The Board agrees refinements to the Validation model

On Validation Procedure:

The Board approves the addition to the section of the Validation procedure on ‘Step 1: Preparation for Validation’ of the following text:

• “MSGs are encouraged to use Validation templates as part of their regular implementation cycle with a view to strengthening the MSG’s oversight of all aspects of the EITI process. MSGs are encouraged to share drafts of their Validation templates with the International Secretariat for comment and advice prior to the commencement of Validation. Comments by the International Secretariat should be recorded in the draft templates as additional guidance to MSGs in preparation for Validation.”.

On Validation Guide:

The Board approves the following modifications to the Validation Guide related to Requirement 6.1.d on social and environmental expenditures, reflecting clarifications previously agreed by the Board:

• The Validation is expected to document whether the MSG has disclosed discretionary social and environmental expenditures, including mandatory environmental expenditures to third parties, with appropriate attention to data quality (4.9), in accordance with provision 6.1.c

On Validation template on Stakeholder engagement:

The Board approves the following modification to the Stakeholder engagement template:

• At the beginning of Parts I, II, III and IV, add two text boxes: one including the overall objective of EITI Requirements related to each Part, and another one to elicit the MSG’s self-assessment on complying with each of these requirements asking MSGs to select one of the following categories “Not applicable/Not met/Partly met/Mostly met/Fully met/Exceeded”, as well as to add a justification for that self-evaluation.
• Add a final section to the template, requesting MSGs to provide a “List of stakeholders suggested by the MSG for consultations regarding EITI implementation during Validation”. The list includes five fields: “Name, Institution, Constituency, email, and Telephone (if possible). The data will be processed according to GDPR regulations.

On Validation template on Outcomes and Impact:

The Board approves the following modification to the Outcomes and Impact template:

• In Parts I, II and III, add two text boxes: one including the overall objective of EITI Requirements related to each Part, and another one to elicit the MSG’s self-assessment on complying with each of these requirements asking MSGs to select one of the following categories “Not applicable/Not met/Partly met/Mostly met/Fully met/Exceeded”, as well as to add a justification for that self-evaluation.

On Validation template on Transparency:

The Board approves the following modifications to the Transparency engagement template:

• In the Excel sheets that include a self-evaluation of each EITI Requirement, add a column, “Column L”, for the “International Secretariat comments for pre-Validation support”.
• Correct typos and spelling mistakes in the Transparency template highlighted in the current template.