Changes to Quality Principle 5

Undertaking due diligence and capacity assessments is a mechanism that enables Members to identify potential strengths and risks and inform their approach to working with partners. Some organisations may choose to combine due diligence and capacity assessment in one tool, or tackle these as separate processes. Due diligence would normally be undertaken prior to initiating an agreement with a partner, whereas an assessment of capacity can be undertaken at different stages of a partnership – including prior to an agreement, during project delivery, or if changes to the partnership occur. The findings of these assessments should guide a Member’s approach to working with its partners, identify any areas of strength and risk and include the development of a capacity-strengthening plan that is jointly agreed with its partners.

Child protection and the prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment is a critical area of assessment to ensure our partners ‘do no harm’ either intentionally or unintentionally, and therefore should be explicitly included in any due diligence and capacity assessment tool.

You may also wish to download and read ACFID's guide to developing and managing partnerships for some of the key considerations in identifying and working with partners, as well as ACFID's partnership agreement template which provides and example of an MOU or other agreement that you could customise and use as appropriate to the partners that your organisation works with.

Documented agreements (or equivalent) provide a framework for discussion and allow both parties to make clear statements of areas of practice that are important to them for quality and compliance reasons. Discussing and negotiating these in a collaborative manner with partners can assist in relationship building and gaining a better understanding by each party. Child protection and the prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment is a critical area of practice to ensure our partners ‘do no harm’ either intentionally or unintentionally, and therefore should be explicitly included in partnership agreements. A helpful guide to partnership and partnering principles can be found on The Partnering Initiative website, a link to which can be found in the Resources Section below.  A good example of how one of ACFID's members have documented their approach to partnership is Oxfam's Partnership Principles, which can be found in the Resources Section below.