Policy Updates

Each week, Donor Tracker's team of country-based experts bring you the most important policy and funding news across issue areas in the form of Policy Updates.

Publish What You Fund releases 2022 Aid Transparency Index

July 13, 2022 | Sweden, UK, Global donor profile, South Korea, France, Spain, Canada, Japan, US, Netherlands, Australia, Germany, Italy, EUI, Norway | Share this update

Publish What You Fund released its 2022 Aid Transparency Index, which measures the transparency of key bilateral and multilateral international development organizations.

Overall, the project found that donors maintained transparency near pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels; 31 of the 50 evaluated organizations scored in the ‘good’ or ‘very good’ categories, meaning they consistently publish high-quality data on development assistance disbursements. 50 donors were evaluated out of 100 points and ranked accordingly.

Australia: The index showed that Australia's ODA transparency has continued to deteriorate. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) ranked 41 of the 50 donor organizations, a continuance of their declining trend. The agency remained in the ‘fair’ category but lost 10 points on the transparency index. DFAT was 34 of 47 in 2020 and 23 of 45 in 2018. This decline in transparency occurred under the previous Australian government. The recently elected Labor government has committed to improving accountability and transparency in the development sector.

Canada: Global Affairs Canada (GAC) dropped from the ‘very good’ category in 2020 to ‘good’ in 2022, losing nearly 10 points in Publish What You Fund’s ranking system and ranking 17th overall in 2022, showing a concerning decrease in transparency amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

EU: The report evaluated the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), European Investment Bank (EIB), Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (NEAR), and the Directorate-General for International Partnerships (INTPA; formerly DEVCO).

The European Commission’s (EC) ECHO scored ‘good’ overall and ranked 13th among evaluated donors, improving by nearly nine points compared to the 2020 index. The EC’s INTPA scored 15th among evaluated donors and ranked in the ‘good’ category, but declined by 4 points in transparency from 2020. The EBRD’s sovereign portfolio ranked 24th among donors and scored in the ‘good’ category, declining by 3 points since 2020. The non-sovereign portfolio was also placed in the ‘good' category, but ranked 31st among donors. The EC’s NEAR ranked in the ‘good’ category, as it did in 2020, but declined significantly in transparency, dropping nearly 15 points. The EIB’s sovereign portfolio ranked 33rd among donors and remained in the ‘fair’ category, as it was in 2020; the portfolio also lost 3 points in transparency compared to 2020. The EIB’s non-sovereign portfolio also stood in the ‘fair’ category, ranking 37th among donors.

France: The French Development Agency (AFD) ranked 28th among donors and sat in the ‘good’ category. The agency improved by five points compared to 2020 and jumped up from ‘fair.’
\ Germany: Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) scored ‘good’ overall and ranked 11th among evaluated donors, improving by seven points compared to the 2020 index. Germany’s Federal Foreign Office (FFO), on the other hand, ranked 43rd among donors with only 37 of 100 transparency points.

Italy: The Italian Development Cooperation Agency (AICS) has gradually improved its performance since 2017. In 2020, AICS was placed in the ‘fair’ category, but the agency improved by 5 points, ranking 34th overall in 2022.
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Japan: The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) dropped the most out of the evaluated agencies – by 26 points – sliding from ‘fair’ to ‘poor’ in 2022 and ranking just 47th out of 50 donors evaluated.

Netherlands: The Netherlands’ Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA) declined by 4 points from 2020, but remained in the ‘good’ category, ranking 23rd overall.

Norway: Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) dropped from ‘fair’ in 2020 to ‘poor’ in 2022, losing seven points.

South Korea: South Korea’s Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) scored ‘good’ overall and ranked 14th among evaluated donors, improving by seven points compared to the 2020 index.

Spain: The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) ranked 42nd among donors, losing nearly 17 points since 2020 and remaining in the ‘fair’ category.

Sweden: The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) ranked 21st among donors, improving by 4 points since 2022 and sitting in the ‘good’ category.

United Kingdom: The report found the transparency of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has declined. According to the index’s ranking, the FCDO fell from 9th place in 2020 to 16th in 2022; no UK agency scored in the 'very good' category for the first time since the Index was launched in 2012. The FCDO and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) sat in the ‘good’ category. The FCDO has underperformed compared to the former Department for International Development (2020) across all five Index components; this is largely the result of a lack of organizational and country strategies and inconsistent release of results, evaluations, and objectives.

United States: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) ranked 25th among donors and was placed in the ‘good’ category; however, the agency lost nearly 12 points and declined significantly in transparency since 2020. The US State Department ranked 32nd among donors, losing 5 points since 2020 and dropping out of the ‘good’ category to ‘fair.’

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), an independent US government agency, scored in the ‘very good’ category and ranked 5th among donors. The US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) jumped from ‘fair’ to ‘good’ in 2022, improving by nearly 9 points and ranking 20th among donors.

Recommendations for all donors included:

  • Publishing more project budgets to facilitate planning and coordination;
  • Implementing government entity references and developing referencing approaches for the private sector to track assistance flows;
  • For Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), improving non-sovereign portfolio data;
  • Publishing comprehensive data on project impact metrics; and
  • Publishing budget documents, project procurement information, and impact appraisals.
Report - Publish What You Fund News article - BOND News article - The Telegraph News article - National Tribune

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UK Audit Office finds merger of FCO and DFID resulted in loss of senior staff

March 25, 2024 | UK | Share this update

On March 25, 2024, the UK’s NAO, the UK's independent public spending watchdog, released a new report assessing the merger of the FCO with DFID that found that, in some overseas posts, there has been a loss of dedicated senior development roles that reduced the capacity and credibility of the FCDO.

The report found that the number of expert development adviser roles, for example, fell by 14% from 867 in 2019 to 747 in 2022. The FCDO currently rates the risk of losing international development expertise as severe in recognition of the problem. The report also found that the merger, which took place in 2020, was undertaken without a clear vision, the timetable was unrealistic.

The NAO calculated that the merger has cost the UK government at least GBP24 million (US$30 million) but noted that there has been no systematic collection of the potential benefits and savings of the merger, making it difficult to evaluate the cost properly.

The report ended by noting that three years into the merger, there is still work to be done to fully integrated the two departments and ensure futher benefits.

Press release - The GuardianReport - NAO

US announces US$170 million in support to Guatemala

March 25, 2024 | US, Agriculture, Global Health, Climate | Share this update

On March 25, 2024, in a meeting with the Guatemalan President, US Vice President Kamala Harris announced US$170 million to Guatemala as part of the Root Causes Strategy, which is designed to help Guatemala build a more secure, prosperous, and democratic country.

The assistance, which includes US$135 million in funding from USAID, is aligned with Guatemalan key priorities, including combatting corruption, conserving biodiversity, scaling agricultural innovations, and improve health outcomes inclusively.

The funding is subject to Congressional approval.

Press release - USAID

Full program released for 2024 World Health Summit Regional Meeting

March 25, 2024 | Australia, Global health R&D, Global Health, Climate, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health | Share this update

On March 25, 2024, the forthcoming World Health Summit in Melbourne released its final detailed program.

The forum is slated to be hosted by Monash University and will focus on health issues across the Pacific and Southeast Asia. The summit will run from April 22 to 24, 2024, at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

A range of international and Australian speakers are listed for the three parallel sessions being held each day at the forum. Topics include drug policy, future proofing the health workforce and strengthening health care financing in the Asia-Pacific.

Speakers include Jed Carney, Australia’s Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, and Helen Clark, formerly Prime Minister of New Zealand and head of the UNDP.

Web Page - WHS Regional Meeting

New review says FCDO’s capacity to tackle fraud risk diminished

March 25, 2024 | UK | Share this update

On March 25, 2024, the UK’s ICAI published the findings of its review into the FCDO’s management of fraud risk at the country level, which found underinvestment in the central anti-fraud team despite robust mechanisms and processes in place to tackle fraud, resulting in staff overseas lacking sufficient support.

The review found that underinvestment stemmed from a number of factors. The COVID-19 pandemic limited travel and reduced support, ODA budget cuts often impacted monitoring and evaluation, reducing oversight, and the FCDO merger led to new financial systems being put in place that took time to implement and train staff, resulting in inefficiencies. The review recommends that the FCDO:

  • Take a more robust and proactive approach to anticipating and finding fraud in assistance delivery;
  • Focus on the 20 ODA partner countries and ensure there are dedicated, well-trained and sufficiently senior resources to manage fraud risks; and
  • Increase the Head of Mission's oversight of and accountability for fraud risks.
Report - ICAI

BOND sets out manifesto for new UK government

March 24, 2024 | UK, Education, Agriculture, Gender Equality, Agricultural R&D, Nutritious Food Systems, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health, Family Planning, WASH & Sanitation, Climate, Global Health, Security policy | Share this update

On March 24, 2024, BOND published a new manifesto setting out the steps the next UK government should take to help deliver on the SDGs and work in solidarity with its partners.

The manifesto is based around seven key asks:

  • Act as a responsible and ambitious development partner. This includes returning ODA to 0.7% of GNI and providing new and additional resources for meeting global climate finance and ensuring the ODA program is headed by a cabinet-level minister with dedicated and well-resourced staff;
  • Create an equitable and sustainable international financial system that works for people, nature, and the climate. This includes supporting a UN sovereign debt workout mechanism to deal with unsustainable debt in lower-income countries, pursuing an ambitious MDB reform agenda that increases their provision of resources and makes their governance more representative, and supporting a universal UN Framework Convention on tax;
  • Recommit to the SDGs and ‘leaving no one behind. This includes ensuring UK development programs focus on those most in need, promoting gender transformative approaches to sustainable development, acknowledging care as an economic issue and a right and build the care economy in line with the 5Rs framework{title"recognition, reduction, redistribution, representation and reward"} for care work, and scaling up efforts to deliver universal access to basic services;
  • Do our fair share to tackle the global climate and biodiversity crises. This includes ensuring all ODA is aligned with the Paris Agreement, providing genuinely new and additional grant finance for the Loss and Damage Fund;
  • Develop a new approach to UK trade and private sector investment. This includes introducing new legislation that mandates companies, the financial sector, and the public sector operating in the UK to carry out human rights and environmental due diligence. It also holds them to account for failures, reduce the volume of UK funding being used to capitalize BII until it reforms to ensure it does more to contribute to poverty reduction;
  • Promoting stability, security and effective crisis responses. This includes providing the UK’s fair share to support humanitarian crises, championing locally led approaches to anticipatory crisis prevention, action and resilience, establishing a prevention-focused national security outlook which focuses on preventing crises as well as responding to them; and
  • Protect and promote rights, freedoms and civic space. This includes prioritizing meaningful partnerships with human rights defenders, including indigenous communities, women, LGBTQI+ advocates, migrant rights advocates and environmental defenders, removing restrictions on civil society campaigning domestically, and working with other governments to reverse restrictions on civic space in public debate and policymaking.
Report - BOND

Australia announces US$11 million in additional funding for TB treatment

March 24, 2024 | Australia, Global Health | Share this update

On March 24, 2024, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced Australia would provide AUD17 million (US$11 million) to the TB Alliance to improve access to tuberculosis treatments and develop more effective treatments, including new tuberculosis treatments for children.

The alliance has a new PeerLINC Hub in Manila, which has supported governments to introduce new treatments. Partner countries include Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

The new Australian funding would be provided through Partnerships for a Healthy Region program, which focuses on Pacific and South-East Asian countries to build equitable and resilient health systems.

Press release - Minister for Foreign Affairs

US passes FY2024 US foreign assistance bill, announces 6% cut

March 22, 2024 | US, Global Health, WASH & Sanitation, Education | Share this update

On March 22, 2024, the US foreign assistance budget for FY2024, which should have been passed before October 1, 2023, finally cleared the Congress and was signed by US President Joe Biden as part of a six-part appropriations package that required strong Democratic support in the US House to pass.

Foreign assistance funding saw an overall 6% cut to funding across various funding lines.

Humanitarian funding through USAID increased by US$800 million. PEPFAR's funding remained level and also received one-year authorization, which global health advocates had strongly pushed for. Other global health programs saw level funding, and Gavi received a US$10 million increase.

Other development accounts, such as programs for WASH, democracy, and education were cut. Global heath security saw a decrease of US$200 million. The World Bank's IDA allocation was cut by US$50 million. UNRWA, the Palestinian refugee agency, was reduced to zero.

The boost to humanitarian and refugee support seen in the US in 2023 came at the cost of developmental programs. Advocates criticized that with this, the US is funding the shorter term at the cost of solving longer-term problems. Given acute global needs and crises, development experts expressed concern about the trade-offs that will be necessary with the new development budget cuts.

News article - Devex

EU provides US$290 million for social services in Latin America, Caribbean

March 21, 2024 | Sweden, France, Spain, Germany, EUI, Global Health | Share this update

On March 21, 2024, the EU announced a contribution of EUR268 million (USS$290 million) at the EU - LAC High-Level Event on Inclusive Human Development and Equitable Access to Health Products.

Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Uprilainen announced the investment, made in cooperation with France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain, and Sweden. The finance aims to mobilize EUR1 billion (US$1 billion) to support access to basic social services and rights and increase the transparency and accountability of government agencies.

The contribution was made in line with broader :abbrEU - CELAC cooperation, which aims to mobilize over EUR45 billion (US$49 billion) from 2024-2027 to support the SDGs and other efforts in the region.

Press release - EU Commission

Netherlands enters new government formation phase

March 20, 2024 | Netherlands | Share this update

On March 20, 2024, the Dutch House of Representatives debated the final report of former informant Kim Putters, discussed next steps for government formation, and appointed two new informants to explore the potential establishment of a ‘program cabinet’ based on shared agreements among the four negotiating political parties ( PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB.

Putters submitted his report on March 14, 2024, concluding that there is insufficient support among the four key political parties- the nationalist, right-wing populist PVV, the conservative-liberal VVD, the Christian Democratic NSC, and the right-wing populist BBB- to form a traditional majority or minority cabinet. Instead, there is backing for a ‘program cabinet’ where the four party leaders outline key objectives and financial parameters, which will then be fleshed out by the new cabinet ministers. Putters suggested a composition of 50% experienced politicians and 50% individuals less involved in politics to enhance public trust. None of the party leaders will assume the Prime Minister position, for which candidates will be determined later.

Putters recommends that the next informants assess the feasibility of this program cabinet, including the possibility of shared agreements among the PVV, VVD, NSC, and BBB. This marked a shift to substantive negotiations in the government formation process.

On March 20, 2024, the House of Representatives approved a motion by PVV leader Geert Wilders to appoint two new informants: Elbert Dijkgraaf, economist and former member of parliament for the Dutch Reformed Political Party, and Richard van Zwol, State Councillor and former top civil servant. They are expected to complete their task within 8 weeks.

Report - Kim Putters Final Report (in Dutch)News article - House of Representatives (in Dutch)

Canada announces US$22 million for democracy and human rights promotion

March 20, 2024 | Canada, Gender Equality | Share this update

At the Summit for Democracy on March 20, 2024, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Canada announced CAD30 million (US$22 million) to protect and strengthen global democratic institutions and human rights.

The funding will support new projects, including:

  • CAD22 million (US$16 million) to defend human rights and promote inclusion;
  • CAD6 million (US$4 million) to strengthen resilient democratic institutions; and
  • CAD3 million (US$2 million) to counter foreign interference.
Press release - Prime Minister of Canada

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