Learning and Improving for Collective Quality and Accountability – meet our new Quality Assurance Manager
Do you have a favourite CHS Commitment? While all nine commitments are crucial to achieving the Standard, I must admit that mine is Commitment 1 of the updated CHS: “People and communities can exercise their rights and participate in actions and decisions that affect them.” My career has always been driven by a personal commitment to advocating for a rights-based approach to aid —one that recognises people’s agency and dignity. This passion has led me to roles focused on improving quality and accountability in humanitarian and development programming, culminating in my newest position with CHS Alliance!
From CHS Focal Point to CHS Alliance Staff Member
Earlier this year, I joined the CHS Alliance team as its new Quality Assurance Manager. In this role, I oversee the CHS self-assessment process—one of the three verification options in the CHS Alliance verification scheme—and support organisations on their verification journeys. I was drawn to this position after witnessing how CHS verification offers organisations an invaluable opportunity to continuously learn and strengthen the quality of their services. I was also excited to contribute to the alignment of verification processes and tools with the updated CHS, which emphasises a more people-centred, user-friendly, and accessible approach.
Before joining the CHS Alliance Verification team, I served as the focal point for internal programme quality standards at a CHS Alliance member organisation and was responsible for managing their CHS verification process. I often lean on my recent experience as a member in my new role—it wasn’t long ago that I, too, was figuring out how to balance organisational priorities with my passion for championing the CHS.
What I particularly enjoyed about this often-challenging balancing act was the ‘aha!’ moment when colleagues realised that the CHS is not at odds with the standards and metrics they were already working with. In fact, as a globally recognised and measurable standard, the CHS enhances our work collectively by ensuring that people and communities are at the centre of decisions affecting their lives.
Fostering Connections and a Community for Verification
I also draw on my recent experience as a member to facilitate the new Verification Community of Practice (CoP) for CHS Alliance members. Launched in July, the Verification CoP offers a valuable space where colleagues can share experiences, strategies, and best practices on their journey towards CHS verification. It brings together member organisations in all their diversity—new and established, national and international, verified and not yet verified. It’s this diversity that makes the space dynamic and fosters meaningful connections across our network.
The Verification CoP is also an essential source of feedback as we continue to update CHS verification tools to align with the updated CHS. At our next meeting, we will focus on how to improve the CHS self-assessment process and its tools. The feedback we receive from participants will directly contribute to the improvements we make.
Updating the CHS Self-Assessment Process
An updated self-assessment process and tools, aligned with the stronger CHS, will be launched in early 2025. In the meantime, organisations continue to make great strides towards becoming verified! With more than 100 self-assessments currently ongoing on the CHS Commitment Tracker, organisations can continue to assess themselves against the 2014 edition of the CHS until their next renewal. Further details about the transition will be shared in the coming months.
I firmly believe that every aid organisation has an obligation to continuously learn and improve its services. Engaging with CHS verification is an excellent way to do just that! If you have any questions about where to begin or how to continue your CHS verification journey, please don’t hesitate to reach out at verification@chsalliance.org.