US commitment to IATI is on track to become law

A bill that fulfills the US Government’s commitment to IATI has been successfully passed through the US Senate.

The Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act, that was sponsored by Senators Marco Rubio and Ben Cardin, was supported unanimously this week. The law is expected to pass through the House of Representatives soon and then be signed into law by the US president.

The new law aims to bring greater transparency and accountability to US foreign aid programs by requiring the publishing of data on their activities.

In response to the the passing of the Act, Senator Ben Cardin said: “The Senate’s passage of the Foreign Assistance Transparency and Accountability Act sends a clear message to the American taxpayer, as well as governments and civil society in developing countries, that transparency and accountability are absolutely critical to the effectiveness of our foreign assistance programs.

“This information will not only enable American citizens to better understand our foreign assistance efforts, but will allow recipient countries to better include aid flows in their budgets and planning, and will provide NGOs, legislators and citizens in the developing world with the information they need to hold their governments accountable for the assistance they receive. Today’s Senate passage also takes us one step closer toward fulfilling our obligations under the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI).”