Our member agencies engage with a number of initiatives designed to define good practice as part of their commitment to aim for the highest international standards.
Red Cross Code
The Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief.
Our members adhere to the Red Cross Code of Conduct which seeks to maintain high standards of behaviour among aid agencies providing disaster relief.
People in Aid
People in Aid advocates and supports good practice in the management of people within the humanitarian and development sector worldwide in order to improve organisational effectiveness.
DEC members abide by its Code of Good Practice which sets standards to help organisations enhance their work through the quality of human resources management.
Sphere Project
The Sphere Project defines minimum standards for aid work, covering areas such as the provision of shelter, food and the supply of water and healthcare, by which the global community responds to the plight of people affected by disasters and conflict.
The Sphere handbook sets out detailed guidance on how good programmes work across humanitarian aid sectors.
HAP
The Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP) Standards set out benchmarks for effective accountability to disaster-affected communities.
The DEC is an associate member of HAP and our DEC Accountability Framework has been designed to incorporate the HAP benchmarks. Many of our agencies are also members in their own right and some are members of the HAP steering group.
All DEC agencies are committed to being accountable to those we seek to assist.
This means we seek to engage with communities so they can participate in designing, implementing and evaluating relief and recovery programmes as well ensuring systems are in place to collect and respond to feedback and complaints.
