The benefits of transparency

Poverty reduction Underpins the social contract Reduces the cost of aid Increases coordination & predictability Spreads learning and ideas Shows taxpayers how effective aid can be... and so helps to reduce poverty

Diverse uses, common needs IATI consultations Aidinfo use cases Variety of uses for information Common needs Importance of accessibility & diversity

Making information accessible One-size-fits-all database will not work Donors role: – Recognise diverse information needs – Detailed, timely, forward looking information – Common international format – Single consistent reporting – Support 3 rd party intermediaries

Costs and Benefits Work in progress Large margins of error Estimates of: – Costs (from IATI donor fact finding) – Efficiency gains (from survey) – Effectiveness gains (from literature review) Lets crowd-source this analysis

Is transparency cost effective? Costs (one off) – Implementation - ~$6m (net of HQ savings) – Range ~$4m - ~$8m (But this seems too small?) Efficiency gains (IATI signatories) – Eliminate duplicate reporting - $8m a year ($4m - $10m a year) Effectiveness gains (IATI signatories) – Lower diversion – ~$900m a year ($100m - $4bn a year) – Greater predictability - ~$900m a year ($375m - $1.8bn a year) Not quantified here: – Better coordination – Better aid allocation – Better research – Greater willingness to give aid

Cost effectiveness summary Central estimates for IATI donors: – Net benefits $1.6 billion a year – Equivalent to permanent global ODA rise of 1.3% All DAC donors: equivalent to 2.3% increase Efficiency gains cover costs in about a year Effectiveness gains cover costs in about a day Conservative, but uncertain, estimates

Conclusions Diverse users, common needs Enabling environment for intermediaries Costs of order of tens of millions, direct savings Benefits of order of billions of dollars Equivalent to additional $1.6 billion Or 1.3% of global ODA

Owen Barder