By Vivienne Russell | 9 May 2014
Better governance should be at the heart of the post-2015 development agenda, the head of the United Nations Development Programme has said as the second annual report from the International Aid Transparency Initiative was published.
Writing in the foreword to the report, UNDP administrator Helen Clark said the work of the initiative was ‘highly relevant’ to discussions on the future of development where issues of accountability and governance are central components.
She said: ‘Among the 1.8 million people who have shared their priorities and perspectives in the UN-led consultations on the agenda, one of the most consistent and strong messages is the desire for better governance. IATI is well placed to make an important contribution to these discussions.’
Launched in Ghanaian capital Accra in 2008, the initiative aims to make information about aid spending easier to access, use and understand. It developed a common standard for the publication of aid information. The UK’s Department for International Development was the first organisation to publish to the IATI standard in January 2011.
According to the 2013 annual report, the number of organisations now publishing to the IATI standard almost doubled in 2013. Five new member bodies have also joined, taking membership up to 59. These include the Adaptation Fund, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the European Investment Bank, and the Global Environment Facility.
It also noted that partner countries continue to make progress towards strengthening aid management capacity and improving the efficiency of development co-operation.
Steps are being taken to improve transparency in the publication of humanitarian aid and integrating humanitarian needs into the IATI standard.
Clark said: ‘I encourage providers of development assistance to redouble their efforts to publish timely, comprehensive and forward-looking information.
‘UNDP, as a founding member of the IATI Secretariat, is fully committed both to improving its own transparency and promoting transparency by all development actors.’
