Quality and accountability commitments
Below is our three pronged approach that encapsulates globally accepted principles of quality and accountability as recognised by the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) and other related global initiatives such as the Global Standard for CSO Accountability.
A. Ensuring quality of projects through standardised project cycle management IRW is committed to maintain quality, manage risks, maximise resources while ensuring balance between competing priorities of scoping, budgeting and scheduling. IRW recognises the following stages as critical for effective and efficient project cycle management to produce relevant and appropriate results:
Needs Assessment, Designing, Planning, Implementation, Monitoring & Evaluation, Closure
IRW commits for strengthening local capacities while avoiding negative effects in every project and ensuring that goods and services are delivered according to Sphere and LEGS Standards as far as possible. Moreover we recognise ‘staff welfare and care’ as the core principle that guides our program management at all levels.
B. Demonstrating accountability to aid receivers
IRW commits to establish mechanisms and allocate resources to demonstrate its commitment to remain transparent, impartial and participatory while upholding human dignity throughout its interaction with beneficiary community. IRW recognises the significance of coordination and complementarity among various humanitarian agencies at local and global levels. We put conscious efforts to uphold the following three principles to demonstrate accountability in our actions:
i. Establishing impartiality and accountability through community participation, feedback and review of programmes
ii. Ensuring transparency in communicating IR’s presence, intentions and services to the local community
iii. Promoting rights and dignity through complaints handling
iv. Ensuring complementarity and accountability through coordination
C. Assuring quality and accountability
IRW commits to continually fulfil its vision, mission and aims. We are aware of our global presence and hence ready to confront program challenges while learning from a variety of our experiences. We consider the following functions as key to sustain and improve quality and accountability features of our programs:
i. Managing organisational knowledge through staff capacity development and establishment of policies, best practice guides strategies, frameworks, templates and standards.
ii. Ensuring consistent compliance verification through audit, review and evaluation functions at global level.
Beyond IRW
IRW reaffirms its commitment to promote and strengthen accountability and quality principles while working with partners, donors and membership bodies.
A. Partnerships
In the interests of project sustainability, building local capacity and community empowerment, and particularly in the case of implementing development projects, IRW believes it is the right of the communities it works with to be empowered to sustainably manage their own services and development processes. We commit to uphold our above mentioned quality & accountability commitments while working in any form of partnership. IRW therefore actively encourages working with partner organisations in at local level in the following circumstances:
i. In order to safeguard the long-term sustainability of a project and the IRW investment in it, and in the interests of enabling and empowering local communities, IRW may work jointly with a local NGO, CBO or local government agency that will be able to continue managing the project once IRW withdraws its involvement and funding. The initial partnership sometimes involves IRW managing or jointly managing the project until such time as the local NGO has developed the capacity to take full responsibility for it. In other cases where local partners have established capacity, IRW may provide funding for them to manage the project from the outset.
ii. In circumstances where IRW has no operational capacity, it may forge partnerships with other local or international NGO’s, in order to deliver aid or development services satisfactorily. A condition for grant-aiding any partner in these circumstances is that IRW will be provided the opportunity of monitoring and evaluating the project in the field.
iii. In circumstances where IRW has operational capacity and is approached by other international or national organisations to work in partnership with them, either delivering aid or implementing projects, it may draw up partnership agreements with them.
B. Donors and Partners
We are always ready to demonstrate and facilitate all those initiatives taken by donors to promote quality and accountability. Our donors include state institutions, IGOs and INGOs including WFP, DFID/UKAID, EC/ECHO, UNHCR, IOM, UNOCHA, UNDP, UNICEF, Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Spanish Aid Agency, Swiss Development Cooperation, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Plan International, OXFAM, IRC, Care International and Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD), amongst others.
We are also members of the START Network and Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC).
We also have a host of other donors from various countries, details of which can be found in the Annual Report.
C. Memberships
IRW is an active member of various membership organizations.
- Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC)
- International Aid Transparency Initiative
- CHS Alliance
- International Civil Society Centre
- START Network
- IRW holds consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
IRW actively participates in promoting accountability and quality related activities at global and local levels through various capacity building, networking and coordination ventures.
