One in every 500 people in the world is a Red Cross Red Crescent volunteer. As the world’s largest humanitarian network, we are accountable to a huge constituency: the people we serve, our donors, public institutions, whole communities, and our staff and volunteers.
It is vital that we are transparent and clear about the work we do, what services we offer to people, and how we spend donor dollars.
In a session led by the El Salvadoran Red Cross and the Paraguayan Red Cross, we reviewed a range of ways that national societies are maintaining transparency and accountability to the various stakeholders. We heard from representatives from Suriname, Finland, Guatemala, Cuba, Haiti, and Honduras about how accountability has led to increased delivery of services, donor trust, volunteer participation, and efficiency.
The Cuban Red Cross reviewed the ways in which it collected “lessons learned” from its Hurricane Sandy response in 2012. Teams of Cuban Red Cross volunteers served about 75,000 people impacted by the storm. One of the ways it ensured accountability to beneficiaries was to install auditors at relief distributions. The auditors also spoke to beneficiaries to gather honest feedback.
The Finnish Red Cross gave an excellent overview of tools that can be put into place to ensure financial accountability and transparency. These include things such as:
- Documenting our actions;
- Strong accounting software;
- Strict financial and administrative guidelines;
- Transparency and prudence in procurements;
- Clear contractual agreements; and
- External and internal audits.
These are just a few ways that Red Cross Red Crescent teams are staying accountable to their contingencies – an essential part of providing the best humanitarian aid to people in need.
InterAmerican Conference 2015 