Transparency
Transparency helps to improve the effectiveness, accountability and trust in the international development and aid sector. Transparency matters for civil society across the world. Detailing the aims and activities of various aid programmes helps to make the sector more accessible for both tax payers in donor countries and citizens of the countries where the money is spent. It also enables donors to avoid duplication, co-ordinate funding efforts and evidence the work of governments towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
There are a number of tools and resources that can help you work to improve your organisation’s transparency and approach to sharing information:
- Bond have developed a step-by-step guide and template for creating an open information policy
- The Alliance and Bond co-developed a Transparency Review in 2014 to help organisations’ take an objective look at how they share information and compare their practices to peers
- The Guardian Global Development Professionals Network published a piece entitled ‘20 pre-requisites for transparency’ in 2013
IATI
The International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) is a global open data standard used by international development and humanitarian organisations. Currently over 1,000 different organisations publish to IATI. Some government donors such as the UK and Dutch government require grantees and service providers to publish their data to IATI.
Publishing project data online using the global standard improves the transparency of development and humanitarian work, making the results of projects accessible to the public and press. For example, IATI published projects are visualised in charts and graphics by d-portal.
IATI data is also utilised by donor dashboards including the UK Government’s Development Tracker, the Dutch Government’s openaidNL, the Danish Government’s Danida OpenAid, the Swedish Government’s OpenAid, the USA Government Foreign Aid Explorer, and the European Commission’s EU Aid Explorer.
Many of our network members already publish their projects and programmes to IATI. Around 25 organisations within our network currently publish to IATI, you can view their profiles on d-portal to find out more about their funding sources, activities and results. Organisations include: ActionAid, British Red Cross, CBM, Christian Aid, Christian Engineers in Development, Disasters Emergency Committee, EMMS International, Feed the Minds, IOD PARC, Islamic Relief, Link Education International, Mary’s Meals, Mercy Corps, Opportunity International, Oxfam Scotland, Save the Children, SCIAF, Sense Scotland, Tearfund, The HALO Trust, The Open University, UNICEF, VSO International, Water Witness International, and WaterAid.
There are a number of tools and guidance documents that can help you to familiarise yourself with and prepare your project data for IATI:
- IATI has produced a comprehensive guidance and support document about readying your organisation, preparing the data and finally publishing data to the standard
- DFID published IATI Guidelines in 2018 which include DFID’s transparency policy and a technical document detailing which fields need to be filled in, aimed at a technical/IT audience
- Bond has created a simple guide for charities ‘Using IATI: A guide for NGOs’ and offer a two week online course delivered with Humentum about publishing to IATI
- UNDP have created a self-paced online training course ‘Introduction to IATI’ which takes around 60 minutes to complete
- Aidstream is a free, online platform which can help you prepare your data and publish to IATI
Need more support on the topic of transparency or have questions about preparing your organisation to publish to IATI? Email the Effectiveness & Learning team.
Join Scotland's International Development Alliance and be part of Scotland's international development community.
Resources
Scotland's International Development Alliance Strategic Plan 2017-2020
This strategic plan sets out the new direction of The Alliance and what it hopes to achieve by 2020.
Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Guide
A guide to improve knowledge, increase confidence and success in Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning.
A basic introduction to logframes
Writing a logframe well is a necessary skill for anyone in the international development sector. Some donors request them as part of their funding application process.
Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning for Beginners
This paper is for those new to Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) and want to increase their knowledge.
A Quick Guide to Theory of Change
Theories of Change are essentially about how we think that change happens. It is nearly always a mix of evidence and assumptions.
Partnership Guide
Partnerships are essential to our work but what makes a good partnership? This guide looks at best practice in developing, sustaining and disbanding partnerships.
Innovation Guide
There is a need for organisations working in the fields of development and humanitarian action to continually see if there are better solutions to the problems they are working with local communities to address.
Introduction to Fundraising
Fundraising is important for every organisation. This guide is an introduction to fundraising as well as a good practice guide.
Climate Change Bill Consultation Joint Submission
A joint submission to the Climate Change Bill Consultation from Oxfam Scotland, Christian Aid Scotland, SCIAF & Tearfund Scotland.
LGBT+ Inclusion in International Development Programming
A checklist for UK Aid Connect proposals that can help ensure LGBT+ communities do not continue to be left behind.
ODI Report - The politics of the results agenda in DFID: 1997-2017
In this report the ODI analyse how and why the results agenda emerged. Their primary focus is on the politics of the story, how it has intersected with DFID's management, and the response to these changes. They ask whether DFID's results management is fit for purpose; that is, does it reflect the UK's development ambitions?
DFID budget template for overhead costs
The Department for International Development (DFID) has developed a new standard budget template available for use from June 2019. It takes a standard format for capturing direct costs and overheads.
Members Guide to Accessing Funds Online
Funds Online is an extensive online database compiling over 8,000 sources of funding for organisations and individuals, from grant-making charities, companies and statutory providers. This guide explains how Alliance members can access this database.
Thematic Discussion: Disability
Presentations from the thematic discussions about disability with DFID and the Big Lottery Fund.
Lobbying Register Guidance
From Monday 12 March 2018 all regulated lobbying in Scotland, as defined in the Lobbying (Scotland) Act, will have to be registered on Scotland’s new Lobbying Register. You can find all related guidance and documentation here.
EU-AFRICA RELATIONS: STRATEGIES FOR A RENEWED PARTNERSHIP
Friends of Europe launches a major new report examining the strategies for a renewed partnership that tackles the changing geopolitical, development, social and economic challenges facing Africa and Europe.
Value for Money Paper
This paper tries to explain the very first principles associated with this term using both “formal” and “informal” resources hopefully helping you to start engaging with the concept and start answering simple value for money questions.
Scottish Government Main Grants Rwanda Zambia Feedback Session Notes
Scottish Government Main Grants Rwanda Zambia Feedback Session Notes
Welcome Letter to Secretary of State for International Development
This letter offers congratulations to the new Secretary of State for International Development.
Handy Hints - Fundraising
A four part series of guides developed by Helen Harvey about realising the potential of crowdfunding, corporate support, in-kind/pro-bono support and individual donors.
Safeguarding & Whistleblowing Example Policies
A range of example safeguarding and whistleblowing policies for organisations to read, review and adapt to individual contexts.
Effectiveness Toolkit
The Effectiveness Toolkit enables an organisation to review its work both against a set of principles of good practice in international development and benchmarks of good operational practice.
Scottish Government Small Grants Information for Applicants 2018
Information for Scottish Government Small Grants Programme applicants for the 2018 funding round.
The International Fair Trade Charter
How the Global Fair Trade Movement works to transform trade in order to achieve justice, equity and sustainability for people and planet.
Safeguarding Research Summary
This report provides the analysis of a small research project conducted by the Scottish Government and Scotland’s International Development Alliance with stakeholders in the international development sector.
Developing a Safeguarding Policy
This is a tool to help organisations develop their own safeguarding policies.
Top tips for better blogging
Top tips for better blogging from Susan Smith, Editor, Third Force News (TFN).
Leaving no-one behind in emergencies
CBM gave a presentation about practical ways to ensure humanitarian responses are inclusive.
Transparency & IATI resources
Transparency helps to improve effectiveness, accountability and trust in the international development and aid sector. This resource page signposts different places across the internet to gain support on organisational transparency and publishing your data to IATI.
Climate Justice Innovation Fund Information Session 2019
A Climate Justice Innovation (CJI) Fund information session was held by the fund managers Corra Foundation in Edinburgh on 26 June 2019.