Compliance
Acting responsibly
For Help, acting responsibly means taking part in the international fight against corruption, abuse of power and exploitation. To this end, we have developed a corresponding code of conduct that is binding for all Help employees.
Our guidelines for internal and external complaint management set out the procedure for Help employees, our target groups, and anyone involved or interested in our work, to report possible grievances or violations of the rules determined by our Code of Conduct. In addition, we have set up an office that is independent of in-house structures. Complaints that cannot be raised within the Help structures for various reasons can be addressed directly to the ombudsperson.
Our policies and codes
Independent bodies regularly review Help's actions and business practices.
The Help Code of Conduct consists of the following components:
General Code of Conduct of Help
The general Code of Conduct confirms Help's commitment to comply with the VENRO Code of Conduct for Transparency, Organizational Governance and Control and contains a Help-specific concretization of the principles of the Code.
General Code of Conduct (PDF)
Help Anti-fraud and Anti-corruption Policy and Regulations
This policy contains principles that promote anti-corruption behavior and guidance on the proper course of action should an incident of corruption occur.
Policy on prevention and response to sexual exploitation
This policy is based on the principles of the UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Humanitarian Crises. It includes procedures for dealing with allegations of abuse.
Policy on prevention and response to sexual exploitation (PDF)
Whistleblowing Policy
The Whistleblowing/Complaints Policy contains instructions on where and how whistleblowers can report serious violations (e.g. fraud, corruption, non-compliance with internal and external regulations (including the Code of Conduct), harassment, etc.) and how these are processed. The policy is to be applied globally and is aimed at Help employees, partners, suppliers, beneficiaries and other stakeholders.
All national organizations have their own dedicated complaints channels and responsible persons who are communicated locally. Processing follows a standardized process. Please send complaints to the Help Center to the following email address: internal_revision@help-ev.de or to the ombudsperson.
Whistleblowing Policy (PDF)
Ombudsperson
Help - Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe
c/o Ombudsperson
> Confidential<
Adenauerallee 131a
53113 Bonn
Germany
Contact: ombudsperson(at)help-ev.de
You are an employee, partner, donor or beneficiary of Help and have a concern that you would like to discuss confidentially with a neutral person, please write to me! However, I will not answer anonymous letters, name-calling or insults.
Angelika Graf