Update on CID Code, Pacific Reset and violence in the Middle East

Posted on 15 May 2018

+ More funding for the Pacific Reset

The aid budget will increase by more than $714 million over four years - by 30% - with the bulk of it heading to the reset in the Pacific. It's not 0.7% of GNI, but it's a lot closer at 0.28%, and the aid sector welcomed the news.

“Increased investment will enable New Zealand to deliver on our Pacific Reset," the Minister said. CID is helping to bring together Pacific diaspora representatives, as well as CID members, to support the government to define and roll out a reset.

Instead of trying to match the money of big economies, New Zealand needed to be smarter with how it delivered its aid, and draw on its unique Pacific relationship, says CID Director, Josie Pagani

"It's about saying that we're family, and like regional development, it benefits us all when the Pacific is doing well,"

The reset will mean a greater focus on climate change, 'democratic resilience', gender and economic independence.

MFAT will also receive an operational expenditure increase of $150.4 million over the next four years, and an additional $40.3 million in capital expenditure.

+ Meanwhile across the ditch....

The Australian aid budget got a slight boost in last week's budget (rising by $190 million Australian dollars), but fell short of expectations:

“It’s a C-minus effort,” Marc Purcell, CEO of the Australian Council for International Development, told Devex. “Despite years of economic growth, this budget has Australia hanging out with Greece and Hungary in OECD rankings.”

Devex gives an analysis of winners and los ers. Winners - PNG, Solomon Islands and the Pacific. Losers - Indonesia, Cambodia, funding for disability and Australian generosity generally (with only 0.19% of GNI going towards aid budgets.)

For more analysis on the Australian budget, have a look at Uniting Church's piece, with some describing it as a 'foot on the throat' for aid.

Both budget bids were presented in the context of growing concerns about security in the region.

Anna Powles of Massey University's Centre for Defence and Security Studies, said the sub-text for the increase was China and concern over an "increasingly contested regional order."

But "let's be cautious about ensuring that development assistance is not increasingly focused on achieving security objectives as opposed to development objectives."

+ Violence in the Middle East flares up

"Within 24 hours of Donald Trump’s announcement that the US was exiting the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal, both Damascus and Riyadh experienced missile attacks, writes Oliver Holmes in the Guardian.

Meanwhile the death toll in Gaza climbs.

Repercussions are being felt in other regions, too.

Iran is India’s third-largest supplier of crude oil after Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and India is Iran's second largest market. Newly imposed sanctions could cause problems for development in the region, argues the Brookings Institute.

It's hard to see the logic of the US move. Why undo years of hard work in the region? There will be a direct impact on Jordan, and therefore on refugee camps in that country; Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas could walk away from talks; and violence will only increase. The Brookings Institute tries to make sense of what motives the US.

+ Latest news on the CID Code

As many of you know, Code of Conduct Coordinator, Kitty Garden recently finished working for CID and is moving on to pursue an exciting opportunity overseas.

CID would like to welcome Aaron Davy who has just started as the new Code of Conduct and Standards Coordinator. Aaron has many years of experience in the development and aid/humanitarian sector, with a background in policy and operations, personnel and organisational compliance and human resources.

He has previously managed the International Aid Worker Programme for New Zealand Red Cross for the last 7.5 years, supporting development programming and emergency responses throughout the Pacific. He has supported personnel in conflict-based humanitarian operations in West Africa (during the Ebola crisis), Eastern Ukraine and South Sudan. Most recently Aaron was based in Samoa where he undertook organisational development and surge support for human resources with the Samoa Red Cross Society. Prior to his work with the Red Cross, Aaron worked for MFAT and the New Zealand Aid Programme. Aaron studied Social Anthropology and Human Geography at Auckland University, holds a MA in Development Studies (Massey University), and is currently finalising a PG Diploma in HR Management (Victoria University).

Aaron is currently working at CID Monday - Wednesday, and can be reached on code@cid.org.nz.

Aaron is joined by Code intern, Eva Maffey.

Eva is a third year Law, International Relations and Spanish student at Victoria University of Wellington. She has previously interned at the Spanish Embassy, works part-time at Parliament and is a Charities Officer for UN Youth New Zealand and an Executive Member of Commonwealth Youth NZ. Originally from Christchurch, Wellington is now home. Eva first got involved with CID through a University course, but now is keen to work with CID’s members as the Code of Conduct Intern.

+ New Code signatories

The list of CID members who have reached signatory status keeps growing, with VSA, Circuit International, Fairtrade ANZ and Habitat for Humanity NZ recently joining the ranks of CID Code of Conduct Signatories. We're especially proud to see our smaller members putting in the effort to demonstrate their commitment to good practice.

This brings our grand total of signatories to seventeen organisations. Excellent work, and CID really appreciates the work that these members have completed to achieve this status! We do expect that a number of additional members will be granted signatory status after the next Code of Conduct Committee towards the end of May.

See the full list of CID Code signatories here.

+ Compliance Self-Assessment (CSA) process

Remember that under the CID Constitution, all members who joined CID before October 2014 must reach signatory status by the 2018 AGM (clause 6.1.a) in order to retain membership.

We are asking all CID members to submit their final Compliance Self-Assessments (CSA) before the end of June 2018.

For any agencies that miss this deadline, the Code Coordinator and Code of Conduct Committee cannot guarantee that feedback and decisions on signatory status will be provided in time for the 2018 AGM.

If you don't think you can meet this deadline, please get in touch with Aaron, the Code of Conduct & Standards Coordinator, at code@cid.org.nz to work out a way forward as soon as possible. Aaron has been updated on the progress, but would appreciate making introductory contact with all CID members, so that any challenges can be mitigated as early as possible.

Please Note: This does not apply to new members who have joined CID in the last 2 years. New members have a different timeline for Code compliance.

+ Code of Conduct Committee (CCC)

With the departures of Joy Davidson and Uppi Mawande, member representatives from Tearfund and World Vision respectively, the CCC has gained two new member representatives in the past year. In May 2017, CID members elected Kirsty Burnett, who has 25 years of international development experience, and has been a VSA Council member since 2014. In February 2018, CID members also elected Jordana Dawson-Hayes, Legal and Development Effectiveness Manager at Fred Hollows Foundation, who brings extensive sector experience and a sharp legal mind to the role.

At its March 2018 meeting, the CCC elected Hamish Lindsay, member representative (Unicef) as its new Deputy Chair. Other CCC members remain Independent Chair, Peter Adams, and Special Expert, Don Clarke.

For more about the CCC and its members, click here. Note that you will need your organisation's login credentials to access this page - if you don't have them, email code@cid.org.nz.

+ Changes to the CID Code

At the 2017 CID AGM, a few changes were adopted to the CID Code of Conduct.

New mandatory principle - D.6. Complaints-handling

Having a robust, fair and transparent complaints-handling policy is a key part of being an accountable and responsive organisation, and helps to minimise the risk of problems going undetected.

As CID's complaints-handling mechanism relies on signatories having their own code-compliant mechanism in place, principle D.6 'Complaints-handling within signatory organisations' has now formally been included as a fifth mandatory principle. This doesn't change the requirements of the principle, but means that organisations must be fully compliant with this principle before signatory status can be granted.

D.2.1 Legal requirements
This obligation requires the governing bodies of signatory organisations to "ensure that their organisations have in place compliance systems and processes to ensure that their legal obligations are being met in each jurisdiction where work is carried out." A footnote was added here to clarify that "This principle and its associated obligations are not intended to apply to non-violent direct action undertaken by any CID member. Legal responsibility for consequences arising from non-violent direct action rests with the organisation concerned."

D.5.1 Human resources
Obligation 1 under this principle was amended to include reference to the updated 2015 Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA). The CID Code doesn't require anything of signatories above and beyond what the legislation requires, but reminds agencies of their obligations under the HSWA. Given its importance to our sector and in particular the complexities for CID members who have internationally mobile staff, CID has also brought together a set of resources to help members meet these obligations, based on the workshops held in 2017.

+ Code of Conduct online toolkit

Have you checked out CID's online Code toolkit? This toolkit is available for CID members only - you will need your organisation's login credentials to access it - email code@cid.org.nz if you don't have them. It brings together guidance from the Implementation and Reference Guide, along with a rich set of links to resources from CID and elsewhere that will help you ensure compliance with the Code's principles and obligations.

If you haven't seen the toolkit yet, have a look and let us know what you think! And if you know of any great resources we're missing, or you'd like to share examples of great policies or best practice from your organisation, email code@cid.org.nz.

+ Standards & Best Practice Resources and News

Prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse
In light of recent reports of sexual exploitation and abuse by humanitarian workers internationally, many organisations are wondering how they can ensure that vulnerable people are not exploited or harmed in their work. The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) by our own staff was set up in 2011, and their website is a great place to find guidance and resources to help organisations to improve their safeguarding systems and policies. The PSEA Quick Reference Handbook from the CHS Alliance (supporting the Core Humanitarian Standard) is a great place to start.

There are links to more resources available under principle B.5.1 of the CID Code toolkit.

Watch this space as CID is planning some upcoming work in this important area.
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Child protection resources
In August 2017 CID held two one-day workshops on child protection in international development and humanitarian response, one in Wellington and one in Auckland. The workshops were facilitated by Sarah Morris, a child rights expert with significant experience in the international development field.

Thanks to Sarah - and the participants at the workshops - we have a great list of child protection-related resources available in the online Code toolkit, including MFAT Guidance on the Vulnerable Children's Act, guidelines for child-safe recruitment from Child Matters, and Keeping Children Safe's guide to child-safe social media. For the full list click here.
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Gender audit handbook

How well does your organisation walk the talk on gender equality - not only in its programmes, but within the organisation itself? InterAction's Gender Audit Handbook is not new (2010), but it's still as relevant as ever.The Gender Audit process is designed to capture both the programming and organisational characteristics and to serve as a useful tool for any organisation, regardless of its current level of gender integration.

+ Code of Conduct queries

Please don’t hesitate to contact the CID Code of Conduct Coordinator, Aaron Davy, with any queries or comments: code@cid.org.nz
Ph. (04) 496 9615

Tags:

Policy Pacific Islands Asia