How does aidinfo relate to the International Aid Transparency Initiative?
At aidinfo we really support the overall aim of the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI). We feel that the approach adopted by donors of rapid, decentralised publication of detailed aid information is needed and will be hugely beneficial to the aid process. Publishing data in common open standards will make this information more accessible to users, which is something we really welcome.
Our team is actively involved in supporting the IATI process. We sit on the IATI Steering Committee. As a team, we provide analysis and research for IATI stakeholders to enable them to make evidence-based decisions.
We act as the secretariat and provide logistical support for the Technical Advisory Group. We also maintain the IATI website. Our role in maintaining these sections of IATI is financed by a grant from the UK Department for International Development.
Although we work with IATI stakeholders when we provide research and technical services, we separately bring our own agenda to the process:
- We want the timely publication by all donors of detailed information about aid, in a format which adheres to open standards, without restrictions on its re-use.
- We believe this approach is most likely to ensure that information can be accessed and presented in ways that serve the needs of people in developing countries.
- We strongly believe that citizens, civil society and parliamentarians in developing countries should have access to information about aid given in their country.
We commissioned an independent review of the IATI standards in May 2010, which is published on our resources page.
“A villager, Chuny Singh joined me in meeting with representatives of the Asian Development Bank, and told them: ‘When you send money to my country, tell me how much and for what – the rest is my business”
Aruna Roy, MKSS an organisation in Rajasthan that campaigns for the right to information
