Openaid.be portal ranks Belgium among most transparent donor countries
Which projects does Belgium finance, and where? This is only one of the many questions to which openaid.be has the answer. The new data portal is the capstone of Belgium’s efforts to make its development policy more transparent. It brings Belgium among the most transparent donors in the world. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Development Cooperation Alexander de Croo launched the data portal today during the New Year’s reception of the actors of Belgium’s development policy.
Alexander De Croo: “In the past four years, Belgium has risen from the 49th to the 18th place in the Aid Transparency Index. On the list of all bilateral donors, our country ranks 7th. With openaid.be, we make our way to the absolute top.”
“Transparency is of vital importance if we want our development policy to enjoy broad support. Thanks to the new data portal OpenAid.be, everyone can see which projects Belgium supports where with just the click of a mouse.”
Stories and Projects
The new data portal openaid.be offers an overview of all projects, programs and organizations that have received support from the Directorate-general Development Cooperation since 2014. Furthermore, on openaid.be one can discover several stories that paint a good picture of Belgium’s development activities: ranging from combatting early school leaving in Niger to the deployment of engine ambulances to save lives in Congo.
The importance of aid transparency is widely recognized and can be found in international agreements such as the “Paris Declaration of Aid Effectiveness” (2005), the “Accra Agenda for Action” (2008) and the “Busan Partnership Agreement” (2011).
Avoid Overlaps
Transparency helps donors coordinate their efforts in order to avoid overlaps and gaps. With this knowledge, partner countries will be able to plan their budgets more efficiently. Finally, transparency places all those involved before their responsibilities.
