Project-Level Aid
Project-Level Aid (PLAID) is a major effort to capture the universe of development finance, increase the value of data by providing more descriptive information, and strengthen efforts to improve donor and recipient strategic planning and coordination.
The PLAID Vision
To provide an easy-to-use, comprehensive, and timely resource describing the universe of development aid project-by-project, including all grants and loans committed by all major bilateral and multilateral aid donors. Current data regarding development finance lacks depth and comprehensiveness. Better data will help increase aid targeting and coordination, and it will enable better measurement and evaluation of aid effectiveness. PLAID is currently developing a publicly-accessible interface that would enable researchers, field workers, and policy makers interested in development finance to access detailed information on development activities beyond the existing data on donor commitments and disbursements. Our ultimate goal is to increase transparency, accountability, and effectiveness.
About PLAID
The core of the PLAID project, the PLAID database, currently encompasses multilateral and bilateral donor projects spanning the years 1970-2007, with new projects added daily. It contains information from traditional aid sources such as the OECD’s Creditor Reporting System (CRS) as well as donors not captured by the CRS and activities that do not fit the OECD definition of Official Development Assistance (ODA). In cooperation with the OECD CRS, PLAID augments existing data by publishing more complete project descriptions and more detailed aid project purpose codes, health codes, and environment codes. This allows those interested in development finance to gain a more detailed understanding of past and present trends in aid.
AidData: The future of PLAID
The PLAID team has recently joined forces with Development Gateway to form AidData, a comprehensive development finance portal that combines the breadth and depth of the PLAID database with the timeliness and accessibility of the Accessible Information on Development Activities (AiDA) project. Together, we will continue to share complete, high quality information from all aid donors with organizations and individuals within the development community and beyond. Over the next two years, AidData will expand to include previously unpublished data from both traditional and new donors. We will also improve the way this data is accessed by policymakers, NGOs, foundations, partner country officials, researchers, private funds and the public.
How can I support the work that PLAID does?
PLAID depends on grants from organizations like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the National Science Foundation (NSF-grant #SES-0454384), as well as private donations. If you’d like to help support PLAID please email Brooke Russell or make a private donation now.