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Transparency in international cooperation

At GIZ, we work with our partners, clients, and commissioning parties to shape a future worth living around the world. Transparency is an important instrument here. By making information on our areas of activity and the way we work accessible to the general public, we help people understand GIZ’s work in our countries of assignment and in Germany. Furthermore, transparency is fundamental for ensuring that the work of development-policy actors is well coordinated and properly harmonised.

In addition, a focus on transparent practices means that these actors handle the funds entrusted to them responsibly and in line with objectives and that they can account for the measures they implement. The governments of the countries where the measures are conducted can take the reported activities and financial flows into account while planning their reforms, non-governmental organisations can require governments to be accountable for the way they use funds, and donors can coordinate the measures more efficiently in the sectors they support.

For this reason, transparency is a fundamental principle of international cooperation for GIZ. In line with its own values and those of German and European development cooperation, we provide information about our areas of activity, ways of working and results. Our engagement is also reflected in our continually improving ranking in the Aid Transparency Index. Every two years, the transparency efforts of the large international cooperation institutions are assessed and systematically compared by the independent organisation Publish What You Fund. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) ranks 11th – the second best among all bilateral donors – with its report on programmes and projects implemented by GIZ.

Better clarity through international agreements

GIZ’s work is geared towards the requirements of international and national initiatives. We support the German Government with meeting its transparency obligations.

How does GIZ ensure transparency?

Data on GIZ projects is published on various channels in order to meet the different requirements for transparency in international agreements.

GIZ publishes all information on the measures we implement on our project data, which is updated daily. We also provide details on these projects to IATI on a monthly basis. For projects commissioned by the German Development Ministry (BMZ), data is sent through the ministry. GIZ reports data on other projects directly.

GIZ reports its contribution to official development assistance (ODA) annually by way of the German Federal Statistical Office. The Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD-DAC) publishes the data with detailed information on each project. 

BMZ publishes data on GIZ projects commissioned by the ministry on its transparency web page.

In addition, the GIZ must publicly assume accountability. Thus, the company faces regular audits, inter alia, by Courts of Auditors, such as the German Court of Auditors (BRH) and the European Court of Auditors (ECA). They regularly publish audit results.
 

Company reports

In addition to data on its projects, GIZ publishes company reports, annual statements of accounts and other documents on its company website. The German Government’s Principles of Good Corporate Governance (PCGK) further defines national transparency requirements. For this purpose, GIZ publishes an annual Corporate Governance Report.

Information on tenders is presented here. An overview of awarded commissions is available here.
 

What is not published

At GIZ, we strive to achieve a high level of transparency. At the same time, there are legal regulations and objective reasons that limit the sharing of data and information. This particularly refers to legal regulations on data protection, confidentiality and copyright protection, and our obligation to ensure the security of the individuals involved in implementing projects. You can find more details in the frequently asked questions (FAQs). More details are available in the frequently asked questions (FAQs).


Any questions?

Question: Where can I see GIZ and BMZ data provided by way of the IATI directory?

Answer: You can view the reported data in the d-portal and you can filter them by donor organisation and other criteria. See also the IATI page, which offers helpful information such as how to use the data.
 

Question: Why can I not find any projects that were ended before 2013 in the IATI report or the project data?

Answer: BMZ started reporting data to IATI in 2013. The report includes all projects that were actively being implemented on 1 January 2013 and all projects launched after this date.
 

Question: Why are there no evaluation reports for some of the projects in the IATI report or in the project data?

Answer: Projects are not evaluated until they have been completed. For this reason, evaluations on ongoing projects are not yet available. 40 per cent of completed projects are evaluated. This is line with the quality standards for OECD-DAC’s development evaluation and BMZ’s guidelines – ‘Evaluating development cooperation’ – on transparency and dissemination of evaluation reports.
 

Question: Why are no details on contracts with consultancies published in the IATI report or the project data?

Answer: In Germany, detailed information on contracts is subject to data protection.


Question: Do any conditions apply to GIZ projects?

Answer: No, no political or fiduciary conditions apply to GIZ projects.


Question: What is a sector in the project data?

Answer: We use the sector classification provided by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). You can find an overview of the Creditor Reporting System (CRS) sector designations here. This system enables the international classification of projects in international cooperation.