Anti-corruption - DanChurchAid

DanChurchAid’s explicit goal is to support the poorest of the world in their struggle for a dignified life. To achieve this, we receive funds from donors, private contributors and other partners. It is crucial for our organisation and our work that these funds reach the poorest in the world and do not end up in the wrong pockets or are wasted on corruption.

Collaborating with partner organisations against corruption

Corruption is a daily challenge for both the employees of DanChurchAid and many of the partner organisations with which we work, because the countries where we work are often plagued by corruption.

DanChurchAid has a great responsibility toward donors, partners and recipients to ensure that the funds made available to us are used in a responsible, proper and transparent manner. This also means that we need to ensure that our employees and partners are properly equipped to act responsibly in corrupt societies.

Our anti-corruption work ensures that the funds reach the right people, and that our employees actively counter corruption and its harmful effects. Our anti-corruption work is based on three principles:

We believe it is important that all our employees have a proper understanding of corruption and anti-corruption
We can and must talk about the dilemmas we can sometimes find ourselves in
Transparency and accountability must permeate our work, also in relation to anti-corruption

To develop and maintain a special standard of credibility and transparency, DanChurchAid is certified by the Human Quality Assurance Initiative (HQAI) and is CHS certified.

Our anti-corruption work

At DanChurchAid, we have taken a number of initiatives to help us achieve our ambitions and support our three principles of anti-corruption, as described above. This has resulted in a number of concrete activities.

Anti-corruption policy

A central part of DanChurchAid’s anti-corruption mechanism is a clearly formulated Anti-corruption Policy. It includes six principles that promote non-corrupt behaviour and guidance on dealing with corruption, should it become necessary. The policy is aimed at both employees and partners.

The policy can be downloaded in eight languages:
–Anti-corruption Policy – English
–Anti-corruption Policy – French
–Anti-corruption Policy – Arabic

All employees working for DanChurchAid must adopt this policy and agree to work in accordance with the mandatory anti-corruption training for all employees.

In order to fully describe the principles of the policy and place some of the guidelines into a concrete context, DanChurchAid has developed a dilemma-based e-learning course. The course is mandatory for all employees, and it is also offered to our partners. The course provides employees with robust tools to tackle corruption situations. At the end of the course, all employees agree to comply with the principles of the policy.

Access to advice

To ensure that anti-corruption education and training is always contextually relevant, DanChurchAid has trained one person in each country office to act as the key contact person regarding anti-corruption issues. They are responsible for ensuring that all colleagues are trained in anti-corruption.

At their headquarters, DanChurchAid has an anti-corruption officer, who is always available to employees and partners who might need advice on a specific case, or questions of principle.

These officers also offer training and consulting for partner organisations that wish to strengthen their anti-corruption work.

Confidential opportunity to raise awareness of corruption

DanChurchAid has a confidential and recognised complaint system. The complaint system is available to everyone and accepts all types of complaints that are handled by DanChurchAid’s Complaints Committee.

All employees and managers at DanChurchAid who receive a sensitive complaint are obliged to inform their immediate manager and submit the complaint via the complaint system. Similarly, partners and all others are encouraged to use the system if they suspect corruption related to DanChurchAid’s work.

Full confidentiality is assured for all complaints, and the system is approved by the Danish Data Protection Agency for responsible processing of personal data.

Open and transparent reporting

At DanChurchAid, we take pride in the complete transparency of our work, including anti-corruption efforts. We provide an annual report of all complaints handled through our system; this report compiles all complaints received in the past year, and is published in the second quarter of the following year. All complaint types are included.