Annual report

Enabling Functions
| Accountability and agility 
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This accountability goes hand in hand with a 
culture of agility. The events of recent years – like 
worsening impacts of climate change and the 
COVID-19 pandemic – have shown a pressing 
need for humanitarian organizations to move 
quickly and adapt their approaches.
To this end, the IFRC has embraced a culture of 
systematic risk management for more agile reac-
tions to changing circumstances. Furthermore, 
the IFRC is deploying a new Enterprise Resource 
Planning (ERP) solution which will ensure strong 
checks and balances are in place to safeguard 
communities and donor resources.
Progress in 2022
Risk management
is becoming increasingly 
important for IFRC partners and donors. As 
a result, the organization worked in 2022 to 
improve processes for risk management and 
risk reporting.
An integrated risk management system was 
rolled out this year to embed risk-informed deci-
sion making in all IFRC offices worldwide.
The new system also boosted the IFRC’s capac-
ity to provide member National Societies with 
guidance to support their own integrity and risk 
management systems, helping the IFRC network 
to become a stronger partner.
Risk management in Afghanistan
The IFRC Country Delegation in Afghanistan 
implemented the IFRC Risk Management 
Policy in their response to the protracted crisis.
By systematically identifying and assessing 
the many risks in this context, the Head of 
Delegation now had a tool to help prioritize 
which of the risks to focus on, with the objec-
tives of the IFRC in mind.
One of the key risks identified was the finan-
cial risk of working in a country without any 
international banking channels available. This 
required the office to increase the risk appe-
tite for programme delivery, and to embed 
control measures for operational teams to 
successfully deliver much needed support 
to the community.
To address donor concerns regarding 
the adequacy of the controls and the 
risk mitigation measures, the Country 
Delegation developed a briefing document 
complemented by briefing sessions to pro-
vide assurance.
To continue promoting risk management, the 
Delegation has established a specific unit 
focusing on the areas of compliance, risk 
management, and safeguarding to bolster 
capacity for ensured adherence with the IFRC 
Risk Management Policy in a complex context.