Increasing the confidence and leadership of national organisations by applying the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS)

Closest to the people we serve

Local and national aid workers are the ones who walk the last miles to reach the people and communities affected by crisis, sometimes in difficult security and transport conditions. Their proximity to communities means that they have a better understanding of the languages and cultures where they work. Their response to the COVID-19 pandemic, where ‘cultural access’ to communities was crucial, is a good illustration of the importance of local and national capacities.

The critical role of local and national actors in humanitarian and development action is widely recognised and is fortunately receiving more attention at policy levels. Strengthening local leadership in humanitarian response is one of the ‘enabling priorities’ of Grand Bargain 2.0¹ and international actors have committed to it through several initiatives including Charter for Change², and the recently launched Pledge For Change³.

However, power imbalances are still a persistent problem in the humanitarian and development sector. International agencies are still at the centre of power, while national and local actors at the forefront of delivery find themselves relegated to the margins. National actors continue to face a number of tough challenges, including:

• securing core funding to enable them to invest in their quality and accountability systems;
• inequality in their relationships with international partners;
• the multiple partner capacity assessment (PCA) and due diligence (DD) requirements from different international partners.

Ethical partnerships: Reflections on the Autumn School discussion 

I was delighted to take part in Groupe URD’s Autumn School 2022 and to be on the panel for the session that looked at quality initiatives through the prism of ‘localisation’. The perspectives of local and national organisations were presented via video calls and recordings. A representative from a local organisation involved in the RESILAC Project⁴ in North Cameroon spoke of how they felt stronger and more confident due to ethical partnerships with international NGOs. It is always inspiring to hear from a local or national organisation that is growing in confidence to engage with international partners on a more equal basis.

“In the partnership for the RESILAC project, we have been able to influence the project based on our organisation’s own strategy that we have been supported to develop. In the past, international organisations were asking us to implement specific activities without giving space for us to contribute to the design with our knowledge and experience in the context.” Habyba Samira, Cameroonian Youth Association (Association de Jeunes au Cameroun), a national partner working on the RESILAC project.

The role of the CHS in strengthening national leadership

Maximising the potential of the Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability (CHS)⁵ is one key focus area for the CHS Alliance strategy for 2022- 2025⁶. In the past few years, interest in the CHS and CHS verification⁷ has significantly grown and today the Standard is widely recognised as a measurable framework that sets out the essential elements for principled humanitarian action and as a tool that helps organisations to improve (see the Humanitarian Accountability Reports 2020⁸ and 2022⁹).

CHS Alliance, together with its members and partners, are continuing their efforts to make sure the CHS is applied as closely as possible to people and communities affected by crises. I am responsible for the CHS Alliance’s activities to promote the CHS among local and national actors – those who are closest to the people and communities affected by crises. The experiences shared by local and national organisations during CHS verification processes show that the CHS is helping them in the following ways:

• Having their strengths formally recognised. Local and national organisations often feel that their competencies and efforts in terms of quality and accountability are not fully recognised by international actors. The CHS is a common standard for all organisations, regardless of size, budget, or geography. The related verification scheme¹⁰ (all verification options including self-assessment, independent verification and certification) provides a structured and systematic process to assess the degree to which an organisation has met the CHS Commitments. The verification results show where local and national organisations have improved in recent years. As a result, CHS-certified local and national organisations are deconstructing the idea that they are weak and unable to manage resources responsibly.
• Being in charge of their own capacity development. Many ‘capacity strengthening’ processes and projects are designed and driven by international organisations. CHS verification processes allow local and national organisations to identify areas for improvement and establish their own capacity development priorities for the following years. As a result, they are redefining their relations with international partners and reducing the power imbalance.

“TPO Uganda has been involved in CHS independent verification since 2018. The audit was a reality check for us. We have realised gaps we had regarding policies and practices. As result, we have taken the necessary measures, including reinforcing communication with communities and participation, developing safeguarding policy, and building a very robust financial management system. We have seen a growth in satisfaction of the people and communities we serve, and we see ourselves as much stronger than we were before the CHS verification.” Rehema Kajungu, Deputy Country Director, Transcultural Psychosocial Organisation – TPO Uganda

• Building staff and organisational confidence. Several testimonies from organisations applying the CHS have shown that staff members are remotivated and proud of their organisation’s work. They explain that, in addition to highlighting the organisation’s capacities, the CHS verification process triggered internal discussions on key aspects of the Standard and, most importantly, led to concrete improvement measures and results. By highlighting their existing capacities and showing that they were committed to improving the quality of their work, the CHS verification process increased the confidence of the organisation to apply for more funding.

“FRDP conducted a CHS self-assessment to assess our capacities and improve the quality and accountability in our humanitarian response mechanism and development projects. As a result, our donors and other actors are recognising FRDP as more responsible, committed, strengthened and effective responders.” Samreen Qaimi, MEAL Manager, Fast Rural Development Program – FRDP

Overcoming some of the challenges of CHS verification

Local and national organisations applying the CHS have also highlighted challenges for them in engaging in the CHS verification process. The main challenge is the fact that they have limited financial and human resources because funding is restricted primarily to projects with limited overhead costs. This makes it difficult to invest in the CHS verification process. To address these challenges, the CHS Alliance reviewed the CHS self-assessment tool to make it accessible via an online survey and considerably reduced the time focal points spend on the process¹¹. For independent verification and certification, a ‘facilitation fund’ is made available to cover up to 90% of the audit costs and increase organisations’ internal capacities to engage in the CHS verification process¹². The CHS Alliance is also conducting a review to improve the accessibility of the CHS verification scheme for national actors.

Looking ahead: have your say on the future of the CHS

The Core Humanitarian Standard is currently in the process of being reviewed to make it more accessible and relevant for people facing situations of vulnerability and crisis. The revision process was launched in May 2022 with the objective of improving quality and accountability, based on the commitments made to affected people and communities. The revision will last until the end of 2023¹³. It builds on the feedback and views gathered during the 2022 and 2023 consultation phases. It is therefore a great opportunity for local and national organisations to influence the CHS and ensure their experiences and situations are duly taken into consideration in the updated Standard, so it can become a strong tool for locally led humanitarian and development work. We warmly welcome all points of view. Please contact the CHS revision managers through CHSrevision@chsalliance.org to engage in the CHS revision process.

Bonaventure Gbétoho Sokpoh, Policy and Outreach Senior Advisor, CHS Alliance

1. https://interagencystandingcommittee.org/system/files/2021-07/%28EN%29%20Grand%20Bargain%202.0%20Framework.pdf
2. https://charter4change.org/
3. https://pledgeforchange2030.org/metrics-accountability/
4. For more information about the RESILAC project: https://www.resilac.net/
5. https://corehumanitarianstandard.org/
6. https://www.chsalliance.org/get-support/resource/chs-alliance-strategy-2022-2025/
7. https://www.chsalliance.org/verify/
8. https://www.chsalliance.org/get-support/resource/har-2020/
9. https://www.chsalliance.org/har2022/
10. https://www.chsalliance.org/get-support/resource/chs-verification-scheme-overview/
11. https://www.chsalliance.org/verify/
12. https://www.hqai.org/en/our-work/hqai-facilitation-fund/
13. https://corehumanitarianstandard.org/chs-revision