Finland's ranking improved on Aid Transparency Index

Publish What You Fund launched the 2018 Aid Transparency Index. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland ranked 26th among the 45 organisations that were assessed. Finland's ranking improved by nine scores, rising from the poor category to the fair.

According to the 2018 Aid Transparency Index, more information relating to international development cooperation is now available in open data formats than ever before.   The index measures how well donors comply with the requirements of the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) concerning, for example, publication of plans, budgets and project-specific data provided in an agreed, comparable format.

According to the index, the organisations that were assessed have considerably improved their transparency compared to the previous years. Of the 45 organisations assessed, 42 publish their data in line with the common standard – in 2011, this was done by one organisation only. The data provided was also more topical. Compared to a quarter in 2016, now half of the organisations publish their data at least monthly. 

There are still data shortfalls. The greatest challenge faced by all organisations is related to how they publish their performance data. One quarter of the organisations assessed had problems in the provision of basic data concerning their projects.

Finland second among the Nordic countries

Finland ranked in the middle of the biggest group of donors covered by the index, that is, in the fair category. The improved ranking shows that the data provided by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs relating to its development cooperation projects is now considerably more topical and comprehensive.  Basic data (project descriptions, funding information) can be accessed by everyone on the Foreign Ministry's website soon after projects' funding decision. Budget information is also published comprehensively.

From the point of view of transparency, Finland biggest challenges concern project- and programme-specific data, such as publication of budgets, performance targets, project documents, procurement contracts, and results.

The Asian Development Bank ranked the highest with nearly full marks, scoring close to 100. The UN Development Programme (UNDP), the British Department for International Development (DFID), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Bank (WB) ranked among the best performers. On the Nordic countries, Sweden was the best, ranking 14th. Finland was followed by Denmark and Norway, which were ranked 29th and 35th.

Peer support from best performers

PWYF recommends that donors focus on three targets of development: Firstly, the basic data should be correct – despite frequent publishing. Secondly, much more data concerning performance should be published to ensure that updated information about projects' objectives, results and evaluations would be available.

Thirdly, all international donor organisations should publish their data. As an example, PWYF mentions new actors such as international and private sector development finance institutions.  Additionally, the best performers in the transparency comparison should share their best practices with other organisations and help them improve transparency.