‘Making aid transparent is essential if we are to counteract corruption. People in developing countries should know how much money their country is receiving, and what it is spent on. Only then can they call their own government to account.’ This was development minister Bert Koenders’ message at the opening of the two-day International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) conference.

‘It is important to know how much money countries receive, what they spend it on, and what they hope to achieve. This allows parliaments and Courts of Audit to do their work much more effectively,’ he added.

At the initiative of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, information on Dutch aid in partner countries is now accessible to all via Dutch embassies’ websites. ‘This is just the first step,’ said Mr Koenders. ‘I hope that we will reach agreement today on making information on local governments and aid organisations accessible to all, sooner rather than later. This will boost aid effectiveness.’ The reliability and transparency of donors is not the only issue; recipient countries are equally accountable. ‘Transparency means that corruption can be detected more quickly. Local representatives will then take that up with their governments. But not all governments will be happy,’ the minister added.

More than 150 representatives of development organisations, donor countries and developing countries are attending the conference in The Hague.

Read the speech by Koenders



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