FTS DATA: SOURCES AND VERIFICATION

FTS receives data from donor governments and recipient agencies, and also gathers (to the extent possible) information as possible on specific pledges carried in the media or donor web sites, or quoted in pledging conferences. FTS works under strictly defined procedures, which include considerable cross-checking and reconciliation of data from various sources. These procedures are as follows:

1.        The information in the tables is based solely on written statements (communicated to FTS or, occasionally, found on donor or agency web sites) from donors or appealing organisations. Hence the note on all FTS tables, indicating "COMPILED BY OCHA ON THE BASIS OF REPORTS FROM DONORS AND APPEALING ORGANISATIONS".

2.         It is important to note that according to agreed procedures OCHA only reports the data as provided from the designated resource/finance person at the agency headquarters. Therefore, if agency representatives in the field disagree with the published data in the financial tables, they should direct any concerns to the source of information at their headquarters. Although this procedure may seem rigid, it is consistent with the policy set by agencies' headquarters and agreed to by DHA/OCHA since June 1992, and it ensures that the donor community is provided with consistent reporting from one source on the response to a Consolidated Appeal.

3.        FTS reconciles all financial data received from Agencies against donor reports. Frequently, donors announce a pledge, or report to FTS a specific commitment (see Definitions / Glossary), some weeks before the recipient agency confirms the commitment or receipt of the contribution. On the FTS tables, commitments and contributions are generally grouped, and nonbinding pledges are shown separately (and not counted towards the overall totals until confirmed at least as a commitment). Experience shows that the typical time between a donor reporting a decision to OCHA and the appealing agency confirming receipt of funds is approximately a month.

4.         Upon issuance of a Consolidated Appeal or Flash Appeal, OCHA begins a process of receiving data and tracking the response to a given appeal (both overall and at the level of its specific projects). Donors and appealing organizations typically provide details as to the sector and project for which the funds will be used. Appealing agencies are obliged to report receipt of contributions regularly to FTS. The database is updated on a daily basis.

5.        OCHA also collects and posts information on humanitarian assistance channeled outside of the appeal framework (i.e. to projects not listed in any appeal); including bilateral support to the government of the affected country. This information also originates in donor and agency reporting to OCHA (although the reality is that donors report non-CAP humanitarian contributions much more comprehensively than recipient agencies and NGOs). As FTS depends on the information reported to it, all tables indicating additional humanitarian assistance outside of the Appeal framework have the following note: "Compiled by OCHA on the basis of information provided by donors and appealing organizations." FTS will search for new funding information, e.g. on donor websites, as resources allow. However, FTS guarantees only that suitable humanitarian funding information sent to it will be posted; FTS cannot guarantee that it will find and record information not sent to it.