Publish where you fund! On geospatial transparency of aid

Zdeněk Opršal

Development Policy Review, 2025, vol. 43, issue 6

Abstract: Motivation Geospatial aid transparency, entailing the availability and accessibility of data on aid project locations, is a critical yet underexplored dimension of aid effectiveness and accountability. Geospatial aid transparency can improve donor coordination, public oversight, and the targeting of aid. Purpose I review how subnational geospatial data are accounted for in existing aid transparency indexes; examine the current state of online interactive mapping platforms providing project‐level aid information; and discuss challenges in sharing and visualizing spatial data. Methods Platforms providing geospatial information are compared, focusing on experiences from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Malawi, and Moldova. Findings A diverse range of actors operate geospatial data platforms, including donors, implementing agencies, recipient governments, and independent third parties. Comparative analysis of selected platforms exposes inconsistencies in the number and location of aid activities. While geospatial tools have significant potential, they currently offer only a fragmented and sometimes misleading picture of aid delivery. Policy Implications For geospatial transparency to meaningfully enhance aid effectiveness, accurate reporting to robust data standards is necessary. The multi‐stakeholder International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) should take the lead in advancing geospatial transparency.

Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.70043

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:devpol:v:43:y:2025:i:6:n:e70043

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=0950-6764

Access Statistics for this article

Development Policy Review is currently edited by David Booth

More articles in Development Policy Review from Overseas Development Institute Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().