An Introduction to Aid Data

Curriculum

6 Sections
35 Lessons
Lifetime

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Introduction to aid data
Welcome to the world of aid data! In this first module, we’ll be starting from first principles: what do we actually mean when we say ‘aid’, and why is looking at aid data important?
5
A guide to IATI data
One major source of aid data is made available through the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI). There are a few different ways that you can access raw IATI data, so here’s a quick run through of what you can get, and where it is, including IATI data itself as well as data about IATI data (metadata).
6
Cleaning IATI data with OpenRefine
So once you've got the raw IATI data, what next? Often it might need 'cleaning' - here, we'll use a sample IATI dataset to learn how to use a powerful cleaning tool, OpenRefine.
5
An introduction to OECD-DAC data
Another major source of data available about international development data, is the OECD. Here, we run through a few ways that they make this data available, and where to find what you're looking for.
8
Inspiration module: how is aid data used in the media?
We've seen a few ways of where to find aid data, how to clean it and use it - but how is this applied in the real world? Here are a couple of examples of 'reverse engineering' aid data that we might come across in the media - maybe it will give you some ideas!
6
Jargon busting the world of aid
This module is intended as a reference point while you're going through the other modules. In each case, the relevance of the term to working specifically with data is highlighted to try and make it clear what you should be looking out for when you come across the term in your work.
5

What to expect from this data?

Crucially, the data included here is on the money that flows out of donor countries, not necessarily the money that flows into low-income countries: as we’ve mentioned earlier, some of this money is spent in the donor countries themselves.

Also, as with all data on ‘aid’, or Official Development Assistance, remember that it is just a small part of a wider ecosystem of financial flows going into developing countries. In the case of the figures included here, they are also subject to the OECD’s definition of what they actually consider to be Official Development Assistance; ie.

Their main purpose must be the economic development or welfare of the developing country
The source must be “official” (eg. no informal financial flows like remittances or charitable contributions from individuals are included)
Must go to one of the countries which appear on a list of ‘Official Development Assistance’ recipients, agreed by the DAC.
It can be administered through grants or loans, but loans must be given at a more generous rate than usual loans – this can be done through either the recipient of the loan (the poorer country) having a longer time to pay the loan back, or having a lower interest rate. These kinds of loans are known as concessional loans.

The DAC database also includes:

OOF (Other official flows)
FDI (Foreign Direct Investment)
Some private flows

Why are we looking at the OECD-DAC data?

An Introduction to Aid Data

Curriculum

What to expect from this data?

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