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Guidance note

Documenting progress for Validation

Chapters 4 and 5 of the EITI Standard

Applicable EITI Standard
2019

Validation is an essential feature of EITI implementation. It provides stakeholders with an impartial assessment of whether EITI implementation in a country is consistent with the provisions of the EITI Standard. The Validation report also addresses the impact of the EITI, the implementation of activities encouraged by the EITI Standard, lessons learnt in EITI implementation, as well as any concerns stakeholders have expressed and recommendations for future implementation of the EITI.

Validation is one of the key tools that the EITI Board uses to verify whether implementing countries are delivering on their commitments. Through Validation, countries receive recognition for their efforts and progress. The revised Validation model, adopted in December 2020, seeks to strengthen the multi-stakeholder group’s (MSG) oversight of EITI implementation. The new data collection tools associated with Validation can also be used by MSGs between Validations to exercise oversight of disclosures, stakeholder engagement and the outcomes and impact of EITI implementation. Validation provides a regular external assessment of progress that complements and supports the MSG’s work.

The Validation Guide provides guidance on assessing progress towards meeting the EITI Requirements and templates for data collection. It indicates the objective of each EITI Requirement, and Validation considers the extent to which these objectives have been fulfilled. For some requirements, there is specific evidence that the EITI Board must assess to ensure that a provision has been met. In other cases, a country might take a different approach to address an EITI provision. In these instances, the Validation Guide provides examples of the types of evidence that the EITI Board might consider in its assessment. The EITI Board has the discretion to weigh minor gaps against progress in achieving the broader objective and may conclude that the requirement is fully met, if the implementing country is able to demonstrate that the broader objective of the EITI Requirement has been fulfilled.

This note provides guidance to multi-stakeholder groups on the Validation outcomes, consequences, procedure, timeline and preparatory steps.