HQAI CHS Certification passported by FCDO

FCDO has decided to passport HQAI CHS certification audits in their due diligence requirements.

HQAI remains committed to providing professional CHS audit services which support audited partners in realising their commitment to quality and accountability, and increasingly provide added value by informing other quality and risk assessments.

The announcement

We are therefore pleased to announce a milestone decision by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) that recognises HQAI CHS certification as meeting rigorous quality and accountability standards for humanitarian and development work. CHS certified agencies can now use their existing HQAI audit reports to fulfill – hence shorten – large parts of FCDO due diligence requirements.

This formal recognition of the CHS as a valued quality and accountability standard for the sector, and of HQAI’s professional audit work as a trustworthy external process for one of the most rigourous grantmakers represents a significant achievement on the road towards reducing duplication with and amongst funders and assessment holders. At HQAI we are seeing increasing confidence in CHS audits to reliably inform quality and risk assessments at the level of institutional donors and intermediaries.

The benefits

This announcement by FCDO offers HQAI CHS certified organisations a fast track through FCDO due diligence checks. The streamlined process will recude the administrative burden for certified partners and increase efficiencies in FCDO processing grant agreements.

Such efficiencies (admin, HR, time) add value to HQAI CHS certification and we trust this decision will encourage more funders to recognise, and more aid actors to actively seek CHS certification. In an era where funding is increasingly scarce and uncertain, this recognition opens the path towards reduced bureaucracy in grant administration whilst upholding the sectors’ commitment to drive continual improvement in the quality, accountability and delivery of aid programming. This table gives an overview on the current recognition status of CHS Verification.

It is our shared responsibility to continue advocating for the use of CHS audit results for multiple objectives, including due diligence, leaning, capacity and risk-sharing.

In practical terms:

• Please read the official FCDO annoucement here and on UK gouv website.
• HQAI CHS certified partners may be contacted by FCDO Due Diligence Hub or programme teams and asked to provide specific elements of HQAI’s audit reports (annex report, audit map of documents).
• Partners who are currently registered under HQAI CHS Independent Verification and Benchmarking schemes will see no changes in their current asssessment process with FCDO. The option to switch to CHS Certification can be discussed with HQAI at any time.