Publication of U.S. Government’s Foreign Assistance data in the IATI Standard and IATI Implementation Schedule

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of State are pleased to announce the publication of the implementation schedule for the U.S. Government’s commitment to the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) and the posting of initial data on U.S. Government foreign assistance in IATI’s common data standard,  now available for download in XML format from the Foreign Assistance Dashboard (www.foreignassistance.gov).  IATI is a voluntary, multi-stakeholder initiative that includes donors, partner countries, and civil society organizations whose aim is to make information about foreign aid spending easier to access, use, and understand.   

In November 2011, Secretary of State Clinton announced at the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness at Busan that the United States had become a signatory to IATI.  The United States has been a member of the IATI Technical Assistance Group since 2009, and in that capacity fully engaged to shape the IATI standard. 

As a new IATI signatory, the U.S. Government’s  IATI Implementation Schedule contains the timetable and frequency of data publication and an overview of the types of data to be published in the IATI XML format.  The Schedule is available for download on the IATI website with other donors’ implementation schedules (www.aidtransparency.net/implementation) and the U.S. Foreign Assistance Dashboard.

As a participant in the Open Government Partnership, which strives to make governments around the world more transparent, effective and accountable, the publication of the Implementation Schedule and first IATI data file represent a significant milestone in U.S. Government’s commitment to increasing foreign aid transparency.  Additional guidance on foreign assistance transparency is available from the U.S. Government's Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Bulletin 12-01, which outlines all required data fields needed to satisfy multiple U.S. Government reporting requirements and provides guidance on the collection of U.S. Government foreign assistance data.

The Foreign Assistance Dashboard will be the mechanism used to deliver a unified U.S. report that meets the IATI standard.  The U.S. Government will implement a whole-of-government approach by reporting data in a consolidated manner from all U.S. agencies that manage a foreign assistance portfolio.  U.S. data published in the IATI format will include preliminary, activity-level quarterly reporting for FY 2012 and forward-looking budget request data for those agencies that are reporting to the Foreign Assistance Dashboard.  U.S. activity-level data reported to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC)’s Creditor Reporting System (CRS) has also been published in the IATI format for 2009 and 2010 data.  2011 data will be available soon.  As additional agencies or new data is added to the Foreign Assistance Dashboard, the IATI data files will be updated and the activity-level reporting will become more robust.

To find more information on IATI and to access the U.S. Government’s IATI-compliant data files, please visit the IATI section on the Foreign Assistance Dashboard.

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