ONE Executive Director Sheila Nix issued the following reaction to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s speech at the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan. During her speech, Clinton made a major announcement that the United States would sign on to the International Aid Transparency Initiative, a set of openness standards that help countries better monitor and evaluate where and how aid is spent.

“Secretary Clinton’s announcement that the United States will join the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) reinforces America’s leadership in making foreign assistance more transparent and accountable. Being open and clear about how the U.S. is spending foreign aid — where and on what — will help make aid more efficient and accountable to US taxpayers and will maximize resources to help those living on less than $1.25 lift themselves out of poverty.

“While this week’s meeting in Busan is imperative to bring all stakeholders together to forge new commitments to meet these ends, the real test will be following through on those promises. The U.S. signing IATI is a strong indication of plans to do just that.”