[open-development] Oxfam report on making aid more effective?

Wed Aug 19 19:07:56 UTC 2009

I think the specific item was about this -
http://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressrelease/2009-08-19/urgent-reform-need
ed-poverty-afghanistan

For what it is worth, we have been working closely with Oxfam, esp Oxfam US
on aid transparency. They have been doing lots of research etc on it, and it
is a key part of the reforms they are campaigning on in theUS . And are both
one of the most supportive and progressive of the agenda.

They also have an aid effectiveness mailing list run from the list on their
us site which you might want to subscribe to. It is at the bottom of the
page - http://www.oxfamamerica.org/campaigns/aid-reform

In terms of the transparency of csos - there something called the cso open
forum going on : http://www.cso-effectiveness.org/
We shall see what it delivers, but we have been talking to them from Publish
What You Fund and working to get NGO/CSO's own aid transparency as part of
the agenda. 

On 19/08/2009 19:41, "Jonathan Gray" <jonathan.gray at okfn.org> wrote:

> Interesting - thanks for the links Francis! As it was on the BBC World
> Service yesterday I would have expected this to be sourced from a
> recent press release - perhaps I misheard.
> 
> It is indeed a shame Oxfam don't make available more information on
> where their money goes.
> 
> It would be great if their research/policy team had openness of aid
> information on their agenda!
> 
> Jonathan
> 
> On Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 11:34 AM, Francis Bacon<bacon.francis at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>> This was a report which Oxfam published last year which they may have been
>> referring to:
>> http://www.oxfam.org/en/policy/bpACBAR_aid_effectiveness_paper_0803
>> In the past I have asked Oxfam about their policy on transparency but have
>> had underwhelming responses. They may have updated their position since
>> then.
>> http://thatsthewaythemoneygoes.blogspot.com/2007/09/urking-oxfam-1.html
>> http://thatsthewaythemoneygoes.blogspot.com/2007/09/urking-oxfam-2.html
>> Francis Bacon
>> 
>> On Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 2:06 AM, Jonathan Gray <jonathan.gray at okfn.org>
>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Hi all,
>>> 
>>> I just heard a news item on BBC World Service about an Oxfam report on
>>> making aid more effective. I think the report was about Afghanistan.
>>> Has anyone heard about this?
>>> 
>>> All I've been able to find is:
>>> 
>>>  http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=84307
>>>  http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL28902.htm
>>> 
>>> Neither of which quite fits the bill...
>>> 
>>> I'd be interested in contacting someone from Oxfam's research/policy
>>> team to see if they have an official position on transparency and
>>> sharing aid information.
>>> 
>>> --
>>> Jonathan Gray
>>> 
>>> Community Coordinator
>>> The Open Knowledge Foundation
>>> http://www.okfn.org
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> open-development mailing list
>>> open-development at lists.okfn.org
>>> http://lists.okfn.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/open-development
>> 
>> 
> 
> 