IATI
In September 2008 at the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra the Department for International Development (DFID) launched the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI). IATI aims to promote greater transparency and to deliver a step shift in global public availability and access to information on aid flows by committing donors to work together to agree an accessible standard for the publication of information about aid.
To date 16 donors have signed up to IATI: Australia, Denmark, European Commission, Finland, GAVI, Germany, Hewlett, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, UK, UNDP and the World Bank. Seven partner countries have also endorsed the Initiative: Colombia, Ghana, Indonesia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda and Vietnam.
IATI has established a multi-stakeholder Steering Committee and a Technical Advisory Group (TAG). The standard will be drawn up by the TAG in consultation with partner countries and civil society and will consist of four parts:
- A list of the types of information that will be covered by the IATI standard
- Common definitions
- Common data formats
- Code of conduct
Since its launch, aidinfo has been actively involved in the IATI process and is co-hosting the secretariat alongside DFID and UNDP and hosting the TAG secretariat. aidinfo is also undertaking a lot of the background work on IATI. This includes drafting a scoping paper (link) which covers the needs for information, the information that is currently provided and recommendations.
aidinfo is supporting the IATI process in parallel with our core work on researching and analysing technical and policy solutions to aid transparency and working to understand the needs of as wider group of users as possible. From our perspective IATI offers a mechanism for the political coordination required to get aid information published in a common and accessible format.
Further information:
Contact Carolyn Culey for information on aidinfo's work with IATI: carolyn@devinit.org
