Resources: Colombia and Ukraine Commit to Implement Global Transparency Standard

SOURCE EITI
 
The governments of Colombia and Ukraine announced yesterday that they would implement the EITI, the standard for transparency of revenues from natural resources. These announcements were made at the summit of the Open Government Partnership (OGP). 35 countries are already implementing the EITI. Complying with this global transparency standard ensures that the citizens of Colombia and Ukraine will be able to see an independent account of how much their governments receive from their oil, gas, and mining resources.

Clare Short, Chairperson of the international EITI Board said: "Following the EITI standard builds on efforts to ensure transparency and good management of the revenues from natural resources. By holding themselves to the global standard, Colombia and Ukraine will demonstrate a real commitment to open government."

Leaders from 60 nations are meeting this week in Brasilia for the first annual high-level summit of the OGP hosted by Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff. Countries in the OGP must present action plans with concrete commitments on open government. Last year, US President Obama pledged to implement the EITI, and Australia committed to implement an EITI pilot. In his speech, Ken Salazar, US Secretary of Interior, emphasised the importance of the EITI to make sure that people get a fair deal from oil companies. He challenged other developed countries to follow the example of the EITI countries.

Jonas Moberg, Head of the EITI International Secretariat, commented from the summit: "Open Government Partnership is bringing reform minded governments together and catalysing action towards transparency. This year, even more countries have committed to implement the EITI as part of their action plans."

The EITI is a coalition of governments, companies, civil society groups, investors and international organisations. Together, they have developed the EITI standard, which ensures that companies publish what they pay and governments disclose what they receive from natural resources.