Transparency of Official Development Assistance (UK0104)

Objective: Strengthening of transparency and accountability of UK Official Development Assistance (ODA).

What is the problem that the commitment will address? Official development assistance (ODA) has a role to play in strengthening open societies and democracy around the world, as laid out in the International Development Strategy. Ensuring information on ODA is easier to access, understand and use means that taxpayers in donor countries, and communities and governments in developing countries can more easily hold development partners to account for using funds wisely. It also enables international development actors to coordinate and plan their activities more effectively. The UK has a strong reputation of supporting international transparency initiatives and set a high standard for transparency of ODA, with substantial progress made in the last decade. Since 2020 there have been a range of challenges to transparency and accountability in the international development sector.

In the UK: - Due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on public finances, from 2021 the UK Government temporarily reduced its ODA budget from 0.7% to 0.5% of GNI. The National Audit Office echoed findings of both ICAI and the IDC that a lack of transparency in the approach to and outcome of ODA changes affected the quality and scrutiny of allocation decisions and contributed to uncertainty in the sector. - The Department for International Development (DFID) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) were merged to form the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). The two departments were assessed in the Aid Transparency Index in 2020 with DFID scoring Very Good (85.4 and FCO scoring fair (48.6). In 2022 the FCDO scored Good (71.9). - Ten UK government departments involved in spending UK ODA were assessed in the 2020 UK Aid Transparency Review and proposals for improvements were made, but work on these proposals has been challenging under the pandemic and limited progress has been made.

Globally: The Covid-19 pandemic and the conflicts in Afghanistan and Ukraine put a spotlight on both real-time ODA data being published to IATI as a critical mechanism for understanding where humanitarian and development finance was flowing to enable coordination, effectiveness and accountability, alongside the challenges of our public data putting people at risk. Both these areas need to be explored further to ensure good quality and timely data, while minimising risk during a crisis.

How will the commitment contribute to solving the problem:

1. The International Development Strategy notes that “Transparency and accountability supports progress”, commits the UK to being “a patient partner that champions openness” and to being transparent in its financing model. This National Action Plan commitment reaffirms the UK government’s position on aid transparency and to publication of financial and programme information on ODA on devtracker and to the International Aid Transparency Initiative standard (IATI). Through the enhancement of UK aid data and encouragement and support to recipients of UK aid and partner countries, these improvements will contribute to UK ODA being tracked through the delivery chain.

2. FCDO will exceed its 2022 score in future Aid Transparency Index assessments. FCDO and BEIS will proactively engage with the recommendations of the 2022 Aid Transparency Index.

3. To enhance UK government wide aid transparency Government Departments will agree how they will address the recommendations of the 2020 UK Aid Transparency Review, with the expectation for a follow up review.

4. FCDO will create a new programme to enable aid transparency, including to support the International Aid transparency Initiative and support the enhanced transparency of UK ministries spending ODA. The UK will continue taking an active role in IATI, including through the donor harmonisation group, helping improve the standard while supporting improvements in data use and data quality.

5. FCDO will proactively engage with the recommendations of the ICAI rapid review of Transparency in UK Aid, and use them to inform its aid transparency plans for the future.

6. FCDO will adopt a meaningful, inclusive and deliberative approach to ensure effective engagement with civil society. This requires being open and accountable, ensuring participants are kept informed; and creating a well-structured and consistent process.

7. FCDO will work with donor partners on the transparency of data during conflicts, identifying best practice that balances the need for protecting people from harm with the need for data and transparency of aid information.

Milestone to fulfil the commitment Baseline New or ongoing Start Date End Date

Milestones relating to commitment 1 By December 2022 to have held a technical discussion with civil society on FCDO data and how it translates into IATI data, in particular including discussions and proposals on handling of budgets and commitments in line with the IATI standard. New 2022 Dec 2022 By August 2023, FCDO to be consistently (for at least 3 consecutive months by milestone end date) publishing all project level expenditure data monthly, within 2 weeks of the month end. FCDO publishing both monthly and quarterly. Ongoing 2022 August 31st 2023 By Sept 2023, FCDO to ensure all activity descriptions of projects and programmes provide an overview of implementing activities and target groups Sept 2023

Milestones relating to commitment 2 FCDO will improve its score by the time of the Aid Transparency Index in 2024 . Score of 71.9 (Good) in 2022 Ongoing 2022 2024

Milestones relating to commitment 3 By December 2022, FCDO and BEIS to outline actions to be taken to address recommendations of the 2022 Aid Transparency Index NA New 2022 December 31st 2022. By end 2022, OGDs to have agreed a process for addressing outstanding challenges highlighted in the 2020 UK Aid Transparency Review and agreed the timeline for a future assessment. NA New 2022 Dec 31st 2022

Milestones relating to commitment 4 FCDO to publish the business case of the new transparency programme and plan to support IATI and the transparency of OGDs NA New Sept 2022 March 2023

Milestones relating to commitment 5 The UK government to respond to the ICAI review within allocated timeframes, outlining actions that will be taken in response to recommendations. NA New 2022 Within agreed timelines from ICAI review publication

Milestones relating to commitment 6 FCDO to hold quarterly meetings with civil society to discuss aid transparency, seeking input from and consulting civil society organisations on pertinent issues, and providing feedback on how the input is used. NA New Autum n 2022 Ongoing

Milestones relating to commitment 7 FCDO to work with other IATI donor publishers to develop an approach to IATI publication during conflicts. NA New 2022 March 2023

Results Report

Commitment 6. Aid Transparency

This commitment was added to the action plan as an amendment in August 2022. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) aimed to strengthen the transparency and accountability of the UK’s official development assistance (ODA) by publishing more aid data from the FCDO and other government departments. The FCDO also aimed to improve engagement with civil society and other stakeholders, and to improve the UK’s ranking in external measures such as Publish What You Fund’s Aid Transparency Index. [70]

All activities within this commitment were completed. Some key achievements included the resumption of monthly data publication on FCDO expenditure, which was paused due to changes in government department structures following the merger of the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in September 2020. Additionally, the FCDO developed a clearer approach to handling data and ensuring transparency while protecting people from harm during conflicts. This is particularly pertinent given the rise of conflicts and humanitarian crises in recent years. ^[71] They devised a strategy to address the recommendations highlighted in the 2022 Aid Transparency Index, where the FCDO was categorised as ’good’. This plan has been successfully implemented, resulting in the FCDO being ranked in the ’very good’ category in the 2024 index. ^[72]

According to the FCDO, this commitment also resulted in high-quality engagement with civil society. Between September 2022 and October 2023, the FCDO held six meetings (one per quarter) with civil society to seek the latter’s input on aid transparency and provided feedback on pertinent issues. These meetings helped strengthen the relationship between the FCDO and civil society, offering the FCDO valuable feedback and insights for the next OGP action plan. They allowed the FCDO to better understand how civil society was using the data and facilitated communication with other government departments on what kinds of data to produce and how to better meet data users’ needs. [73]

This commitment has been carried over into the sixth action plan. ^[74] Formalising and strengthening the role of CSOs in ODA oversight and monitoring could improve transparency. This could involve legislative measures to ensure CSOs have access to timely and meaningful ODA data, as well as opportunities to participate in decision-making processes related to ODA allocation and implementation. Additionally, introducing new legislation or amending existing laws to mandate rigorous and standardised reporting requirements for all government departments involved in ODA could enhance accountability and transparency.