Common Operational Datasets

Steps

The seven steps of an update, and how the work is monitored once it is live.

First draft reviewed by UN80 Data QuintJuly 2026

Step 1: Periodic Review

Twice a year, we will initiate the review process.

For countries with OCHA presence - OCHA will send an email requesting each CO-focal point to review the current version of admin boundaries. OCHA country team together with IMWGInformation Management Working Group: the in-country group of agencies that coordinates information management and accepts CODs. will coordinate with all other agencies present in the country. No further action is required for COD-AB WG members.

For countries with no OCHA presence - each COD-AB WG member will send an email requesting each CO-focal point to review the current version of admin boundaries.

  • Email will have an optional link to the HDX Boundary Explorer - Country Profile page - where boundaries for each country can be reviewed.
  • Email will also have a link to the COD-AB Request Form
  • Each CO focal point is asked to review the boundaries for their country and submit the COD-AB Form, indicating either Change or No-change case.

Step 2: Initialization

This starts if and when a change has been identified. The change can be identified during the Step 1 as part of the periodic review or at any point in time for ad-hoc requests.

OCHA ISS will review all submissions and deconflict if multiple submissions are provided for the same country.

The process for triggering a new COD-AB always takes place by submitting a new update form, ensuring new requests can be correctly tracked. The same form is used for whether a partner HQ is conducting routine update checks for freshness, or the country office initiates the request due to events on the ground. For each HQ, all correspondence goes through their shared inbox, not individual mailboxes, ensuring continuity when staff rotate or deploy.

Guidance for source documentation:

  • Government-sourced data. Before any dataset is submitted, a structured fact-finding consultation establishes the authoritative baseline. The responsible party documents government responses and links official sources for: (1) administrative levels; (2) unit counts per level; (3) unit names; (4) government P-codes; (5) boundary geometries. Evidence is recorded on the work order. Gaps are noted but do not automatically block the process.
  • Non-government data. Applied when government sourcing failed, an emergency requires immediate use of an existing dataset, or no viable partner exists. Fact-finding is abbreviated or skipped and the reason documented.

For OCHA-country - OCHA is leading

For non-OCHA country - COD-AB WG agrees on the leading agency. In case only one agency has provided the source data, it is recommended that this agency becomes the lead. If more agencies have provided data, the WG agrees on the leading agency.

COD-AB WG Member is responsible for running basic validations for geometry (e.g. checking for WGS84 CS), national codes and names (uniqueness, non-empty values, parent codes) for the dataset they provide, but it can also be delegated to the Agency Country Focal Point.

If needed, COD-AB WG Member (or its Agency Country Focal Point) applies basic data cleaning (such as coordinate transformation, attribute table cleaning for code and name columns) to ensure that all data sources can be easily uploaded to the HDX-COD-AB Explorer for review.

Step 3: Country Office Review

The leading agency coordinates the review at the country level, including all relevant stakeholders. All stakeholders can open HDX Boundary Explorer to review all sources and compare with the current COD-AB version.

In countries with an OCHA presence, IMWG endorsement is required before a dataset can be nominated as a Candidate to be sent for headquarters review.

At the end of this step one Source has to be nominated as a Candidate. The leading agency notifies OCHA about the nominated Candidate and the selection is recorded in the log.

Also possible that the decision is not to update.

Step 4: Headquarters Standardization

Whereas the previous step focused on identifying the correct source, during this step OCHA o the leading agency HQ applies the COD standards to the submitted Candidate dataset and runs validation checks.

The following steps are performed as part of the COD standardization and cleaning:

  1. Fixing geometry and topology issues
  2. Applying the P-code Standard schema (field names, types, including language and date fields)
  3. Generating new P-codes

Two datasets will be created at this step: 1) non-edge-matched geometry and 2) edge-matchedAligning a country's outer boundary with the UN admin 0 layer, so neighbouring countries meet without gaps or overlaps. version (aligned with the UN admin 0).

The edge-matching will be done using the admin level 0 from the public FAO dataset, which is based on the UN Geospatial admin level 0. However, some minor adjustments using other sources can be made to the reference admin 0 layer, e.g. to have more precise representation of coastlines.

Once cleaned, validation checks run across six areas: schema and geometry, topology, P-codes, national codes, naming, and language and date fields. All checks must pass before the dataset advances. Checks for transliteration, cross-layer naming consistency, and name validity against government documentation require human review and cannot be fully automated. Any issue returns the Candidate dataset to the country office review (Step 3).

Candidate data is published to the HDX Boundary Explorer, so that the final boundaries can be reviewed.

Step 5: Final Review

At this stage, the Data Provider reviews the cleaned and standardized Candidate dataset prepared by the HQ of the lead agency, and accepts or sends back for further processing.

Step 6: Final Data Package

Once endorsed by the Data Provider, OCHA HQ generates the full data package:

  1. adm0–adm4 polygons and boundary lines for non-edge-matched version
  2. adm0–adm4 polygons and, boundary lines for edge-matched version
  3. admin points, and
  4. admin capitals

The Metadata Worksheet is completed and serves as the single source of truth, with ArcGIS Portal and HDX both pulling from it, and no separate metadata entry required for either system. Historical versions are preserved and one version is active at a time.

The Pre-Publication Checklist runs against the final package, covering supplemental layer generation, metadata completeness, governance sign-offs, and publication readiness. As part of this gate, the validation tool re-runs against the final package.

Step 7: Publication

OCHA ISS publishes the dataset to ArcGIS Portal: a new versioned layer is published, and prior versions are deprecated but remain accessible. The HDX pipeline picks up new data automatically; once the dataset is confirmed live on HDX, a publication notice is sent to the CO/RO or COD-AB WG Members from the shared COD inbox.

The work order remains open until both datasets updates are confirmed, then formally closed. Any error reported after closeout is handled as a new work order, not a re-opening of the closed one.

Ongoing: Operations & Continuous Monitoring

A live COD-AB Status Dashboard shows status per country, last update date, open issues, responsible persons, and dataset links, fed automatically from the work order tracking system. Automated notifications are sent at each status transition: work order opened, dataset under evaluation, in cleaning, ready for finalization, published to Portal, published to HDX, and completed. All status changes are visible to the full team without requiring email follow-up.