Following the VCE2 Insights on how publishers publish session, we would like to continue the engagement with publishers to address key questions raised in the publisher analysis summary report and to address any remaining questions publishers might have about the assessment.

VCE2 Recap - Insights on how publishers publish

The session shared the key findings of the systematic review of over 100 IATI publishers and aimed to engage with publishers around specific data quality issues and questions. Key discussion points included:

  • Publishing very small transaction values could cause an issue for data users and how  publishers are notified if these were entered by error. Some publishers discussed these might not be an error on their side, the more frequently they publish the data becomes more granular.
  • Discussion around the use of  negative transactions and whether they considered a data error. One point raised was that accounting systems need to make corrections and if the correction isn’t made within the same month, then it needs to be subtracted and reflected as a negative transaction.

If you missed the session, you can access the recording of the session and the presentation here.

Unanswered Questions

Q1. The 4th question "Is there a reason not to publish planned disbursements?" would suggest that it's important. Can you say a bit more on why you consider it important?Thea Schepers, Netherlands MFA

Answer: Organisations can publish data on planned disbursements to report specific planned cash transfers between organisations. The purpose of planned disbursements is to publish predefined payment schedules which help data users on specific cash-flow forecasts. Planned disbursements are not mandatory and we are trying to understand from publishers how and when they use them.

Q2. How frequent was the omission of commitments and spend data, and was it for a particular donor? - Tanaka Nyamadzawo, DRC 

Answer: The frequency of omission varied from publisher to publisher. Worth noting that some published only commitments, some only spend for some of their activities. These findings apply to multiple bilaterals assessed.

Next Steps

We would like to continue the engagement with publishers to understand how they publish and present their data, as well as to address the specific questions raised in the systematic review.  We would strongly encourage those organisation that were assessed to join and would welcome participations from others interested in the publisher analysis.

 

Follow-up sessions for each publisher group:

Please join us for the next sessions held in the first weeks of November by using the registration links.  For the bigger assessment groups we are offering two sessions to allow for people's availability. You only need to choose one session slot.

1. Multilateral publishers session

Friday, November 19th, 2021, 2-3pm (UK time) 

Session recording

Password: k4CR.ms1

2. Bilateral publishers sessions

Option 1: Wednesday, November 3rd, 9-10am GMT 

Option  2: Thursday, November 4th, 2-3pm GMT

 Session recording Password: GQ2H%be8

3. Development Finance Institutions session

 Tuesday, 9 November, 2-3pm GMT Session recording Passcode: Hx8j%zh+

4. NGOs, Foundations and the Private Sector session

Tuesday, November 2nd, 2021 2:30-3:30 PM (UK time) 

Session recording Passcode: dnO*y40V

If you require clarification or have questions please contact the IATI Helpdesk at support@iatistandard.org

Comments (3)

Thea Schepers
Thea Schepers

Thank you! Regarding my question: we don't consider planned disbursements important and we ask a lot of our partners already when it comes to transactions.
A different comment I want to make about something that came up in the session, about negative transactions. I think the question was asked how to 'match' those with transactions in the past that these negative transactions are a correction for. This is not usually possible, in my experience. Negative transactions should, in my view, not be seen as a 'mirror' of a positive one that has happened in the past, but a correction on the total of that activity. That means that the data user should take into account which activity this transaction is linked to, but that should always happen, anyway.
Similarly, in my opinion it's not necessary to add the provider for outgoing transactions, or receiver for incoming transactions. That organisation is already known, in the general info of the activity, so here, the link to the activity is necessary as well.

Yohanna  Loucheur
Yohanna Loucheur

Would it be possible to make the summary spreadsheets easier to consume for all? Simple adjustments like keeping the top lines and left column as one scrolls through publishers' results would be really useful. Yes, I know I can download the file.... But why make us all do it when it can be done once for everyone's benefit?
Thanks in advance.


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