Aid: New EU Aid Explorer website provides easy and transparent access to aid data

Source: European Commission, European Commission Humanitarian Aid department

Summary: 14 April 2014, Brussels - A unique new web tool that provides easy access to clear, complete and accurate data on development and humanitarian aid around the world will be launched tomorrow by the European Commission, at the High Level Meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation in Mexico.

The 'EU Aid Explorer' covers the activities of different donors and offers quick answers to questions such as how much aid the EU gave or in which sectors EU member states worked in a given year. This tool is part of EU action to further increase transparency and improve accountability. By making data easily accessible, countries, beneficiaries, EU citizens and implementing partners can examine the use of donor funds; and donors themselves can improve coordination and effectiveness.

At the event, EU Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs will present a new report on progress made by the EU and its Member States on development effectiveness since the Busan High Level Forum, two and a half years ago. Findings of this study show that the EU and its Member States are frontrunners in terms of improving transparency, and that they have also reduced fragmentation of aid delivery, through working on Joint Programming in over 40 partner countries.

European Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs commented: "The EU is the biggest donor in the world, and is committed to increasing the effectiveness of its aid. In such times of economic downturn, we need to make the most of the resources and ensure the maximum impact of our aid. This comes by respecting some key principles such as putting our partners in the driving seat of their own development; focusing on results; being more transparent and better coordinating our actions. The EU is recognised as one of the most transparent donors, and is making good progress on donor coordination. We are also working to focus more on results. The new EU Aid Explorer will help to further increase transparency on what we do and improve accountability to citizens, both in the EU and developing countries.

'At the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation meeting, which will bring together all partners and donors, the EU will confirm its commitments to continue to make aid effectiveness a reality on the ground. "

European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Kristalina Georgieva said: "The European Union is the world's primary donor of aid. With size comes responsibility and the EU takes seriously its duties towards its citizens, who make possible this remarkable expression of solidarity with the world's neediest and most vulnerable people. Making information simple and fast to access on how and for what purposes EU aid funding is spent enhances global cooperation among our peers in the donor community. But it's even more important that EU Aid Explorer will enable us to fulfil our commitment to transparency. It is our guarantee that we are accountable to all the EU taxpayers who make this generosity possible."

The EU is an active partner in the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation, launched in 2011 in Busan, which called for more inclusive development, stronger country ownership, better coordination of aid, more transparency and stronger results.

Background

EU Joint Programming is an enhanced approach to development cooperation whereby the EU and its Member States analyse each country they work in to identify the areas most in need of support, which donor should work in which sector, and then how much money should be allocated as a result.

Studies indicate that better coordination could save EU taxpayers up to €800 million a year in efficiency gains. Today, Joint Programming is taking off in some 20 countries, and particularly in some of the fragile states - such as South Sudan and Mali- where it can make a big difference. A further 30 countries or so are about to join and will together account for 60 to 70% of EU bilateral development spending.

The EU Aid Explorer is a one-stop shop for aid information gathering information on EU and its Member States' development and humanitarian aid.

The Mexico meeting is the first high level event of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation. The meeting will bring together ministers from around the world, heads of civil society organisations, business leaders, heads of philanthropic foundations and local government. It will be hosted by the Government of Mexico in Mexico City on 15-16th April 2014. On the agenda will be discussions of progress on development effectiveness, how best to raise taxes and stop corruption, the role of business as a partner for development, cooperation between developing countries, and ways of engaging effectively with Middle Income Countries.

Figures released by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) last week showed that the European Union and its Member States remained the world's largest aid donor in 2013, providing €56.5 billion of Official Development Assistance in 2013

For more information

EU Aid Explorer is available at:

https://euaidexplorer.jrc.ec.europa.eu/