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Programme status

A programme status such as planned, active, paused or closed is a short word that readers take as a long claim. They infer funding, staffing, delivery and even results from it, though the word asserts none of these on its own. This page sets out what a status assertion records, who may make and change it, how statuses drift away from the programme they describe, and what a funder, auditor or partner needs to see before relying on one.

Systems · around this subjectDesign, not a record

Record ledger

Programme status · Registry · Ledger head 4520089

  • Records registered
    3446
  • Complete provenance, % of records
    93Normal
  • Open corrections
    15Watch
  • Rights holds
    0Info
Integrity check passedGCRI · Nexus Registry

Latest records

NX-R-20740Programme statusv23557271Registered
NX-P-99526Publicationv19568898Registered
NX-E-98224Evidence recordv22471930Correction open
NX-C-85422Participationv17123058Rights hold

Version history

  1. v1NEWRegistered with sources
  2. v2FIXUnit corrected, reason recorded
  3. v3OPENCorrection requested
Record ledger: the screen's structure, terms and states for Programme status.Placeholder names and illustrative values; a design, not a record or a live system.

Fig.Record ledger. Design wireframe with placeholder names and illustrative values, not a record or a live system.

01In brief

The short answer.

A programme status is a short assertion, such as planned, active, paused or closed, about where a programme stands. Readers infer funding, staffing and results from it, though the word asserts none of these alone. A trustworthy status names its owner, the date it was last attested and the evidence behind it.

02Geography

People and hazards in World.

For programme status, in GCRI's spatial-intelligence reading, the map opens on true-colour imagery, land cover and night lights with true colour from NASA GIBS, framed on World; every other NASA layer, live feed and forecast waits in the layer list.

The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.

Layers 3

People and hazards, for this page

Latest available

NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth

Loading the latest NASA imagery.

Drag to move. Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll, pinch or the buttons to zoom; hover for the values under the pointer; reset returns to the region.

For programme status, in GCRI's spatial-intelligence reading, the map opens on true-colour imagery, land cover and night lights with true colour from NASA GIBS, framed on World; every other NASA layer, live feed and forecast waits in the layer list.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date; indicators, not assessments of any place; claim ceiling INTEGRATED.

Data: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Natural Earth · GDACS · Copernicus Sentinel-2 L2A · NASA HLS S30Sources and licences

  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • VIIRS near-real-time products (flood, land surface temperature, snow cover, corrected reflectance), NASA LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • MODIS land products (vegetation indices, gross primary production, land cover), NASA LP DAAC and LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • VIIRS Black Marble night-time lights, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; distributed by the NASA Level-1 and Atmosphere Archive and Distribution System (LAADS DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University. 2018. Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Density, Revision 11. NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). CC BY 4.0
  • ASTER GDEM is a product of METI and NASA (ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003, NASA LP DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com. Public domain
  • © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via NASA GIBS (coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). ODbL
  • Blue Marble, NASA Earth Observatory; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Context on the globe and flat map: coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names from NASA GIBS reference layers (OpenStreetMap data, ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors); Blue Marble imagery as an optional base; 3D terrain and the elevation read-out from the ASTER GDEM elevation colour index (5 m to 200 m classes, exaggerated for legibility). Boundaries are drawn as published and imply no position on any territory.
  • Globe: MapLibre GL JS 6.9.1, BSD-3-Clause, © MapLibre contributors.
  • Live: GDACS (EC JRC / UN OCHA) Events are indicative, not official warnings.
  • Observed (EO): Copernicus Sentinel-2 L2A (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026), Microsoft Planetary Computer
  • Observed (EO): NASA HLS S30 (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026). We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).
  • Optional layers (35 sources in the layer list: live, forecast, observed and context) print their provider credit on the map and here when switched on; forecasts are model output and derived indices are estimates.

Layers and dates

  • True colour: VIIRS NOAA-20 corrected reflectance, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
  • Land cover type (IGBP), yearly: MODIS Terra and Aqua land cover (MCD12Q1), NASA LP DAAC · 2024
  • Night-time lights, daily: VIIRS Black Marble (VNP46A2), NASA LAADS DAAC · 12 Oct 2026
  • Population density, 2020: Population: CIESIN, Columbia University, Gridded Population of the World v4.11 (2018), NASA SEDAC, CC BY 4.0 · static
  • Flood water, 3-day composite: VIIRS Global Flood Product, NASA LANCE · 14 Oct 2026
  • Enhanced vegetation index, rolling 8 days: MODIS Terra EVI, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026

03The question

Programme status: how the risk develops.

What a programme state does and does not mean. The dossier below sets out how the risk develops, what is measured, where the data come from, how it is modelled and who decides.

Mechanism

Status outlives its evidence

A status is set at one moment and then left. Staff move, funding lapses or a phase ends, but the record still reads active. Without a review date and a named owner, an unchanged status cannot be told apart from a confirmed one.

Mechanism

Target read as delivery

Registries often hold planned scope beside actual progress. When a design target, a launch announcement or a pilot sits under the same status as an operating service, readers take intention for implementation, and implementation for a verified outcome.

Mechanism

Vocabulary drift

Each partner uses its own words: open, live, ongoing, in delivery. When records are merged without a controlled list and a crosswalk, one status means different things in different rows, and counts across the registry stop being comparable.

Mechanism

Reliance cascades

Funders schedule tranches, partners commit staff and reviewers cite the programme as evidence of capacity, all from the status field. A stale or inflated status therefore travels into budgets, reputations and later audit findings far from where it was entered.

04Key terms

Terms used on this page.

Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.

TermDefinition
Status attestationA dated statement by a named owner that a programme's recorded status is still accurate.
Status vocabularyThe controlled list of status terms a registry accepts, each with a written definition.
IATI activity statusThe codelist the International Aid Transparency Initiative uses to report whether an activity is in pipeline, implementation, finalisation or closed.
05Indicators

What is measured, and how well.

Each indicator carries its unit, its cadence, the kind of source behind it and the evidence label a value would carry. No values are shown: a programme supplies them under its own authority.

IndicatorUnitCadenceSource typeLabel
Programme records with a named status ownershare of programme recordsquarterlyRegistry record auditOBSERVED
Time since last attested status changedayscontinuousRecord timestampsOBSERVED
Owner attestation currencyshare of records attested within the review cyclequarterlySteward attestationsDECLARED
Status assertions with linked evidenceshare of status assertionsmonthlyEvidence link checkOBSERVED
Status vocabulary conformanceshare of records using the controlled listmonthlySchema validationOBSERVED
Agreement with funder award recordsshare of programmes matching the funder's statusannualFunder grant recordsOFFICIAL
Planned against reported milestone completionratio of reported to planned milestonesper milestoneProgramme reportsREPORTED
Status changes later reversed or correctedcount per reporting periodquarterlyCorrection trailOBSERVED
06Canvas

From sources to decisions.

The topic as a computational graph: named sources feed the methods, an evidence review gates the outputs, and the decisions stay with the authorities that hold them.

Pipeline canvas · Programme status as a run graphDesign, not a record
Programme status: an edition from outline to correctionAn outline is agreed; chapters are drafted; every value is traced in the data check; peer reviewers with declared conflicts review; the editor decides; the edition is released with an identifier and corrected only by new versions. Design of the process, not a record of a run.

Fig. 02Nodes carry their type, two metric rows and a state; connectors show what feeds what; dashed frames name the owners; the timeline is the cadence. Design of the pipeline, not a record of a run.

07Sources

Where the evidence comes from.

Named public datasets and institutional records, each with its licence class. Sources by agreement are used only under their terms and never republished.

SourceWhat it givesLicence class
IATI Standard and its activity status codelistMachine-readable programme records from development and humanitarian publishers, with a controlled list of activity statesOpen data, licence set by each publisher
CORDISProject records, participants, dates and reported results for EU-funded research and innovation programmesFree reuse with attribution under the European Commission reuse policy
NIH RePORTERAward records, project periods and linked publications for United States federally funded researchPublic domain
UKRI Gateway to ResearchGrants, organisations, people and reported outcomes from UK Research and InnovationOpen Government Licence
Crossref grant identifiersPersistent identifiers and metadata deposited by funders for individual awardsOpen metadata, no restrictions on reuse
Research Activity Identifier (RAiD, ISO 23527)A persistent identifier and metadata record for a project across its lifetime, linking people, organisations and outputsOpen metadata, terms of each registration agency
08Decisions

Who decides, and what the evidence serves.

Nexus Registry prepares evidence. The decisions below are taken by the authorities named, under their own rules, and never by the platform.

Who decidesThe questionEvidence this page serves
Funders' programme officersWhether to release the next tranche, extend or close an awardStatus with its attestation date, linked milestone evidence and agreement with the funder's own award record
Programme stewards and boardsWhen to change a status, and who must confirm the changeStatus definitions, the evidence each state requires and the history of earlier changes
Internal and external auditorsWhether reported status matched the programme's actual state over the audit periodTime-stamped status history, correction trail and the evidence linked at each change
Partner institutionsWhether to commit staff, data or co-funding to a programmeCurrent status with owner, scope boundaries and the difference between planned and delivered work

Outputs this topic produces

  • A status glossary defining each programme state, what it asserts and what it does not
  • Programme record views showing the status owner, the date of last attestation and linked evidence
  • A status history for each programme with every change, its author and its stated reason
  • Crosswalks between partner status vocabularies and the controlled list
09Core questions

What experts ask about programme states.

  • What is the minimum evidence for each state, and who must hold it?
  • How can a vocabulary stay stable across institutions, languages and legal systems?
  • How should a status separate the existence of a programme from the quality of its work?
  • What happens to a status when its evidence lapses, is challenged or is withdrawn?
  • How are past states preserved so that history cannot be rewritten?
10Mechanisms

Why status claims drift.

Status inflation is a well-documented pattern in programme reporting. Organizations describe intentions as commitments, memoranda as agreements and pilots as operations, often without bad faith, because incentives reward visible progress. Each restatement in a press release, slide or directory strips a little more context, until a programme in exploration is cited as active. The drift is compounded when different institutions use the same word for different things.

Records practice counters this with three disciplines: a controlled vocabulary with written definitions, a rule that each state is tied to a named type of evidence, and an append-only history so that every change is dated and attributable. The Registry applies these to its seven published states, from exploration to historical record, set out on programme states.

11Methods and limits

How states are recorded, and what they cannot show.

  1. 01

    Controlled vocabulary

    Each state has a definition and a statement of what it does not mean, kept as a versioned glossary.

  2. 02

    Evidence binding

    A state is linked to the record that supports it, such as a constituting decision or a closeout record, with its issuer and date.

  3. 03

    Event history

    Changes are recorded as events, so the state on any past date can be reconstructed.

  4. 04

    Limits

    A status shows formal standing, not effectiveness, quality or compliance. Evidence held privately can only be described, not shown, so readers rely on the issuer's authority for it.

12Methods

How it is studied, and what the methods cannot say.

  1. Data engineering, interoperability and stewardshipSchema-validated ingestion · Persistent identifier reconciliation · Lineage capture in pipelinesApplied here
  2. Digital identity and public digital systemsIssuer authentication and authority · Contributor disambiguation by the personApplied here
  3. Cybersecurity and cryptographyTamper-evident record history · Signed exports and releases · Threat modelling of edit pathsApplied here
13Questions

Questions and answers.

Does an active status mean a programme is delivering results?
No. Active means the accountable owner asserts the programme is in its delivery phase. Results need their own evidence, linked separately and labelled by class, and a reader should check both.
Who can change a programme's status?
The programme's named owner or steward, under the programme's own rules. Each change is recorded with its author, date and reason, and earlier states stay visible in the history.
Why does a status carry a date of last attestation?
Because a status that has not been reviewed may no longer be true. The date lets a reader judge how current the assertion is, rather than assuming it was confirmed today.
How do partner status terms map to the registry's list?
Through a published crosswalk. Where a partner term has no exact equivalent, the mapping is marked approximate, so counts that combine sources are read with that caution.
Does an active programme have approved findings?
No. Active means authorized work is under way within an agreed scope. Findings carry their own methods, review and uncertainty.
Can a country listing imply a programme exists there?
No. A country profile or a planned hub is not a constituted programme, and the Registry records only states backed by evidence.
What if a recorded state is wrong?
It is corrected as a new version, with the reason and the date, under the rules described in correction and versioning.
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