing Development through Open Data

Aid transparency and what do we need to make open data work for CSOs?

Karin ChristiansenSpring Meetings, DC, 13th April 2011

What do CSO need from open aid data?

1. Information on aid should be published proactively

2. Information on aid should be comprehensive, timely, accessible & comparable

3. Everyone can request and receive information on aid

4. The right of access to information about aid should be promoted

(mock up)

Publish many times, use rarely

Publish Once, Use Often

A project in DFID’s project-level database

The same DFID project in the IATI XML format

http://iatiregistry.org/

So what do we know about aid transparency so far?

Aid Transparency Assessment 20102011 Aid Transparency Tracker Plans

Aid Transparency Assessment 2010

World Ban

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Swed

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Australi

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Global Fu

ndAfDB IDB

Norway UN

Denmark

German

y0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Finlan

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Belgium

Spain GAVI

France

New Ze

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Canad

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Luxem

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ly

Portuga

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Austria

Japan

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Aid Transparency Assessment 2010: Findings

Finding 1: There is a lack of comparable and primary data

Finding 2: There is wide variation in levels of donor transparency, across different types of donors

Finding 3: There are significant weaknesses across indicators

1st attempt: Aid Transparency Tracker• Sampled: for each donor, 1 country and 1 project• Three parts:– Organisation-level information– Country-level information– Activity (or project)-level information

• For each piece of info:– Is it published? (Y/N)

• systematically for all recipients/projects all of the time• just for some recipients/projects some of the time?

– If you don’t publish it, do you collect it?– Evidence: show where this information is (the URL)

Preliminary Results

What needs to happen next?

• More donors sign up to the international standard

• Sorting budget compatibility• IATI implementation• Busan/HLF4• Support civil society & analysts to use it• And: DEMAND IT

Thank You&

Contacts

www.publishwhatyoufund.org info@publishwhatyoufund.org

Organisation-level questions• Does this donor publish aid allocation policies and

procedures?• Does this donor publish its procurement procedures?• Does this donor publish the total development

budget for the next three years, as submitted to parliament?

• Does this donor publish their annual forward planning budget for assistance for the next three years?

Country-level questionsChoose your donor’s biggest recipient country

(e.g., India). Then answer these questions:• Does this donor publish the country strategy

paper for India?• Does this donor publish forward planning budget

or documents for the institutions they fund in India for the next three years?

• Does this donor publish its annual audit of its aid programmes in India?

Activity-level questions• This is the specific detail about aid flows, needed for

informed decisions about where aid is / should be going

• This is the level needed for coordination, alignment, results/evaluation, ownership, and esp. accountability

• E.g. Is it good use of Polish aid to build a school in Gikongoro or Butare? – USAID is already building a school in Gikongoro. – The Rwandan government can support the ongoing cost of

only one school – in Butare or Gikongoro.

Degree of Aid Dependence

No of Coun-tries

Ave OBI Score

Countries

HighAid>10% of GNI

18 22 Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Honduras, Kyrgyz, Republic, Liberia, Malawi, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia

MediumAid>5%&<10% of GNI

12 28 Albania, Angola, Bolivia, Cameroon, Georgia, Jordan, Macedonia, Nepal, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Sudan, Vietnam

LowAid <5% of GNI

45 45 Algeria, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, Venezuela, Yemen

Overall 75 32

IATI Signatories1. World Bank2. Asian Development Bank3. The European Commission (EC)4. United Nations Development

Programme (UNDP)5. Global Alliance for Vaccines &

Immunisation (GAVI)6. Hewlett Foundation7. Australia - AusAID8. Denmark - Ministry of Foreign

Affairs9. Finland - Ministry for Foreign

Affairs10. Germany - Federal Ministry for

Economic Cooperatn & Dev (BMZ)

11. Ireland - Irish Aid12. Netherlands – Dutch Ministry of

Foreign Affairs – Development Cooperation

13. New Zealand – NZAID14. Norway - Norad15. Spain – Spain Ministry of Foreign

Affairs & Cooperation16. Sweden - SIDA17. Switzerland - Swiss Agency for

Development & Cooperation (SDC)

18. UK - DFIDAND US &France

IATI Endorsers1. Sierra Leone2. Liberia3. Bangladesh4. Honduras5. Republic of Congo6. Democratic Republic of

Congo7. Ghana8. Rwanda9. Indonesia

10. Nepal11. Viet Nam12. Papua New Guinea13. Moldova14. Montenegro15. Colombia16. Burkina Faso17. Malawi18. The Dominican Republic19. Syria