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Code of Ethics and Conduct
INTRODUCTION
Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have a duty to maintain the highest ethical standards and stay the course in terms of their own practices and founding vision of service. It is hoped that this Code of Ethics and Conduct helps in informing and guiding the work of the Lebanese Society of Quality and Safety in Health Care in this capacity. We, the members of this society, agree to work towards ensuring that our policies and practices are progressively consistent with the Code of Ethics and Conduct. This Code will be periodically reviewed and revised as warranted.
A. MAINTAINING OUR INTEGRITY
Fundamental to the very character of our society as an NGO is that it be not-for-profit, non-governmental, equal opportunity providers, organized, independent, self-governing, and voluntary.
1. Not-for-profit:
• The Society is to be organized and operated as a not-for-profit organization. Any surplus that is generated through its operations is to be utilized solely to help the organization fulfill its mission and objectives.
• No part of the net earnings of the Society is to be routed to the benefit of the directors, officers, members or employees of the organization, or to any other private persons, except that the Society may provide reasonable compensation for services provided to the organization.
• The Society is not to be operated for the primary purpose of carrying on a trade or business, unrelated to its mission and stated objectives
2. Equal Opportunity Providers:
• We believe all people are equal. We will not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability, disease status or any other characteristic.
• Instead, we will actively promote human rights, dignity, equity and inclusion of all, and particularly those who have been historically marginalized.
3. Non-Governmental:
• The Society is not to be part of, or controlled by the government or an inter-governmental agency.
• The Society shall maintain independence and not be rigidly aligned or affiliated with any political party.
• The Society shall not act as an instrument of government foreign policy, but act independently of the government and the political parties in its regional and international dealings
4. Organized:
• The Society shall have organizing documents, an executive board, officers, and regular meetings and activities.
• The organizing documents (such as bylaws, a written constitution, or memorandum of association) shall clearly define the mission, objectives, governance structure, membership rights and obligations, if any, and rules of procedure.
5. Independent and Self-Governing:
• The Society shall be independent. Its policies, vision, and activities shall not be determined by any for-profit corporation, donor, government, government official, political party, or other NGO.
• The Society shall govern itself autonomously, according to whatever governance structure it selects for itself. • It shall be equipped to control its own activities.
6. Voluntary:
• The Lebanese Society of Quality and Safety in Health Care was formed by private initiative, resulting from the voluntary actions of individuals who have chosen to pursue a shared interest in propagating the concepts of quality and patient safety in health care organizations. The retaining of voluntary values and principles shall remain a primary force in the way of working of this society.
• In order to achieve its mission and objectives, the Society is to have meaningful contributions from volunteers. These may include both the target group and supporters.
• Those who are part of the Society’s governing body are to serve in a voluntary capacity, for no pay.
B. GOVERNANCE
The governing body of the Lebanese Society of Quality and Safety in Health Care shall develop and implement several policies and by laws to ensure an ethical and professional conduct of its members in line with its original foundation goals:
• We will have or develop a constitution, clear vision/mission statement and objectives; and we will work towards ensuring our work is consistent with these objectives.
• We will have a governing body which understands and accepts ultimate responsibility for governance and all aspects of the organization. It will set policies; approve major strategies/plans, budgets and reports; it ensures that the chief executives are consistent with the constitution and mandate of the organization.
• We will hold Annual General Meetings with full, open and accurate disclosure of relevant information concerning goals, achievements/challenges, finances and governance.
• We will have written procedures regarding the appointments, responsibilities and terms of members of the governing body and specify the frequency of meetings, quorum, reporting and the roles and powers of the governance structure.
• We will develop and adhere to a policy that prohibits direct or indirect conflict of interest by members of the governance structure, as well as members, employees and volunteers of the organization. Members of the governing body and staff will not participate in decisions where they have, or are perceived to have, a personal interest.
• Assets and resources of the organization will not be used or disposed for private or personal gain other than as stipulated in the constitution or written policies of the organization.
C. ACCOUNTABILITY
We recognize and appreciate multiple levels of accountability as follows:
1. Downward accountability: to the people ‘we serve’ (‘beneficiaries’).
2. Internal accountability: to the Board or equivalent governing structure of the organization, and to the staff of our organization, consistent with our policies.
3. External accountability: to the governmental and private authorities and reasonable laws and regulations, and to the donors consistent with our contracts and good donor practice.
4. Horizontal accountability: to the partner organizations with whom we work. We will work to promote appropriate accountability in all four dimensions, with a particular emphasis on downward accountability. We will avoid making commitments to any one dimension that may compromise our accountability to another dimension. To this end:
• We will regularly communicate, in a clear and accessible manner, about our values, governance structure, mission, objectives, approaches and progress made.
• We will develop reasonable budgets that clearly correspond with our programs and plans.
• We will systematically monitor, document and report on the progress of our work against agreed plans and budgets.
• We will promote practical ways in which people involved in or affected by our work can provide inputs and feedback, and we will consider these seriously.
• We will conduct periodic independent evaluations that will examine, among other aspects, the quality of results and effectiveness of our work.
• We will compile and make available to the public an annual report that will state the members of the Board; the main achievements, challenges and lessons learned in the course of implementation; as well as the annual incomes, expenditures and balances.
• We will actively promote and practice a culture of ongoing critical assessment, reflection and learning, and to demonstrate how we are using lessons learned to make our work more effective.
D. HUMAN RESOURCES
The staff and volunteers are the heart of any organization. To this end:
• We will develop and adhere to clear, well defined, written human resource and administrative policies and procedures, consistent with the Lebanese laws.
• We will promote and practice fairness and non-discrimination in recruitment and to the maximum extent possible promote diversity and gender balance in staff composition.
• We will strive to create a healthy work environment, where mutual respect is fostered and where there is zero tolerance for sexual harassment and other actions that violate the basic safety or dignity of staff.
• We will establish clear disciplinary and grievance procedures.
• We will actively promote organizational and staff learning and development, and foster a culture of learning from mistakes, openness, creativity and innovation.
• We will promote and enforce clear policies to avoid conflict of interest, nepotism, favoritism and corruption, as well as protection for whistle-blowers.
E. FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY
• We will develop and adhere to clear, well defined and written financial regulations that reflect high ethical standards and are consistent with sound financial management principles and practice.
• We will seek to limit resources used towards fundraising and administration /overheads to a reasonable level, so that maximum amount can be spent towards our programs.
• We will manage resources in a manner that is prudent and provides value for money, including wherever possible by employing or involving competent personnel to manage these resources.
• We will ensure all financial transactions are transparently and fully documented, and that these documents are preserved for a defined number of years, consistent with sound accounting practice.
• We will ensure all substantive expenditures are authorized in a process that involves scrutiny by more than one officer, and where the chief executive or any other officer does not have unlimited authority.
• We will ensure procurement is undertaken in a manner that provides quality at least cost, avoids favoritism and corruption, is transparent, documented and otherwise conforms to sound procurement principles.
• We will maintain a regularly updated assets register in accordance with sound accounting practice.
• We will maintain and manage bank account(s) with a licensed financial institution, into which all incomes will be deposited.
• We will develop and adhere to clear policies regarding allowances, honoraria, gifts and other such payments to avoid conflict of interest and incentives to distort organizational priorities, and in the interest of transparency and fairness. • We will prepare comprehensive financial statements that accurately disclose all incomes (from all sources), expenditures and balances, as well a comparison of actual performance against budgets, in accordance with sound accounting practice.
• We will exercise zero tolerance for corruption and other form of substantive misuse of funds, and take effective actions to hold persons responsible accountable.
F. PROGRESSIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CODE OF CONDUCT
We will continually work to strengthen and improve our adherence to the high standards set out in this code of conduct. In this regard, we will:
• Explicitly and consciously put measures in place to progressively attain the standards articulated herein.
• We will promote and sustain an enabling environment that fosters a culture of individual, group and organizational learning at all times both within our organizations and through our interaction with other organizations.
• We will seek to engage in continuous self, peer and or external assessment and evaluation to monitor the progress of our respective organizations.
• We will periodically report on the progress made towards and compliance with the standards in this code of conduct.