1. International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) Implementing IATI – Practical proposals By the aidinfo team at Development Initiatives January 2010 www.aidtransparency.net

2. The purpose of this presentation is to: outline proposals for meeting the objectives of IATI without disproportionate cost; explain how IATI would add value to existing systems. It describes work in progress – detailed work on implementation issues will take place throughout 2010, with further opportunities for consultation, and an extended deadline for final decision-making by members Introduction www.aidtransparency.net

3. Ten desirable characteristics of IATI 1.Meet the information needs of developing country government AIMS and national budgets, with local definitions; 2.Develop common definitions and reporting processes, avoiding parallel reporting; 3.Easily accessible info for governments & parliamentarians, civil society, the media and citizens 4.Provide accurate, high quality and meaningful information (not statistics); 5.Include information from non-DAC donors, multilaterals, foundations and NGOs; 6.Be easy to understand, reconcile, compare, read alongside other information sources; 7.Be legally open, with as few barriers to access and reuse as possible; 8.Reduce duplicate reporting by donor agencies and minimise additional costs; 9.Be electronically accessible in an open format; 10.Result in access to information about aid which is more timely, more detailed, more forward looking and more comprehensive www.aidtransparency.net

4. HQ Country teams DAC CRS AIMS FTS Treasury & Parliament Line Ministries Sectoral working groups Journalists & Researchers AIDA, PLAID, TRAID, Donor Atlas, etc Embassy website Donor website Donors already publish to many systems and services BUT Significant burden Results in inconsistencies Reporting now – a view from donor perspective www.aidtransparency.net

5. DAC CRS AIMS FTS Donor budgets and accounts Line Ministries Sectoral working groups Journalists & Researchers AIDA, PLAID, TRAID, Donor Atlas, etc 30 Embassy or Delegation websites Donor website 45 Donor websites Systems are producer rather than user oriented Information can be: hard to find inconsistent scattered across multiple sites unavailable Reporting now – a view from user perspective www.aidtransparency.net

6. The worst of all possible worlds – requiring a collective solution

7. Publish once, use often

8. IATI will support and and value to existing systems like the DAC and AIMS, not undermine or duplicate them; IATI will NOT create a new mega-database – instead, it will develop a four-part standard for publishing aid information, consisting of: 1) agreement on what will be published; 2) common definitions for sharing information ; 3) a common electronic data format; 4) a code of conduct. If the information is standardised (items 2 and 3 above) it can be published in any document and on any website and still be accessible and useable. The underlying principle is publish once, use many times IATI: a common standard for aid information www.aidtransparency.net

9. What Reduced administrative burden – IATI data could be translated directly into the current format used in country so no changes will be necessary, or – Automatic data transfer is being piloted and tested – in future, partner countries could potentially collect data automatically for AIMS with minimal systems changes if they wish to do so; – Countries would not have to change their AIMS or budget classifications. Access to more, better, consistent, timely data Access to same data across Government, parliamentarians, CSOs & Citizens AIMS can also add value to IATI by feeding information back to the IATI registry What does this mean at country level? www.aidtransparency.net

10. Countries would not have to change their classifications www.aidtransparency.net

11. How the data might look to a user

13. Profarmer Manly Hydraulics Lab Environmental Protection Agency Where do you get your weather information?

14. IATI will support and add value to existing systems like the DAC and AIMS, not undermine or duplicate them; Develop a four-part standard for publishing aid information; Partner countries will have access to more up-to-date information on current and future aid allocations; Parliamentarians and CSOs will benefit from increased access to more detailed and timely data to demand accountability; Donors will publish their aid information once, rather than respond to many requests; Information intermediaries will be able to collect data automatically and offer a wider range of tailor-made services. What IATI will do www.aidtransparency.net

15. Duplicate the work of the CRS – which is designed for a specific purpose Create a parallel set of definitions and classifications - this work will only take place where no existing classifications exist Design a new database – one database cannot meet all needs Push a one-size-fits-all approach onto donors or partner countries – – Donors use existing systems and convert to IATI format – information published will be tailored to country circumstances Strengthen partner country transparency – this is important work, but is taking place elsewhere What IATI will NOT do www.aidtransparency.net

16. Publish once, use often