Creating a safe space for whistleblowers: how to build speak up cultures

What does it take to develop a genuine speak up culture? One where everyone feels safe to raise concerns? How can we learn from our peers to build safer organisations for staff, volunteers and people affected by crises?

A speak up culture welcomes complaints, takes them seriously and acts upon them. It creates an environment where people feel safe enough to raise concerns or report misconduct/wrongdoing, confident that the organisation will protect them against reprisals or repercussions. By identifying problems or harm, organisations can ensure that misconduct or wrongdoing is acted upon.

A formal whistleblowing policy is a key part of supporting staff to feel that they work in a speak up culture. However, policies alone are not enough! Turning them into everyday practice is crucial.

CHS Alliance recently published whistleblowing protection guidance to help aid organisations create or update their own policy, as well as ensure that the foundations for a creating speak up culture are strong and easily implemented.

So, what are some of the common barriers for aid organisations to create and live these cultures? What are organisations already doing to overcome these? Following discussions with humanitarian staff on their experiences creating a better speak up cultures, CHS Alliance is organising a webinar.

This webinar will bring humanitarian and development practitioners together to share and discuss the findings of CHS Alliance’s recent research into enabling speak up cultures. There will also be space to share new examples of good practices as well as a chance to discuss the next steps we can take to build safe and protective cultures across all of our work.

This webinar will be of particular interest to staff working on complaints handling, including fraud and corruption, PSEAH, safeguarding, Human Resources and senior managers within humanitarian and development organisations.

Full agenda details will be shared prior to the webinar, together with joining information.

If you have any questions about this webinar, please email Harbinder Kaur at hkaur@chsalliance.org