Kathmandu, Nov 17 . On 13 November, Honorable Finance Minister Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada formally opened the annual meeting of the International Aid Transparency Initiative’s (IATI) Technical Advisory Group (TAG) at the Crowne Plaza Soaltee Hotel in Kathmandu. More than 150 representatives of the governments of all the regions of the world, development partners, civil society organization & media.
who have traveled all the way to Nepal are participating in the 3- day meeting. This meeting holds special importance for Nepal for the reason that the venue of this meeting has been chosen in Asia for the first time in the history of the organization and then Kathmandu becoming the obvious choice for the event. The Minister expressed his appreciation to the organizers for choosing Nepal as venue to hold this important meeting.
In his opening address, the Honorable Minister stressed that foreign aid resources must complement, rather than crowd out, domestic resources mobilization. He expressed his view that the ultimate objective of any aid program should be to build domestic resource capacity so that recipient countries such as Nepal can reduce, rather than prolong, their dependency on aid.
The Honorable Minister also spoke to the importance of improving the transparency of aid resources, noting that transparency is the basis for accountability, which in turn ensures that development cooperation resources are better managed for results. “Development cooperation must support efforts to avoid conflict, protect harmonious social fabric, build peace, and improve global governance”, he stated.
The Honorable Minister also recalled the aid effectiveness principles set out in the Paris Declaration and the Accra Agenda for Action, suggesting that initiatives like IATI have an important role to play in monitoring the implementation of such principles.
With reference to the Sustainable Development Goals, he asked the audience to consider whether there should be a specific indicator in SDG 17 focusing on ensuring aid.
transparency. While appreciating the role of global aid transparency initiatives such as IATI, the Minister also recognized the enabling role that partner countries such as Nepal must play, including in the design of credible programs, strategies and policies which allow for cooperation resources to produce intended results. In order for data to be put to good use, there must be robust systems in place at country level, including for planning, monitoring and public financial management, he said.
Started in 2008, IATI is a global, multi-stakeholder initiative that seeks to improve the transparency of development and humanitarian resources for addressing poverty and crisis. It’s technical advisory group is an expert community that informs IATI’s approach to data publication and use.
