Open data for international development
AidData increases aid transparency by providing tools, visualizations, services, and data related to development finance. more...
Mapping shows how aid, climate change,
and conflict intersect
Since 2011, AidData has been working with the Robert S. Strauss Center’s Climate Change and African Political Stability (CCAPS) program at the University of Texas-Austin to create an interactive mapping tool that overlays data on aid projects, climate change, and conflict. The project initially focused on work with the Government of Malawi’s Ministry of Finance to identify and map the nearly $7 billion in committed aid captured in Malawi’s Aid Management Platform. The mapping initiative was the first of its kind, representing nearly 800 foreign aid projects from nearly 30 donors. It also represented the first effort of the sort envisioned by the Open Aid Partnership, an initiative spearheaded by the World Bank Institute to increase the openness and effectiveness of development assistance at the subnational level.
Mapping aid activities empowers stakeholders by enabling them to better understand the sub-national allocation of development assistance. For aid donors, this means the ability to better coordinate and harmonize aid efforts. This not only increases the potential effectiveness of efforts, but also allows donors to cut down on duplicate efforts, and direct aid to underserved areas instead. The impact on recipient communities is also potentially significant. Mapping aid flows empowers recipient communities to understand potential financing gaps or inequalities of aid distribution.
By providing geocoded project data combined with sub-national indicators of need, the partnership is demonstrating the viability of the concept of multi-donor mapping, with true country ownership. The geocoded dataset will be made public and will be used by the Malawi Ministry of Finance to generate aid reports, catalyze new conversations with its donor partners, and improve aid effectiveness at the local level across the country.
During the course of the project, the AidData team at Development Gateway is working with the Malawi Ministry of Finance to integrate the mapping process with the government’s existing donor reporting process. This will allow donors to maintain current and accurate maps of their activities, providing a sustainable tool for donor division of labor.
“Being able to see in a map all the donor-funded activities in Malawi has transformed the way we think about development and positively helped our own planning effort,” said Hon. Ken Lipenga, Minister of Finance and Development Planning in Malawi. View snapshots of some of the resulting maps and read more about the project here.
After geocoding aid to Malawi, CCAPS and AidData produced the mapping tool, which uses Esri technology, to allow users to select and layer any combination of CCAPS data onto one map. It covers the continent of Africa, though geocoded aid activities are only available for Malawi. The map allows users to assess how myriad climate change impacts and responses intersect. For example, mapping conflict data over climate vulnerability data can assess how local conflict patterns could exacerbate climate-induced insecurity in a region. It also shows how conflict dynamics are changing over time and space
Where is development aid targeting areas with climate security risks?
How do conflict trends and chronic climate insecurity intersect in Central Africa?
Download the Malawi Geocoding case study
Copyright © 2011 AidData
1889 F Street, NW, Second Floor Washington, DC 20006 USA
1889 F Street, NW, Second Floor Washington, DC 20006 USA
