Annual report

particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of 
climate change; scaling up mental health and 
psychosocial support in the context of disaster 
risk reduction, and the importance of migrants’ 
contributions to sustainable development, as 
well as the importance of young migrants and 
the work of local actors.
Ombudsperson
While the IFRC endeavours to encourage and 
build a healthy working environment for all staff, 
one where every person feels valued for their 
life experiences and expertise, interpersonal 
difficulties and structural issues will still occur. 
For example, in some situations, a staff member 
may be experiencing difficulties in resolving 
a situation that affects them at work, but may 
also be unwilling to launch a formal process to 
achieve this.
Recognizing this, the IFRC created the role of 
an independent and impartial Ombudsperson 
alongside the existing staff support structures to 
provide a confidential and informal way for staff 
to raise any workplace concerns they may have 
in a safe space.
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Annual Report 
2022

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The Ombudsperson provides a forum for con-
fidential and impartial discussion of workplace 
concerns. These informal conflict resolution and 
mediation services are available for all individu-
als holding an IFRC contract.
The mandate of the office is to enable the IFRC 
to be accountable to its own Fundamental 
Principles and goals by finding creative and 
collaborative ways of working with individuals 
and groups to facilitate the fair resolution of 
disputes, protect the dignity of staff, build trust 
and strengthen the relations between staff and 
the IFRC, all of which are key to organizational 
effectiveness and success.
The Ombudsperson does not have the authority, 
or the duty to report, or to act or respond to 
issues on behalf of the IFRC. Rather, it is inde-
pendent of the management hierarchy and is 
a confidential alternative to existing reporting 
channels and the formal grievance process 
within the IFRC.
The Office of the Ombudsperson offers a safe 
space and works to facilitate communication 
and assist parties in reaching mutually accept-
able, fair, and equitable resolutions. It provides 
off-the-record confidential, informal, impartial 
conflict resolution services and mediation that 
can expeditiously and less contentiously resolve 
issues without the use of the formal procedures. 
It offers a platform where all visitors can seek 
information and discuss options to address or 
resolve any kind of workplace concerns confi-
dentially through a resource that is independent 
of the IFRC structure and management. 
The office ensures that all outcomes and reso-
lutions are consistent with the applicable IFRC 
rules and regulations, including the IFRC Staff 
Regulations, the IFRC Code of Conduct, and the 
Fundamental Principles of the Movement. It peri-
odically reports – at least on an annual basis – to 
the Secretary General on general trends and 
makes recommendations for systemic change 
when appropriate without disclosing confiden-
tial communications or details of specific cases 
brought to its attention.
By September 2022, the number of cases han-
dled by the office had gone up by almost 20 per 
cent compared to the first two years of its oper-
ation, growing from a yearly average of 89 cases 
in the first two years, to 106 cases between 
mid-2021 and mid-2022. The number of cases 
equals 4.6 per cent of staff using the Ombuds 
services, which is within the range of 1–5 per 
cent that is considered average for international 
organizations. 
Over time, there was a change in the distribu-
tion of the role of the visitors: initially more staff 
contacted the Ombudsperson but by the end of 
the third year, slightly more managers than other 
staff contacted the office.
However, the trend has not changed in terms 
of visitors per location and visitors per gender: 
there are still more requests received from indi-
viduals and groups at headquarters than from 
the country delegations, country cluster dele-
gations and regions. As for gender, significantly 
more women contact the office than men. 
It is important to note that not all issues are 
related to a conflict with another person. There 
has been an increase in cases related to organi-
zational practice, policy, process, interpretation of 
rules, lack of timely response, equity, and fairness. 
During this reporting period, the Ombudsperson 
engaged in more group interventions than in the 
first two years. Action learning and facilitated 
dialogues were the main techniques applied in 
this aspect of case work.
In 2019–2022, the most common Ombuds inter-
ventions were coaching (reframing the issue, 
exploring options), making referrals to other 
services, facilitating the conversation between 
the parties, and conflict mediation.
Safeguarding
The IFRC is committed to preventing and 
responding to sexual exploitation and abuse 
(SEA), safeguarding children, and creating a safe 
environment for staff that is free of harassment 
and any form of discrimination. Safeguarding is 
a part of the IFRC’s commitment to ‘do no harm’