Transparency of Loans and Aid from Foreign Countries (MN0028)

Status quo or problem addressed by the commitment: Information about projects implemented with funding from international organisations is not accessible and transparent to the public. Main Objective: Make information about borrowings, aid, assistance, projects and programmes by international organisations open to the public Brief Description of commitment (140 character limit): Accelerate actions to develop information database on borrowings, aid and projects and programmes by international organisations and make the information open to public.

7. Promoting transparency of loans and aid from foreign countries

Commitment Text:

Accelerate actions to develop am information database on borrowings, aid and projects and programs by international organizations and make the information open to public.

Status quo or problem addressed:

Information about projects implemented with funding from international organizations is not transparent of accessible by the public.

Main Objective:

Make information about borrowings, aid, assistance, projects, and program by international organizations open to the public.

Milestones:

7.1. Update management database

7.2. Develop and expand information database

7.3. Organize training and capacity building on information management system

7.4. Promote information system to the public

Responsible institution: Central Government Authority for Budget and Finance

Supporting institutions: General regulators of budget, Project implementing units

Start date: 30 June 2016

End date: 30 June 2018

Context and Objectives

Chapter 7, Article 22 of Mongolia’s 2003 Law on Coordination of Foreign Loans and Grant Aid calls for the establishment of establishing an integrated registry of projects and database for foreign loan-funded projects, grant-funded projects and activities, and foreign debt.[Note90: Law of Mongolia on Coordination of Foreign Locals and Grant Aid, available at: http://legal-policy.mn/uploads/files/1437030428-33356109.pdf.] This commitment aims to ensure greater transparency of foreign assistance by developing an information database on foreign aid projects and promoting it to the public. It builds off Commitment 3.3.1.7 from the previous action plan, under which the Ministry of Finance launched a website (odamis.mof.gov.mn) that listed and described about 1,000 past and ongoing projects with information on funders, expenditures, and performance. While the commitment was considered substantially implemented in the IRM End of Term Report, the report found that the website lacked detailed budget information, such as loan interest rates, repayment conditions, and implementing authority/organizations.[Note91: Independent Reporting Mechanism, 'Mongolia End of Term Report 2014-2016,' https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/01/Mongolia_EOTR_2014-2016.pdf, pg. 13.] The commitment in the current action plan seeks to remedy the lack of budget information on the website.

Publishing information on projects implemented with international funding is relevant to the OGP value of access to information. However, the commitment does not provide further detail on the scope of foreign aid information to be made available to the public. Furthermore, there is no detailed description of how the trainings and capacity building will allow citizens or public officials to better understand or manage the information on the database. Therefore, the specificity is marked as low.

Commitment 3.3.1.7 from the previous action plan has a potentially transformative impact on access to foreign loan information because there was no government system to make such information available to the public prior the launch of the database.[Note92: Independent Reporting Mechanism, 'Mongolia End of Term Report 2014-2016,' https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/01/Mongolia_EOTR_2014-2016.pdf, pg. 27.] However, the IRM End of Term Report found the commitment to have improved access to information only marginally due to the lack of detailed budget information made available. The commitment in the current action plan seeks to expand the information on the database, but the lack of a more specific description of the new information to be published makes it difficult to assess how this commitment addresses the deficiencies in the database. For example, it does not specify if the new information will be made available in machine-readable format. Also, the commitment does not include activities for promoting data use or raising awareness of the information made available on the database. Given the lack of a more detailed description of how the database will be expanded, the potential impact is marked as minor.

Completion

The odamis.mof.gov.mn database currently lists over 1,200 past and ongoing foreign-funded projects in Mongolia.[Note93: For the database of foreign-funded projects, see: htt0ps://odamis.mof.gov.mn/projectList.] The information includes the start and end dates of the projects, the issue being addressed, the geographical area covered, the names of the funding and implementing organizations, and the implementation status. It is unclear, however, the extent to which the current amount of information on the database expands upon the amount during the previous action plan. Additionally, the IRM inquired with the government regarding the training for the information management system and the steps taken to promote the database to the public, as required by the commitment, but has not received a reply to this request. For more information, see Section VI: Methodology and Sources. The implementation of this commitment is considered to have not started at the end of the action plan’s first year.

Next Steps

Given the importance of foreign assistance to Mongolia, the IRM recommends carrying this commitment forward to the next action plan, but with greater specification for the type and format of information to be published on the database.

7. Promoting transparency of loans and aid from foreign countries

Commitment Text:

Accelerate actions to develop a[n] information database on borrowings, aid and projects and programs by international organizations and make the information open to public.

Status quo or problem addressed:

Information about projects implemented with funding from international organizations is not transparent or accessible by the public.

Milestones:

7.1. Update management database

7.2. Develop and expand information database

7.3. Organize training and capacity building on information management system

7.4. Promote information system to the public

Responsible institution: Central Government Authority for Budget and Finance

Supporting institutions: General regulators of budget, Project implementing units

Start date: 30 June 2016

End date: 30 June 2018

Editorial Note: This is an abridged version of the commitment text. For the full commitment text from the Mongolian National Action Plan, see: https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Mongolia-NAP2-Final-Eng_0.pdf

Commitment Aim

This commitment aimed to make information about borrowings, aid, and projects and programs by international organizations open to the public. It aimed to do this by developing an updated and well-managed information database and promoting it to the public.

Status

Midterm: Not started

The odamis.mof.gov.mn database lists more than 1,200 past and ongoing foreign-funded projects in Mongolia. [50] The information includes the start and end dates of the projects, the issue being addressed, the geographical area covered, the names of the funding and implementing organizations, and the implementation status. The existence of this database pre-dated the introduction of this commitment.

The Central Government Authority for Budget and Finance did not conduct training on this database and information management system, and the database was not promoted to the public. Therefore, the implementation of this commitment was considered to have not started at the midterm (Milestone 7.1 – 7.4). For more information, please see the IRM 2016-2017 Progress Report. [51]

End of term: Limited

At the end of term, the odamis.mof.gov.mn database still contained general information pertaining to foreign-funded projects. Although the number of projects reported on the database increased since the midterm (Milestones 7.1 and 7.2), the database continued to omit project reports with detailed budget information. The government authority also did not conduct training and promotion of the information system to the public. (Milestones 7.3 and 7.4).

Did It Open Government?

Access to Information: Marginal

As there was only limited new information on projects, and no new financial information on loans and aid from foreign countries, included on the odamis.mof.gov.mn databse, this commitment only led to a marginal increase in access to information.

Carried Forward?

The commitment is not included in Mongolia’s third action plan.