INTRODUCTION
This policy provides guidelines around the organisation’s aid and development and non-aid and development objectives and activities. ASHM is committed to ensuring that we accurately represent our activities to the people we work with, our donors and the public.
PURPOSE
This policy reflects accountability to all stakeholders, building trusting relationships with communities and honesty & transparency.
The purpose of this policy is to guide ASHM and our partners to make a clear separation between development and humanitarian and non- development objectives and activities. This policy addresses our ACFID compliance obligations when communicating with or soliciting donations from private donors and the public, including fundraising for restricted and unrestricted purposes from aid agencies, sponsors and supporters, and fundraising from the general public.
This policy is intended to apply to all ASHM activities. The policy is applicable to all ASHM employees and volunteers. The policy also extends to ASHM partners and associated implementing organisations.
DEFINITIONS
From ACFID’s Code of Conduct – Aid and development refers to activities undertaken in order to reduce poverty and address global justice issues. In the non-government organisation sector, this may occur through a range of engagements that includes community projects, emergency management, community education, advocacy, volunteer sending, provision of technical and professional services and resources, environmental protection and restoration, and promotion and protection of human rights.
ASHM is committed to ensuring that funds and other resources designated for the purpose of aid and development are used only for those purposes. The concept of aid and development activities can be distinguished by the following principles:
a. Strengths based approaches which encourage people and communities to create solutions for themselves
b. Processes that seek to address the causes of poverty
c. Processes that seek to empower rights holders to claim their rights and ensure that duty bearers exercise their duties
d. Supporting systems and structures which enable people to move out of poverty
e. Humanitarian response and emergency relief, disaster recovery and meeting the immediate needs of refugees and internally displaced people.
POLICY
Funds and other resources designated for the purpose of aid and development will be used only for those purposes and will not be used to promote a particular religious adherence or to support a political party, or to promote a candidate or organisation affiliated to a particular party.
The separation of development activities from non-development activities will apply in each of the following areas:
- Programming
- Expenditure reporting
- Fundraising
- Advocacy campaigns
- Communications
- Choice for donors
- Partners
This policy applies to ASHM and its sector partners and collaborators in either contracts or Memorandum of Understandings. ASHM will extend this policy and its attendant agreements to its development partners through MOUs or similar documents.
This policy provides a framework for ASHM’s compliance with the Commitment to accountability to our stakeholders in the ACFID Code of Conduct, in particular Compliance Indicator 7.3.2 which states that ACFID Members development initiatives constantly demonstrate the separation of development activities from non-development activities.
AUTHORISATION
ASHM Board – Approved 26 August 2021
