Representing different levels of programme management in IATI reports

Community Zone Using IATI Data
#1

Hi all,

At Christian Aid we are looking at how to publish much more data to IATI and doing so in such a way that it reflects how we operationally manage our work rather than just trying to meet IATI publishing requirements in the easiest way possible.

We primarily think of our work in terms of ‘projects’, each of which is managed by a partner organisation. We could just call each project an IATI activity but there are two issues. Firstly, in many cases projects link together to meet wider objectives and we want IATI reports to reflect this somehow. Secondly, our income transactions are not at project level - we code income at a higher level and then this money is used in projects through an internal system of resource allocation.

I’m looking at different possibilities for publishing reports that reflect these different levels. The ‘hierarchy’ element looks like it could do the trick but I am unclear on how it works exactly. For example, could an activity at hierarchy level 2 be linked to more than one activity at hierarchy level 1 and, if so, how would the transactions be aggregated?

I would be very grateful to hear experiences of other organisations that have found a way to represent the different elements of their programme management structure in their IATI reports. I would especially be interested to hear about examples of the use of the ‘hierarchy’ element and look at some IATI reports that use this for similar purposes.

Thanks in advance,

Sam Moody

#2

Hierarchies may well provide the solution for how best to structure your data @smoody and it is also one of the topics to be discussed at the TAG which is taking place in March 2017. Therefore you might be interested in the discussions around that topic here.

Also everyone please do feel free to add to the discussions as input from real world examples is always the most valuable (and thanks for yours Sam)

#3

Hi @smoody - I suggest having a look at the Guidelines from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (available via their helpdesk site)

Section 3 shows ways to capture information about programmes, partnerships, and so on. This is how it is being implemented by various NGOs in the Strategic Partnerships funded by the Ministry.