High-tech Partnership to Aid Developing Countries

The Development Gateway Foundation and FreeBalance today announced a strategic alliance to integrate public financial management and aid management software. The alliance partners have recorded their first major milestone with the successful integration of budget and accounting modules from the FreeBalance Government Accountability Suite with the Aid Management Platform from the Development Gateway Foundation.

The Aid Management Platform (AMP) is a Web-based application that enables governments to better manage and coordinate development assistance. Designed for use by governments and their development partners, AMP improves and streamlines the processes for planning, monitoring, coordinating, tracking and reporting on international aid flows and project-based activities.

The strategic alliance with FreeBalance provides a new level of integration between aid management and financial management systems that will bring together national budgets and aid management for more effective, efficient and transparent aid coordination. The new solution provided by the Development Gateway Foundation and FreeBalance enables government to align aid with national priorities and reduce the cost of fiscal reporting on expenditures. The integrated solution will also provide a tool for governments to track and improve development outcomes.

FreeBalance public financial management software is used by governments in the developed and developing worlds to manage more than $100 billion annually in public funds. By integrating aid management with the national budget preparation and budget execution processes, development planners will be able to view all available fiscal resources as well as planned and ongoing development activities.

“With development assistance on the rise, the need to integrate aid management with government financial management systems is more urgent now than ever,” noted Mark Fleeton, CEO of the Development Gateway Foundation. “We are confident that this partnership will have an immediate impact on the effectiveness of international aid and will provide the tools necessary to enable new levels of government transparency and fiscal accountability.”

“The Development Gateway plays an important role in the effective delivery of international aid, and we are excited by the opportunity to work together for the benefit of our customers and governments in the developing world,” said Manuel Schiappa Pietra, president and CEO of FreeBalance. “We’ve taken the first step by integrating our budgeting and accounting modules with the Aid Management Platform, and we are anxious to move forward and deliver results where they’re needed most.”

The integration also advances the international aid effectiveness agenda as reflected in the Paris Declaration of 2005. FreeBalance financial management software serves as an auditable indicator for the Paris Declaration. The Aid Management Platform tracks financial disbursement from donors to governments and its outcomes. FreeBalance public expenditure management solutions handle the entire government financial management process. With the union of the two systems, governments will be able to track the impact of projects in national budgets. Donors will be able to track project progress during the year to improve development outcomes.

About FreeBalance

FreeBalance provides software solutions for public financial management to governments worldwide. Software solutions from FreeBalance help governments improve fiscal transparency, accountability, and good governance as the foundation for economic growth and development. Founded in 1984, FreeBalance is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, with a sales office in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.FreeBalance.com.