The Grand Bargain commits us to identifying and implementing a shared open-data standard and common digital platform which will enhance transparency and decision-making. This will demonstrate how funding moves from donors down the transaction chain until it reaches the final responders and, where feasible, affected people. The ‘do no harm’ principle will be safeguarded, both in terms of politicized context and protection concerns. The International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) is the most advanced option for a shared open-data standard. The Financial Tracking Service (FTS) is a well-established, voluntary information platform for recording international humanitarian aid contributions, which we accept needs further improvements.
Aid organisations and donors commit to:
- Publish timely, transparent, harmonised and open high-quality data on humanitarian funding within two years of the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul. We consider IATI to provide a basis for the purpose of a common standard.
- Make use of appropriate data analysis, explaining the distinctiveness of activities, organisations, environments and circumstances (for example, protection, conflict-zones).
- Improve the digital platform and engage with the open-data standard community to help ensure:
- accountability of donors and responders with open data for retrieval and analysis;
- improvements in decision-making, based upon the best possible information;
- a reduced workload over time as a result of donors accepting common standard data for some reporting purposes; and
- traceability of donors’ funding throughout the transaction chain as far as the final responders and, where feasible, affected people.
4. Support the capacity of all partners to access and publish data.