Development Assistance
On Wednesday in Paris, a group of international donors agreed to a new standard for publishing their aid flows, in a common language and format, to make the information easier to access and compare. Although this may not seem particularly exciting at the outset, it is a huge victory in terms of making aid to developing countries more effective and more accountable.
The International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI)—which is a coalition of donor countries and multilateral organizations, recipient countries, and civil society organizations—aims to improve and increase transparent reporting on aid flows and activities. At present, individual donors largely decide themselves what and how much information they want to make public regarding money they spend on international development. What they do publish isn’t always easily comparable to what other donors make available, and that makes it very difficult to track aid flows at the international level, or even within specific recipient countries. With IATI’s help, and with the new standard developed by their steering committee on Wednesday, more and more donors will be encouraged to publish their information in a common format on their registry.
At ONE’s sister organization, Publish What You Fund, Director Karin Christiansen has been working with IATI to push for greater transparency among donors in the international system. Following the developments, she noted:
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Next week, President Obama will release his proposed 2012 budget — and by now, I’m sure you’ve heard that US foreign aid spending is (as a recent headline put it) “on the chopping block.” But a few public officials on both sides of the political aisle are voicing their opinions against these cuts in the mainstream media. Take a look:
Rep. Nita Lowey of New York, the ranking Democrat on the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations subcommittee, wrote in a recent Politico column:
“Leaders of both parties, including President George W. Bush, have affirmed that U.S. power is a three-legged stool of military might, diplomatic skill and development. The foreign aid bill’s diplomatic and development objectives pay dividends by helping avoid military deployments to protect U.S. interests, which are far more costly in both life and treasure.”
And GOP strategist John Feehery said in the Hill:
“…Cutting foreign aid is not going to balance the budget. It is only going to lessen our influence in the rest of the world. I am all for putting pressure on our foreign assistance programs to make sure we are getting the best bang for the buck. I am not for taking us out of the foreign assistance game entirely, though. Isolationism is not going to make America more secure.”
ONE and our two million members urge Congress to oppose cuts to U.S. foreign assistance funding that supports critical, lifesaving programs.
For decades the United States has led the way in helping the poorest people in the world become healthier, better educated and more economically self-sufficient. While there is still much to be done, great progress has been made.
Using less than one percent of the United States budget we have helped save millions of lives through basic childhood vaccinations, malaria prevention and treatment, and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. It is now possible that, by 2015, no child will be born with HIV. This was unimaginable even 5 years ago. In 2010, 98 million fewer people went hungry compared to 2009, due in part because of our support of agricultural development. Millions more children are in school. More moms are living through childbirth. Since 1990, some 400 million people have been lifted out of extreme poverty. This is living proof American generosity makes a world of difference.
Cuts to global health and development would achieve only symbolic savings but have a profound impact on human lives and dignity. In these austere times, we must not misplace our priorities. America’s leadership in the world is demonstrated, and assisted, through our assistance to the most vulnerable people.
If you caught the president’s State of the Union address a couple of nights ago, you’d know a big part of his vision for America was focused on innovation and competitiveness. “Our success in this new and changing world,” Obama said, “will require reform, responsibility, and innovation.” He presented a bold plan to create jobs and grow our economy through reformed education, more efficient government and investment in science and technology. It was an inspiring speech that called upon Americans to “do big things.”
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
But this talk isn’t new. Throughout government, we’ve been seeing a lot of these principles put in practice by many agencies and programs, including those working on foreign assistance. The State Department, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) have all put a premium on becoming more efficient, effective and transparent in their support for poor nations and are embracing innovative ideas to save money and make a bigger impact.
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Monks head online in Phnom Penh. Photo courtesy of Flickr user Magalie L’Abbé under a Creative Commons license.
Have you checked out foreignassistance.gov yet? It’s kind of a big deal. It may seem like just another government data website to jaded Washington types, but it’s actually a big deal for poor people in aid-dependent countries. The new website is commonly referred to as the “Aid Dashboard.”
It’s the follow-through on a promise made in July when the Obama Administration unveiled its plan to meet the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. The Aid Dashboard aims to give the public a window into how and where US development dollars are spent. And it’s not just a mash of numbers; the Dashboard uses dynamic graphics to allow stakeholders to picture US foreign assistance investments easily by geography, sector or time period.
So, what gives it the potential to make it a big deal? The point is what it can do. You remember those NBC public service announcements, “The More You Know”? The more people in poor countries who know what donors are up to in their own backyards, the more they can hold their governments responsible for how they use the aid money that comes in. Citizen watchdog groups, journalists and local businesses can use this comprehensive information to blow the whistle on aid dollars that have disappeared or weren’t used to meet their needs. The more citizens know, the more they can fight corruption themselves.
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As you may have read in our news roundup yesterday morning, the World Bank’s International Development Agency (known as IDA) received an historic boost in funding yesterday. Officials meeting in Brussels agreed to contribute $49.3 billion for IDA over the next three years, representing an 18 percent increase over IDA’s last financing round. Although the specific donor contributions have not yet been publicized, we do know that year’s replenishment included unprecedented increases in resources mobilized from within the World Bank and from former IDA borrowers.
This is great news for the world’s poorest countries, where (as my colleague Lauren noted earlier this week) IDA is one of the biggest donors. The World Bank estimates that this increased funding for IDA will help immunize 200 million more children, extend health services to over 30 million people, give access to improved water sources to 80 million more people, help build 80,000 kilometers of roads and train and recruit over two million teachers. For African countries (which make up 39 of 70 IDA countries) this could be a huge help towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
Stay tuned for more details.
Donor governments are meeting in Brussels, Belgium this week to complete the 16th replenishment of the World Bank’s International Development Agency (IDA).
IDA -– known as the World Bank’s “fund for the poorest” -– is one of the largest development financiers in Africa and the world’s least developed countries. Historically, Africa has received more of IDA’s funding than any other region, at around 50 percent. IDA funds are delivered through grants and interest-free, long-term loans.
These meetings will conclude IDA’s last replenishment before 2015 — so, the commitments made to IDA will be critical in helping the world’s poorest countries mobilize the funds needed to meet the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Africa by 2015. In past decade, IDA immunized 310 million children, provided access to water and sanitation for more than 177 million people and brought better education to more than 100 million children each year. With strong commitments from donor countries, IDA estimates that it can immunize 200 million more children, give access to improved water sources to 80 million more people and train and recruit more than two million more teachers.
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