KATHMANDU: A study on Aid Transparency in Nepal shows that donors working here are not transparent in their budget and work. Transparency varies at different levels where district or local level executing offices are more reluctant to disclose information than central level offices, the report stated.
The study by freedom1 Forum which evaluated seven major donor agencies — UKAid, USAID, JICA, Norwegian embassy, Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank (WB) and UNDP –– showed that WB has a more efficient information dissemination mechanism than others.
The Norwegian embassy was the most reluctant in disseminating information followed by ADB.
The report is a small picture of transparency and it shows how donors are committed towards maintaining transparency, said chairperson of freedom1 Forum Tara Nath Dahal while presenting the draft report. “The report will be completed once we get clarification from donors and related agencies,” he said.
The study focused on 164 projects which were executed by the sampled donor agencies using literature review, consultation with stakeholders, field survey and key informant interviews. The field study was held in Chitwan and Dolkha districts.
All the donors share information with the government but are reluctant to share it with the civil society and beneficiaries. Media including social media like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were the most common means for disseminating information. “Besides this, donors were also confused about whether or not to give information to the general people,” a key researcher said.
The time required to provide information varied from donor to donor. Only JICA claimed that it provided information immediately while WB said it took 7-10 days. UKAid took 2-5 days. ADB and USAID did not comment about the issue.
Donor supported projects are seen to be irresponsible towards beneficiaries. “Only a few beneficiaries were aware of the project budget,” it said. Audit report sharing from donor agencies with beneficiaries was also limited to 57.14 per cent.
Media is the frequent user of information disseminated by donor agencies as most reports are in English and Nepali. “Only a few reports are published in local languages or disseminated among beneficiaries in their language, so access is limited.”
Source: The Himalayan Times 16 June 2012 :
