[Added] Create new Organisation Identifier XI-IATI-FIABEL

Standard Management Non-Core Codelist Amendments
#1

The following addition to the IATI Organisation identifier list has been proposed as no alternative organisation identifier is currently available.

Code: XI-IATI-FIABEL
Name: Federation of Institutional Actors Belgium (FIABEL)
Description: Fiabel is a federal association that connects Institutional Actors (IA) in Belgium. Fiabel supports her members by a) fulfilling a bridging function between the Belgian Development Cooperation and the Institutional Actors, to ensure that they are fully aware of the government legal framework, procedures and initiatives; b) representing the IA in various consultative committees with government bodies; c) setting up working groups to exchange knowledge and experiences; d) organizing trainings to strengthen the capacities of IA on strategic and operational level.
URL: www.fiabel.be

#2

I find it very hard to believe that there is no possible identifier issued by a Belgian registration authority, if indeed FIABEL is a distinct entity. If it isn’t, one could question the need to publish data separately. Do they have their own budget and own activities to report in IATI?

The XI-IATI list is full of organizations that DO have alternative identifiers, which signals that we need more due diligence before creating XI-IATI identifiers.

Process for adding `XI-IATI` codes
#3

Dear,

My name is Ruth beeckmans, reponsible for IATI reporting for FIABEL Fiabel is the Federation of Institutionl Actors of Belgium. (our partner federations are ngo-fed and Acodev)

Fiabel is hosted by one of its member organisations.

Fiabel has not a legal entity distinct from VVOB – it is an unincorporated association.

As such we do not have an identifier issued by a Belgian registration authority.

We prefer not to report under the VVOB budget and activities as we have a seperate budget and activities.

More on Fiabel : www.fiabel.be

Thank you for your support.
Ruth

#4

Hi @Ruth

That is perfectly fine. Welcome to IATI!

Bill

#5

EDIT: moved to a new topic.

#6

Perhaps I should clarify my concern with creating new XI-IATI Identifiers, including (but not limited to) one for FIABEL.

In a nutshell, XI-IATI identifiers undermine data quality and all but prevent traceability. For instance, if a donor provides funding to FIABEL, the donor has some record of FIABEL in its systems, with its legal entity, contact information, banking information etc. This XI-IATI-FIABEL is not part of FIABEL’s legal entity and won’t be recorded in the donor system, hence won’t be used in the IATI activity.

Similarly, an organisation receiving funding from FIABEL won’t record FIABEL’s identifier as XI-IATI-FIABEL, hence won’t use it for e.g. incoming transactions.

One could argue that FIABEL can communicate this IATI identifier to its funders or recipients, and hope they add it to their own systems and data. However, this will not solve the need to identify FIABEL in other types of data (e.g. contracting). It will make all IATI data that refers to FIABEL incompatible with data in other related standards.

Also, perhaps a smaller point, but an XI-IATI identifier does not convey information about the country in which FIABEL is based, which makes it less useful for some use cases.

Creating XI-IATI-FIABEL (and other such identifiers) may be an easy short-term fix, but is probably not the ideal solution going forward. We know that it’s hard to change an organization identifier, so let’s not do this without considering longer-term implications.

1 Like
#7

I see that this was marked at Approved. Yet I had raised concerns about creating this ID, concerns that were not addressed.

I am somewhat confused by the governance process for creating new Organization Identifiers. Perhaps the IATI Secretariat could clarify how decisions are made?

#8

Following the transition to org-id.guide in July 2017, any organisation that wants to publish to IATI is referred to the org-id.guide list for creating their IATI Organisation identifier. If a suitable list is not currently available, then a request is submitted so that the org-id.guide team can research and find an appropriate list.

On this instance, given the structure of FIABEL in Belgium, a new appropriate list was not identified by the org-id team and the XI-IATI was deemed the only option for creating a unique organisation identifier. FIABEL had a deadline to publish to IATI by the end of April 2018.

Let me know if that clarifies the process. XI-IATI is used as an option of last resort allowing organisations to publish to IATI in cases where there is no other available list and following the review process with org-id team. Tagging @TimDavies if there is anything else to add here.

#9

Thanks for the response. It does not address any of the concerns I had raised, but does clarify that the decision is ultimately up to the org-id.guide team.

Use of XI identifiers for national or sub-national NGOs and CSOs