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Guidelines for investigations - A guide for humanitarian organisations on receiving and investigating allegations of abuse, exploitation, fraud or corruption by their own staff [EN/AR]

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Complaints give organisations significant opportunities to improve services and strengthen relationships with stakeholders, as well as to test assumptions about community needs. Good complaints handling systems also allow beneficiaries to enforce agencies’ claims about quality and accountability. On the other hand, mishandled complaints can undermine community confidence in agencies and even compromise security.

Our Guidelines for Investigations are designed to assist those in humanitarian and development contexts who conduct or manage investigations into serious allegations, including sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), fraud and corruption, committed by humanitarian and development staff. They provide an overview of the key steps and issues organisations should consider, as well as identifying potential difficulties and offering practical responses and solutions.

Each chapter considers the issues associated with the different stages in the complaints handling process as well as a toolkit:

Chapter 1 – Before the allegation: designing and implementing effective complaint mechanisms
Chapter 2 – From complaint to investigation: steps for ensuring an appropriate initial response
Chapter 3 – From investigation to report: conducting a thorough and effective investigation
Chapter 4 – From report to outcome: report writing and complaints follow-up
Chapter 5 – Managing an investigation: process and responsibilities
Chapter 6 – Special considerations for investigating allegations of fraud and corruption

These guidelines were originally developed by the Building Safer Organisations project team in 2006. This revision has been produced by the CHS Alliance as part of its global efforts towards making humanitarian action more accountable to people affected by crisis. Funding support for this has kindly been provided by the US Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration. The CHS Alliance puts a high priority on the protection of affected populations from sexual exploitation and abuse, fraud and corruption and abuse of power by aid workers in its work with humanitarian and development organisations.