IATI: Fill in activity elements

All of the world's major donors have agreed to publish their data using the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) standard. Many now require that grantees and recipients report back to them in IATI format. DevResults supports one-click IATI exports. The XML file that's generated can be published to the IATI repository, provided to funders, or shared with other organizations.

This page describes how to fill in the activity information that goes into IATI exports. 

Once those steps are complete, you can generate IATI exports

Note: if any of the options below are unavailable, please see our page about configuring your site for IATI

Activity Overview Tab

For any activity that will be included in an IATI export, fill out these fields of the activity overview tab:

  • Activity Code: Each activity must be identified with a code. See IATI's description of activity identifiers for more information. [Required]
  • Activity Status: Each activity must have a status. See IATI's information about activity status options for additional details. [Required]
  • Activity Start and/or End Date: Each activity must have a start date and/or an end date. See IATI's information about activity dates for additional details. [Required]
  • Activity Context, Activity Objectives, and/or Activity Beneficiary Description: Each activity must have at least one description: either a "general" description, an "objectives" description, a "beneficiary" description, or some combination of the three. The DevResults export uses the activity context field as the general description, the activity objectives for the objectives description, and the beneficiary description as the target groups description. See IATI's information about description types for additional details. [Required]

  • Activity Partner Organization - Partner Role: IATI requires that at least one partner organization is associated with the activity and that all partner organizations have a designated organization role. [Required]

  • Technical Sector: One or more sectors can be associated with each activity. If more than one sector is applicable, you must provide the percentage value for the portion of the budget allocated to each sector. The percentages must add up to 100. See IATI's description of sectors for more information. [Optional]

  • Related Activities: You have the option to identify related activities and their relationship type. See IATI's description of related activities for more information. [Optional]

Activity IATI Tab

Additional information about each activity can be included in the IATI export. From any activity page, click on the IATI tab. (If you don't see the IATI tab, you need to enable it under Administration > Program Settings.)

In the classification section you can add:

  • Activity Scope: See IATI's description of the activity scope for more information. [Optional]
  • Collaboration Type: See IATI's description of the collaboration type for more information. [Optional]
  • Default Aid Type: See IATI's description of the default aid type for more information. [Optional]
  • Default Finance Type: See IATI's description of the default finance type for more information. [Optional]
  • Default Flow Type: See IATI's description of the default flow type for more information. [Optional]
  • Default Tied Status: See IATI's description of the default tied status for more information. [Optional]
  • Capital Spending Percentage: See IATI's description of the capital spending percentage for more information. [Optional]

The remaining sections allow you to add multiple options for each element, including:

  • Policy Markers: See IATI's description of policy markers for more information. [Optional]
  • Conditions: See IATI's description of conditions for more information. [Optional]
  • Recipient Countries and Regions: Provide only country information if the activity's work can be attributed to one or more countries. Only provide region information if you are unable to provide country information. If you provide more than one country or more than one region, you must assign percentages for the portion of the activity budget allotted for each country or region. The percentages must add up to 100. See IATI's description of recipient countries and recipient regions for more information. [Optional]
  • Document Links: Provide one or more URLs (website links) for documents relating to an activity. Note: documents in DevResults are password-protected. Only public documents should be added to the document link field. See IATI's description of document links for more information. [Optional]

Activity Finance Tab

Financial information about each activity can be included in the IATI export. From any activity page, click on the Finance tab. (If you don't see the Finance tab, you need to enable it under Administration > Program Settings.)

On the Finance tab you can add:

  • Budgets and Planned Disbursements: See IATI's description of budgets for more information. [Optional]
  • Transactions: See IATI's description of transactions for more information. [Optional]

Requirements Review

Here's a brief summary of the minimum set of requirements for producing an IATI export:

  • IATI feature enabled
  • Organization identifier provided
  • Organization type selected
  • Activity code provided
  • Activity context and/or objectives populated
  • Activity status selected (that is mapped to an IATI status option)
  • Activity start and/or end date provided
  • Activity has at least one partner organization assigned (with a partner role that is mapped to an IATI organization role)
  • Reporting period start and end dates provided

Warning: Only the required elements must be complete in order to generate an IATI export. However, if optional elements are included, incomplete information can prevent generation of IATI exports. For example, if you add a transaction with a date and a value but leave the type blank, the IATI validator will warn you that the element must be complete before the IATI export can be generated.

See also: Supported IATI elements

Next: Learn how to generate an IATI export

Didn't answer your question? Please email us at help@devresults.com.