social media
OpenAid is not yet on Twitter. We try to be present and responsive on other social networks. Why such a presence is important to the transparency agenda has been explained by Jack Dorsey, one of the founders of Twitter, in a recent interview in Chile. Taking the example of how the current president of Chile is using Twitter Dorsey suggests that social networks change the way politics is done. Regular and personal updates of politicians about their daily activities and ongoing policy debates make politics much more transparent. Politicians and governments become much more approachable and human. Read more »
Despite controversies about data security, the number of Facebook users is growing daily. Particularly in the South Facebook is not a domaine reserved for youth. We are convinced that social media can play an important role in advocay. Therefore we have created an OpenAid site on Facebook and a "cause" promoting aid transparency and social accountability. Read more »
In order to spread the word about aid transparency and to connect with other organisations and individuals interested in aid transparency OpenAid has created an Aid Transparency Group on the social network Linkedin. One purpose of the group is to share information about aid transparency, e.g. the different projects people are working on to promote aid transparency or research findings about the merit of transparency. A second important objective is to reach out to the wider development community and raise support for the aid transparency agenda. Read more »
The international aid transparency movement has been inspired by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which pioneerd the use of international reporting standards to fight corruption. The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative was announced by Tony Blair at the 2002 Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, and held it first plenary conference in 2003. The purpose of EITI is to increase transparency on payments by companies to governments and on natural ressource government revenues through a set of reporting guidelines. Read more »