Financial Transparency Coalition

Raymond Baker writes at the Huffngton Post that outflows, not aid, must be curtailed in order to fight poverty in the developing world.

WASHINGTON D.C. / BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA - The Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development applauds donor-groups who met at the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, South Korea this week for recognizing the role illicit financial flows play in diminishing aid effectiveness and for taking steps to prevent corruption and create stronger aid governance framework. “We applaud all measure that help ensure funds stay where they are needed instead of being syphoned off via corrupt means,” said Raymond Baker, director of the Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development. “Aid can mean the difference between...

Whether it’s tackling corporate tax dodging, changing international rules on tax havens, or improving tax systems, everyone involved in the international tax justice movement is aiming to increase the tax take in developing countries. This is both to increase the money available to pay for nurses, teachers and roads, desperately needed when you’re trying to run, say, a health service on a few dollars per person per year - as is the case in many of the poorest countries. It is also to encourage and develop the social contract between state and citizen, improving accountability. And it is to afford...

Last week, the World Bank unveiled a major initiative to make their funding more transparent.  Through the new World Bank Finances portal, vast amounts of information about the inner workings of the Bank's finances are now made easily accessible.  This includes information about specific funds that members are supporting, and the disbursement and repayment status of thousands of projects around the world.  Tools are provided to allow members of the public to comment on specific elements of the data, as well as to download datasets specifically catered to their needs.  The data is remarkably up-to-date, often covering information as recent as...