The Code of Good Practice for NGOs Responding to HIV/AIDS
Basic information
- Type: Code of Conduct/Ethics
- Year established: 2004
- Status: Active
- Thematic area: Advocacy / lobbying, Health
- Summary: The of Good Practice for NGOs Responding to HIV/AIDS sets out an extensive outline of guiding principles which apply a human rights approach to the range of HIV/AIDS-specific health, development and humanitarian work undertaken by NGOs responding to HIV/AIDS. The Code also includes organisational and programming principles addressing issues such as governance, research, service delivery, programmes and advocacy work. Signatories endorse these principles as aspirations and are tasked with putting continuous improvement measures in place to put them into practice.
Contact details
- Host organisation: NGO Code of Good Practice Secretariat at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
- Website: www.hivcode.org
- Email: info@hivcode.org
- Phone: +41 22 730 4832
- Postal address: PO Box 372, 1211 Geneva 19 Switzerland
Areas addressed
- Principles or standards: Principles-based
- Communications / advocacy / fundraising:
- General commitment to transparency
- Lobbying standards
- Governance and Management:
- General commitment to good governance
- Board structure
- Conflict of Interest
- Stewardship of funds
- Human resources:
- Staff development and training
- Staff relations
- Volunteer relations
- Beneficiary / client / supporter participation:
- General commitment to beneficiary participation
- In all project cycle stages
- In project design
- In implementation
- In evaluation (ex post)
- In strategic planning
- Financial reporting to beneficiaries / clients / supporters
- Monitoring and Evaluation:
- General commitment to evaluation
- Commitment to integrate learning in future
- Dissemination of evaluations
- Cross-cutting thematic areas:
- Gender equality
- Human rights
- CSO collaboration and partnership
- State - CSO relations
Participation
- Reasons for participation
- Enhancing credibility, quality or reputation
Compliance
- Monitoring mechanism: Commitment only
- Description of monitoring mechanism: Signatories endorse the code on one of three tiered levels. Endorsing NGOs support the principles of the Code. Implementing NGOs must either complete a self-certification and action plan demonstrating their application of the Code or include reference to it in key organisational documents. Code Champions demonstrate their commitment to the Code through their daily acitivities.
- Has sanctioning mechanism: No
Assessment
The Code of Good Practice for NGOs Responding to HIV/AIDS is more than a code of conduct and ethics. It is a guide to the field of HIV/AIDS response and the challenges in addressing HIV/AIDS. The Code also includes some specific standards for HIV/AIDS programming as well as common lobbying and advocacy positions to which all signatories agree in principle. An innovative aspect of this code is that only compliance in principle is required; compliance in practice is viewed as aspirational and only required of the higher tiers whcih represent a small minority of Code participants. The three-tiered approach to endorsing the Code enables participating NGOs to work towards operationalising the Code based on their capacities. It also enables NGOs whose work touches only partially on HIV/AIDS response to be engaged in best practice. The Secretariat also provides suport for oganisations seeking to move from endorsing level support to implementing or champion level participation in the Code.
Downloads
Renewing our Voice (Entire Initiative inlcuding members list)
