UK aid review highlights importance of transparency

Everyone knows that aid transparency and value for money have taken centre stage at the UK Department for International Development (DFID) since the coalition government came into power. To kick start their new direction in development policy, Andrew Mitchell commissioned multilateral and bilateral reviews of UK aid… the results have just come in.

We’re pleased to see that part of the multilateral review focused on transparency and accountability – you can find this section on page 54 of the document. The review considers the transparency of multilateral institutions, looking at whether they make information about their policies and projects easily accessible to external stakeholders. They then go on to assess the level of accountability that these institutions have to their stakeholders, looking for compliance with the standards set by the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI).

DFID have already demonstrated  their commitment to  make aid more transparent  through their adoption of the UK aid transparency guarantee and by publishing their aid information to IATI. In the MAR, they have shown that they are willing to use their leverage to press the multilateral organisations they fund to become more transparent.

We’re encouraged by this move; it’s something we feel is crucial in the fight for more transparent and effective aid.

You can read the full review here.