2014 Budget response from the ONE campaign

Responding to the UK Government’s 2014 Budget, Diane Sheard, UK Director at the ONE Campaign, said:

“It is right that the Government has stood by its promise to the world’s poorest by committing 0.7% of the UK’s growing national income to life-saving aid. Efficient and transparent aid, targeted at the most vulnerable communities, can be truly transformative.

“British people want to know that they are getting the best return on their investment, particularly when resources are still stretched. To enable taxpayers and the recipients of aid to follow the money, we urge all Government departments that spend UK aid – from the Ministry of Defence to the Department of Energy and Climate Change – to follow DFID’s example and report their spending in line with the International Aid Transparency Initiative standard.”

ENDS

For more information please contact Asha Tharoor on [email protected] or on 07584 470644

Notes to Editors

1. The International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) is a voluntary, multi-stakeholder initiative that seeks to improve aid transparency and increase its effectiveness in tackling poverty. IATI developed and agreed a common open standard for the publication of aid information.

2. In 2012, DFID spent 87% of the UK’s official development assistance (ODA) and reported this in line with the IATI standard. The 13% of ODA spent by other UK government departments and agencies amounted to £1.173bn.

3. In the 2013 Publish What You Fund ‘Aid Transparency Index’ covering 67 donor agencies, DFID ranked third overall with a “very good” rating. The Foreign & Commonwealth Office ranked 26th (“poor”) and the Ministry of Defence ranked 54th (“very poor”).