OCHA leads UN agencies in global aid transparency
OCHA has reached a significant milestone in aid transparency, ranking highest among UN organizations in a global index released this week.
OCHA achieved fourth place in the Aid Transparency Index 2024, produced by Publish What You Fund, the global campaign for aid and development transparency.
This year’s index evaluated 50 of the largest international aid organizations, including six UN entities. OCHA scored 92.2 out of 100, up from 85.9 in the previous index, demonstrating the Office’s progress in transparency and data quality.
OCHA’s high ranking is due to, among other factors, its live database on donor contributions, its updated Strategic Plan 2023-2026, and improvements to humanitarianaction.info – the platform for data and analysis on humanitarian crises and responses.
"OCHA's top ranking in this year's Aid Transparency Index reflects the hard work and dedication of our staff and humanitarian partners," said the Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Joyce Msuya. "It shows how committed we are to keeping transparency and accountability at the core of humanitarian work. We are humbled and will build on this."
The biennial index has tracked the transparency of the largest international aid organizations for the past 12 years. This is OCHA’s second time in the “Very Good” category, which starts from 80 points. It ranked ninth in the 2022 index.
Publish What You Fund noted that "OCHA has made great strides, scoring just 32.7 in 2018."
"At OCHA, we always strive to learn and improve so that we, along with our humanitarian partners, can better support those in need," Msuya said.
The ranking comes at a time when the Global Humanitarian Overview – the annual funding appeal produced by OCHA on behalf of the humanitarian community – faces a huge shortfall.
The appeal needs US$48.7 billion to help 188 million people across 72 countries. However, halfway through the year, just 19 per cent of that amount had been received, and only 27 per cent of the people the UN aimed to help had received assistance.