BEIRUT: Lebanon signed the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), aimed at bolstering the effectiveness of donor assistance, it was announced Wednesday.
It has become the 20th country worldwide, and the second in the Middle East, to sign the voluntary accord, which pushes donor countries and civil society groups to enact transparency reforms.
Most major donors, including the European Union, World Bank and U.N. agencies are signatories of the IATI that conforms to the Accra Agenda for Action, originating from the 2005 Paris Declaration. The G8 and EU have both made recent announcements to significantly bolster aid to Middle East countries, based on their ability to foster democratic processes. The EU Ambassador to Lebanon Angelica Eichorst publicly criticized Lebanon for failing to enact EU-proposed reform calling the enforcement of aid effectiveness “a huge challenge.”