Next steps in the hosting of IATI

Dear IATI members and others in the IATI community,

Last week, the Governing Board met for its quarterly meeting. Main topic was the way forward in the hosting arrangements. With this post, we want to give you an update on events of the last few months, on the decisions we took for the coming months, and on what we will ask from the members very soon. This is a bit long, apologies.

As you hopefully know, the agreement with the host of IATI ends at the end of 2022 and will not be renewed. The Governing Board has the task of finding a new home for IATI (details in this post and the minutes of the April 2022 Governing Board meeting). This is a big undertaking and we have little time, and this is also why we as a Board very much appreciate the continued support of the current hosts, and the ongoing commitment of the IATI community. We will need both, this year and the next.

Our first decision is to re-establish the Institutional Working Group. The IWG was active in 2021 to advise the Board on the future governance structure of IATI, and we hope  the IWG2021 members and any new volunteers are willing to help us again, by advising on the following matters:

• Updated Terms of Reference for the hosting of IATI 2023-2027. The Board is also considering splitting the ToRs in two parts (one policy/technical ToR and one ToR for operations), and would like the IWG’s opinion on this option.
• The option for the GB to enter into an agreement with a new host via a Letter of Agreement, which the Board understands is a common solution for hosted initiatives such as IATI – and to seek advice from a qualified legal advisor on what this entails in legal and liability matters for IATI as an initiative, and for members of the Governing Board.
• Lead the selection of new hosts for IATI as evaluated against the Hosting Terms of Reference previously developed by the IWG in 2021.

We ask the IWG to start work as soon as possible, and to guide the GB on the first two issues as soon as possible (timeframe to be discussed). The selection of new hosts for IATI should take place at the end of October at the latest. If you are considering being part of this important work, we thank you very much for your interest and ask both former IWG members and new volunteers to register here before July 18th. The updated Terms of Reference for the IWG are here.

In the meantime, we will start a search for possible new hosts. Because the new Terms of Reference for this will need approval from the Members Assembly, and urgently so, we will ask members to vote on the updated ToRs via a written procedure, as soon as the IWG has advised on the new ToR.

Between 7 and 10 November (exact date to be announced), we will meet for a Members Assembly in Copenhagen (UN City) and vote on the new hosting arrangement. Keeping in mind potential constraints so near to the end of the current Secretariat mandate, we want to combine the MA with some community led sessions, and in general a chance to get to know each other in 3D again.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, please send an email to chair@iatistandard.org. Also please follow our new account IATI Governing Board on IATI Connect for updates. Minutes of the Board meeting will be shared as soon as possible on Connect and on the website.

Thank you very much,
The Governing Board