Shining Light on the Sale of Natural Resources

For some nations, the sale of natural resources is the key to economic development, education, and social welfare. But too often the potential of this bounty is lost through corruption and a lack of accountability. The Revenue Watch Institute seeks to solve this problem with a generous application of sunshine.
In April 2006, for example, the Institute’s organization in Iraq, Iraq Revenue Watch, convened the country’s leading petroleum experts, economists, and policymakers to identify changes needed in Iraq’s new constitution to assure that oil revenues there are soundly tracked and invested.
Started as a program of the Open Society Institute and spun off to be a free-standing organization in May 2006, the Revenue Watch Institute is now expanding its activities from the former Soviet republics, Mexico, and Iraq to resource-rich nations in Africa and elsewhere with Hewlett support. As part of our continuing support for this work, in 2006 the Hewlett Foundation granted $1.5 million to the Institute to help it make the transition to an independent entity and extend its reach.


