Open Aid, Open Societies: A Vision for a Transparent World

"...[A] more open, more accountable world must be the foundation on which democracies and global prosperity are built. This happens when we [DFID] and others publish evidence and data which is meaningful and when others can translate that information so that it reaches and makes sense to ordinary women and men, including the most marginalised, empowering them to speak out and hold their leaders to account."

This report outlines the United Kingdom (UK) Department for International Development (DFID)'s commitment to undertake a "transparency revolution", setting out the organisation's commitments to close loopholes that allow corruption to be hidden, support efforts to make DFID's partner governments more open and transparent, and scale up DFID's broader support for transparency and accountability efforts around the world. That is, in articulating DFID's pledge, the report also calls for a global effort on the part of governments, big business, institutions, and global civil society organisations.

DFID works to promote economic growth and support countries to raise their own revenue, ensuring they can stand on their own two feet. The concept is that, "[w]hen people can see how their governments spend money and what it achieves, and have a say in how their country is run, then trust can be built. With open, accountable and responsive governments, citizens are more likely to pay taxes, vote, and get involved in decision-making. Economies are more likely to grow, and aid dependency can and should end. By shining a light on financial flows and decision-making, transparency also reduces opportunities for corruption."

The report explores DFID's commitment to making data and evidence available, and to supporting existing global transparency initiatives that work to that end. The organisation also acknowledges that simply making information available is not enough, so it "will continue to ensure all DFID-funded research evidence and evaluations are published in accessible and useable formats, and we will support partner countries to strengthen their ability to generate and use scientific research in decision-making." Data needs to be presented in an understandable way that enables citizens to find, interpret and use it, it argues. "Evidence must also be accessible to parliaments, audit offices, media and civil society organisations that can monitor and champion improvements in services." Along those lines, DFID cites evidence that shows that countries with a strong civil society tend to have less corruption, higher integrity, and more equitable allocation of funds for the public good.

DFID gets specific about what the organisation plans to do, including:

• Reforming the international aid system - e.g., by requiring all implementing partners to publish to the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) or other relevant international transparency standards;
• Spearheading new global standards - e.g., by supporting the development of a Register of Open Ownership;
• Strengthening existing global initiatives - e.g., by continuing to support the Open Government Partnership (OGP) - see Related Summaries, below; and
• Doing more in the economically poorest countries to open up governments - e.g., by supporting open and safe digital spaces and by scaling up support for a healthy, free media and civil society that can champion anti-corruption and transparency and promote debate and uptake of data.

DFID plans to work with others to make this happen. For example, in four sub-Saharan African countries, DFID is testing out innovative approaches with civil society, law enforcement, and investigative journalists to use greater transparency and to help drive forward investigations and prosecutions of incidences of corruption. On the whole, DFID concludes: "We know that this [transparency revolution] will take time, but we are joining up across government and internationally to deliver the change."