Al-Sham Humanitarian Foundation: A Conversation on CHS Verification and Accountability
Al-Sham Humanitarian Foundation (AHF) was established in 2011 in response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria. As the team grew and the humanitarian contexts they operated in became increasingly challenging, AHF decided to seek alignment with global humanitarian standards, and joined the CHS Alliance.
Shortly after completing their CHS self-assessment in July 2024, AHF proceeded to CHS certification through HQAI, which they achieved in December 2024.
We spoke with Mohammd Zakaria, Quality Manager at AHF about the organisation’s journey and motivation behind moving directly to certification.
CHSA: Why did AHF decide to join the CHS Alliance and how did the CHS self-assessment help your organisation?
MZ: “Joining the CHS Alliance gave us the opportunity to exchange knowledge with other members.
The CHS self-assessment was a transformative process, helping us identify strengths, address gaps and enhance our overall accountability and effectiveness. The process allowed us to critically evaluate our practices against global standards and ensure that our commitments to affected communities were clear and measurable. It also strengthened our internal governance and risk management. Importantly, it was a learning experience for our staff at all levels, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.”
CHSA: Why did you decide to pursue CHS certification after completing your self-assessment?
MZ: “Our decision to pursue CHS certification after the self-assessment was driven by a strong commitment to accountability, continuous improvement and credibility in humanitarian action. The self-assessment helped us identify and fill gaps and we wanted to demonstrate that we had actively addressed them. Our management recognised certification as a way to show the credibility of local actors, proving that we can lead high quality humanitarian responses. This reinforces the case for localisation in the sector.
CHSA: How did the certification process impact your organisation?
MZ: “The HQAI certification audit process was one of the most useful assessments we have undertaken, because it goes into detail about how we put affected people at the centre of our response. It went beyond policy reviews to examine how we apply our commitments in practice. Through interviews with staff and feedback from affected communities, we gained critical insights into how our work impacts the communities we serve. We found there is the need for greater engagement with stakeholders and ensuring our policies are aligned with the realities on the ground.”
CHSA: Can you share an example of how this process has benefited your work assisting people in Syria and Türkiye?
MZ: “We have always prioritised engaging with communities, but the audit significantly enhanced our ability to assist people in Syria and Turkiye by strengthening organisational systems, ensuring accountability and improving the quality of our response.
The AHF health team is using a modified ambulance vehicle to transfer People with Disabilities in their Syrian response. (c) Al Sham Humanitarian Foundation.
For example, the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning procedures at AHF have been updated to establish a clear mechanism for identifying and describing the responsibilities and roles of stakeholders during needs assessments. The MEAL team will analyse stakeholders to define their responsibilities, roles, and interests, which will be documented in needs assessment reports and project study proposals.”
CHSA: What would you say to other organisations considering CHS verification?
MZ: “We would encourage organisations to view CHS verification as an investment rather than a requirement. The CHS self-assessment helped us identify areas for growth, and certification strengthened our credibility with donors and partners and organisational resilience. More importantly, it helped us improve the way we serve affected communities. We encourage all local NGOs to take the lead in localisation efforts by prioritising quality and accountability. Joining the CHS Alliance and undertaking CHS verification is an effective way to do that.”
CHSA: Thank you for sharing your journey, and for ongoing commitment to accountability. We look forward to seeing what comes next.
To date, more than 170 organisations have completed a verification against the CHS. For more information, about CHS verification visit our website or contact us at verification@chsalliance.org.