2018 Grand Bargain Annual Self-Reporting - IOM

Work stream 1 - Transparency

Aid organisations and donors commit to:

1. 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.

2. Make use of appropriate data analysis, explaining the distinctiveness of activities, organisations, environments and circumstances (for example, protection, conflict-zones).

3. 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.

Transparency work stream co-conveners reporting request: How will you use the data from IATI within your organization including, for example, for monitoring, reporting and vis-à-vis other Grand Bargain commitments?

1. Baseline (only in year 1)

Where did your organisation stand on the work stream and its commitments when the Grand Bargain was signed?

• N/A to IOM

2. Progress to date

Which concrete actions have you taken (both internally and in cooperation with other signatories) to implement the commitments of the work stream?

• In March 2017, as anticipated, IOM became a member of IATI, reconfirming its strong commitment to transparency and accountability towards member states, beneficiaries and the public. Furthermore, IOM established a project team responsible for the technical implementation of the IATI standard. Like that of other UN agencies the implementation of the standard across the Organization’s portfolio is incremental, IOM foresees full IATI compliance across the entirety of its portfolio in 2020.

• IOM has begun reporting activity data on the IATI platform, on the basis of an initial pool of field projects. In preparing for the publication of this first set of activities, IOM dedicated resources towards analysing the IATI standard and related procedures and how those can be accommodated within the existing systems, policies and procedures of the Organization. IOM also identified during this period the minimum required system adjustments and resources necessary to automate reporting in the future. Given IOM’s decentralized nature and high volume of activities worldwide, further automation will be critical to achieve comprehensive and timely publication of data by IOM.

• In 2017, IOM also established an internal Transparency and Accountability Working Group (TAWG), aimed at reviewing IOM’s existing ways of addressing transparency and accountability; ensuring continuous internal coordination of related emerging policy and procedural matters; and ensuring that new transparency and accountability tools are adapted in an effective and efficient manner, giving due consideration to IOM’s operational specifics, governing regulations and the interest in this topic by IOM management, member states, donors, the general public and others.

3. Planned next steps

What are the specific next steps which you plan to undertake to implement the commitments (with a focus on the next 2 years)?

• IOM will, in 2018, continue adapting its internal systems to expand the data portfolio published. IOM is also developing a data visualization web portal, which is expected to be launched during the second half of 2018. This web portal will provide the entirety of stakeholder’s direct access to IOM data reported in accordance to the IATI standard.

4. Efficiency gains

Please indicate, qualitatively, efficiency gains associated with implementation of GB commitments and how they have benefitted your organisation and beneficiaries.

• By publishing its data in accordance to the IATI standard and the IATI registry, the Organization provides stakeholders, as well as academia and partner organizations, access to IOM data via a supplementary platform in addition to its traditional information-sharing channels.
• Given that IOM has only begun to publish, it is too early to measure efficiency gains, however IOM envisages that these efforts will make it easier to access, understand and use relevant information by external stakeholders.

5. Good practices and lessons learned

Which concrete action(s) have had the most success (both internally and in cooperation with other signatories) to implement the commitments of the work stream? And why?

• Preparing for the publication of its IATI pilot IOM have come to understand the importance of information shared under the IATI standard and its linkages to other ongoing initiatives and system developments by IOM. Ensuring synergies and close coordination of the IATI implementation process with corporate efforts in the areas of results based management, ERP system improvements and knowledge management is seen by IOM as a key success factor in achieving its commitments under this work stream.