Many are watching the EITI these days as 19 of the 32 EITI implementing countries have to complete EITI Validation by 9 March. Two countries (Azerbaijan and Liberia) have already achieved Compliant status. We at the EITI International Secretariat have here assembled answers to some of the most frequently asked questions related to Validation and this deadline.

Afghanistan has become a Candidate country within the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the global standard for improved transparency in the oil, gas and mining sector. This was announced today by the EITI International Board after its meeting in Oslo earlier this week.

The last few weeks I have been working on a project for the EITI Secretariat. The project has been to create a first draft of a "Social Media Strategy" for the EITI, helping the Secretariat begin their journey into the world of hyper-communication and user generated content. This is my summary.

EITI’s two complaint countries, Azerbaijan and Liberia improved their ranking on Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI). Azerbaijan and Liberia jumped up respectively 15 and 41 places compared with their 2008 rankings. They climbed 0.4 and 0.7 points in the CPI score.

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted a resolution stating that Ukraine will implement the EITI and. Resolution #1098 ("On joining to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative") was adopted on 30 September 2009 together with a statement that confirms that the government is ready to cooperate with Civil Society and extractive companies to implement the EITI.

The Central African Republic (CAR) has confirmed its determination to complete EITI Validation by November 2010, and tackle the challenges of managing an entirely informal mining sector. In bilateral meetings with the EITI International Secretariat, the President of the Republic François Bozizé, the Prime Minister Faustin-Archange Touadéra, and the Minister of State and Mines Sylvain Ndoutingaï, all reiterated their full commitment to the EITI.

The EITI reporting process lays the foundation for increasing revenue transparency in the extractive sectors. Understanding how much money is flowing into the government from the extractives sector and what the difference is between what the companies say that they pay and what the government says they receive, is the key first step in better management of those resources.  Every country implementing the EITI must produce EITI Reports. Since 2003 a total of 26 EITI Reports have been produced by 12 EITI countries, and many more appear to be on the way.

The EITI has been growing strongly over the last two years and there are now 30 countries implementing the EITI around the world. As the initiative grows, so does the demand for stories about how the EITI is making a positive impact in the countries where it is being implemented. Measuring the impact of the EITI is a difficult task. In most cases, EITI activities are contributing to larger-scale efforts at reducing corruption, improving public financial management and improving the business operating environment.