International development partners’ activities are opaque, says survey

KATHMANDU, JUN 16 -Few beneficiaries are aware of budget allocated by international development partners besides information about the name and objectives of projects, according to a recently conducted survey. A pilot survey entitled “Aid Transparency Situation in Nepal” has concluded that the level of information-sharing was different among development agencies and within project implementing agencies.The survey, jointly conducted by the freedom1 Forum and the Aid Info, has concluded that few development partners shared information on the start and expiry of projects and the role and responsibilities of the projects. Of the seven development partners sampled in the survey—UKAid, USAID, JICA, Norwegian Embassy, ADB, World Bank and the UNDP, according to the survey, World Bank is far ahead in sharing project-specific information, followed by the JICA and the ADB. Norwegian Embassy is at the bottom in terms of sharing project-specific information. With a view to assessing aid transparency and accountability situation among the leading donor agencies in Nepal, the research was conducted through sampling at the Centre and two districts at the local level—Chitwan and Dolaka. The level of transparency and knowledge and compliance in the districts is very low as compared to the central level. “Request for foreign aid and project implementation was minimum at the district level,” it was reported. “District level authorities are found to be reluctant to provide information as most of the time they tend to avoid meetings,” Basanta Lamsal, lead researcher of the survey, said. According to the survey, most development agencies use English to share information while very few of them use both Nepali and English. Only UNDP and USAID used social networking sites SOURCE: The Kathmandu Post: Saturday, 16 June 2012