Government instructs Sida to increase transparency in development assistance

“Increasing transparency in development assistance is a top priority for the Government. All citizens should have access to easy-to-understand information about Swedish development assistance activities, and feel confident that their tax funds are going to programmes that make a difference. By giving Sida this assignment, the Government is expecting concrete improvements to the Openaid information service and a rapid increase in transparency for Sida’s development assistance activities,” says Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Benjamin Dousa.

The assignment is part of the Government’s work to reform development assistance. It means that, among other things, Sida will:

• develop the Openaid digital information platform to increase user-friendliness and searchability and also integrate Sida's database that supports civil society with Openaid or its equivalent, in order to create a comprehensive picture of where development assistance is going; 
• create an overview of how transparency in the application process of development assistance funding can be increased for civil society organisations;
• report on how the authority can further strengthen its efforts to prevent and follow up on corruption and conflict-of-interest situations; and
• ensure, in line with previous Swedish commitments, that relevant data and documents are reported to International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), and systematically and responsibly work to ensure that development assistance recipients – at every stage – publish this information according to international IATI standards.

Sida will report on the assignment to Government Offices by 31 December 2024.