International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI)

There are several aid information sources already in existence (such as the OECD Development Co-operation Directorate (DCD-DAC)'s Creditor Reporting System (CRS) and individual country's Aid Information Management Systems (AIMS). According to IATI, although while the data provided may be of a high statistical quality, it is out of date and designed to meet the needs of donors rather than partner country stakeholders. IATI seeks to support existing initiatives by enabling donors to publish more timely information in a common, open, format, so that multiple users and intermediaries are able to access and use this information to meet a wide variety of individual needs.

To that end, IATI has developed an agreed-upon common, open, international standard - the IATI standard. This sets out a framework for publishing information about aid spending that builds on existing definitions and classifications so that citizens, governments, parliamentarians, and people working in the development community can find out:

• How much money is being provided, where, and for what purpose;
• When it was, or is, due to be paid out; and
• What the funds are expected to achieve.

Instead of creating a new database, IATI's standards-based approach is designed to enable donors to produce their data to a common format in a timely manner, so that all those publishing to IATI can produce data that users can compare with other data providers, mashing it up to create data sets they find useful. Donors decide for themselves where to store their data, which is linked to via a central IATI Registry. According to IATI, the registry enables data users to find the information they are searching for quickly and easily, pointing them to where the information sits once it is published.

As of January 2012, 28 donors are signatories of IATI, with 6 additional organisations publishing their data and 22 developing countries endorsing the initiative. Endorsers support the aims and objectives of the initiative, having contributed to its design and implementation, while recognising the main obligations under IATI are placed on donors. The Technical Advisory Group (TAG) develops technical proposals for review by the IATI Steering Committee. It is open to all, including users and providers of aid data and statistics (e.g. donors, partner countries, CSOs) and experts in using technology for aid effectiveness and the development of standards.

IATI produced an information pack for the Forum in Busan - if you would like a copy of any of the documents contained within this pack, please visit IATI's Busan page. IATI has also produced a video that contains interviews with partners in developing countries.

Development Assistance.

IATI contributes to Cluster C of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee's Working Party on Aid Effectiveness on Transparent and Responsible Aid. The standards agreed through IATI will be used to inform the reporting formats and definitions for sharing aid information about aid that will be agreed through the Cluster. The OECD-DAC's Working Party on Statistics (WP-STAT) will also be contributing their knowledge to this task.

According to IATI: "At the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan in November 2011, IATI was positively referenced in the Busan Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation and in the Building Block [PDF] proposal on transparency. The Initiative was also given a significant boost by the announcement that four new organisations would join IATI including Canadian CIDA [Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)] and the US [United States]. Taking these announcements into account, IATI signatories represent 75% of total ODA [overseas development assistance]."