MCC Named Most Transparent Donor in 2013 Aid Transparency Index

By: Staff Person
October 24, 2013

U.S. progress in terms of making data available is notable—and the State Department announced this week that the U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF) joined State, DOD, USAID, MCC, and Treasury in adding data to the Foreign Assistance Dashboard. But it is essential that the data be useful. Publishing to the IATI Standard, the only open data standard for aid information, ensures that data is comparable and usable for donors and recipients of aid.

2013 Aid Transparency Index

By: Staff Person
October 24, 2013

At the policy level, the commitment and leadership of the Obama administration—through several White House directives instructing all agencies to embrace open government and open data that is machine readable and readily usable—has been superb. It has demonstrated it understands the value of making U.S. assistance data publicly available through the innovative Foreign Assistance Dashboard and subsequent agreement to join the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI).

Why Congress Should Care About the International Aid Transparency Initiative

By: Staff Person
April 18, 2013

Congress needs to understand that the dashboard and IATI are the tools it has been searching for. Members continuously complain about the opaqueness of foreign assistance – how much assistance is the U.S. providing, to what countries, for what purposes, in cooperation with whom, to what effect? Where is the information to explain to constituents how their tax dollars are being spent? Together the dashboard and IATI will provide this information.

CRS, XML, IATI — What’s The Big Difference?

By: Staff Person
March 8, 2013

Please see below for a guest post from Andrew Clarke, Advocacy Manager at Publish What You Fund. Considering the variety of different types of data publications available, IATI is the most effective way to ensure aid data is comparable, useful and transparent. This piece originally appeared on Publish What You Fund’s blog. Yesterday, the OECD produced an XML file … Continue reading CRS, XML, IATI — What’s The Big Difference?

U.S. Leadership on Aid Transparency

By: Staff Person
June 13, 2012

The real game-changer was the U.S. signing up to the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) in Busan last November. By joining IATI, the administration has agreed with the global consensus that if aid is to ever truly be effective, it must also be transparent.

MFAN Partner ONE Speaks Out on Aid Reform and the Budget

By: Staff Person
February 11, 2011

“This month marks the beginning of what is sure to be a difficult and contentious year-long, and perhaps years-long, debate over U.S. spending. Foreign aid should and will be part of that discussion and cuts are certain, whether they come from the Administration or Congress. But my hope is that they will be “smart” cuts that will not minimize the goal of advancing American interests, scale back aid programs that have proven to be effective, or stifle promising new initiatives that will bring greater efficiency, accountability, and impact to that less-than-1% of the budget that is foreign aid.”

MFAN Partners Sign Letter on IATI Standards

By: Staff Person
January 27, 2011

“The emerging ‘common aid language’ needs to be shaped by U.S. information and reporting systems and respond to U.S. accountability concerns. The Administration’s focus on results and accountability requires comprehensive and timely information on all resources being invested in a country, sector or area. Without the ability to compare U.S. spending to that of other donors, it is not possible to allocate or coordinate resources effectively or meaningfully assess their impact.”