Complaints handling
Viva Salud is a signatory of the NGO integrity charter launched in 2018 by Minister of Development Cooperation Alexander De Croo. By signing this charter, Viva Salud pledges to inform, train and raise the awareness about integrity, to have an integrity advisor anyone can turn to for advice, to have a mechanism for reporting complaints, as well as a procedure for handling complaints. As a result, Viva Salud has also developed an ethical code that promotes the integrity of anyone who, directly or indirectly, is involved in the activities of Viva Salud (staff, members of the Board of Directors and the General Assembly, volunteers, partners, etc.).
Should you encounter any form of possible integrity violation, it is possible to report this.
Procedure for reporting integrity breaches
Viva Salud has set up a confidential reporting channel for reporting complaints: safeguarding@vivasalud.be. Anyone can report any incident or suspicion of a breach of integrity, anonymously or not.
Who can report an integrity breach?
Any person (employee, volunteer, beneficiary or any other external stakeholder) who has witnessed or been subjected to behaviour that violates integrity in the context of an activity related to Viva Salud’s work may report the facts or lodge a complaint.
Which type of acts or behavior must be reported?
The reporting system allows to report incidents, actions, behaviors or suspicions that could undermine the integrity of persons or the organization itself and that do not comply with our ethical code or the NGO integrity charter signed by Viva Salud.
Integrity includes aspects related to financial integrity (corruption, fraud, etc.) and aspects related to moral integrity (abuse of power, discrimination, sexual misconduct, abuse and exploitation, etc.). Here is a non-exhaustive list:
Financial integrity :
- Inappropriate gifts or activities (received or offered)
- Acts of corruption, theft, fraud, bribery
- Intentional errors in invoices, expenses and fees
Moral integrity:
- Acts of discrimination
- Abuse of power, harassment and intimidation
- Inappropriate behavior (sexual harassment, etc.)
- Sexual or economic exploitation
- Acts of favoritism or injustice
- Use of force and threats
Reporting an incident
To submit a report, you can email our complaints manager, Marilyse Broers, at safeguarding@vivasalud.be. If you are still in doubt about filing a complaint, you can always contact our integrity advisor, Geraldine Malaise, at advice@integrity.be.
The content of the alert must contain facts, places, dates, any information or other useful documents, whatever their form or medium, as well as contact details. There is no need to add more recipients to your email. The procedure ensures the relevant or competent persons are informed as appropriate.
Any abuse or inappropriate use of the reporting system may result in prosecution.
Confidential or anonymous handling
The name of the person making the declaration is protected and the reporting procedure is carried out in complete confidentiality.
Viva Salud has chosen to accept anonymous notifications. In this case, either you give your name, but ask to remain anonymous. Viva Salud will then respect the anonymity. Or you wish to remain anonymous to everyone. In this case, we invite you to use an email address that does not reveal your identity. We nevertheless ask that this e-mail address remain active for the duration of the procedure so that we can contact you again and process your report properly.
Protection of the whistleblower
It is essential that everyone feels free to use the complaints notification procedure without restriction or fear of reprisal.
When you report an integrity violation, your identity will never be disclosed. Viva Salud is committed to ensuring that you are automatically protected from possible reprisals.
Protection of personal data
Viva Salud aims to comply with the “General Data Protection Regulation” approved by the European Parliament (GDPR 2016/679) and all applicable laws.
Complaint handling process
- Receipt of the complaint
- Qualification of the complaint
- Course of the research
- Follow-up and closure of the file
- Reporting the results
Read our internal integrity policy, which further describes the procedures for reporting and handling of complaints.