They say the first 100 days in any position sets a benchmark for the success of the role and position. It’s when many go for the quick, big wins in order to shine. In my first 100 days, I opted to do the opposite. As the Head of WF-AID, it weighs heavily on my shoulders that we are the custodians of your gifts, donations and trust and ultimately we are responsible firstly to Allah (swt), then the beneficiaries we serve on the ground, and to yourselves as donors and supporters.
I chose therefore to ensure that especially during a tumultuous time in the community, you have full trust and faith in WF-AID. In order to do this, I felt it imperative to introduce or improve a number of processes and compliance measures that would allow WF-AID to be fully accountable and transparent. We are committed to achieving complete transparency in and we have been constantly improving our procedures to ensure we are fully compliant with the UK Charity Commission Regulations and our own personal motto; ‘We exist to serve’.
As way of some background, since 1976, WF-AID has worked on projects around the world to deliver short term and long term aid and in 2007 we attained NGO status with the United Nations, giving us international credibility and a chance to expand our network as well as the range of our impact.
As part of the ‘localisation’ agenda; looking to empower local communities to lift themselves out of poverty, WF Aid is proud to be a partner-led organisation. This means that we work through existing local partners/NGOs on in the countries in which we work.
How do we work?
For each organization we partner with, we go through certain checks and procedures before we begin working together. If an organisation requests funding for a particular project or emergency which is aligned to our objectives, we request them to complete the following:
– Due Diligence forms which detail charity background and trustee information, confirm charity registration in-country and full bank details.
– Needs Assessment detailing all specifics of the project intended. This includes information as to why there is a need, details of the required budget, expected timeline and previous documentation if the project is already running.
– Sign off is required before any project is to go ahead. This comes from the Head of WF-AID and Office Bearers. Once approved, the agency is notified of how much funding will be sent and details of bank remittance. Confirmation is always required from our partners of funds received and a timeline of when distributions/work will begin.
– Reporting is required for each completed project detailing funds spent, beneficiary details, case studies and photographs. This is used to write up donor reports and newswires for our general donors.
– Archiving is an area which we are now ensuring is done in a systematic manor to ensure documents and information can be retrieved as and when needed. We are improving our processes so that there are documents and audit trails for all projects and finances.
Other compliance measures
As followers of the Jaffery school of thought, it is imperative we handle all huqooq funds in line with the Jaffery theological framework. I am in the process of producing a detailed Zakat and Sadaqah policy which states the WF-AID position on collecting and distributing these funds and how they adhere to rulings as set out by our esteemed Maraaje.
We have developed a major donor tracking system to ensure donations over £3,000 at a time are tracked individually and full reports sent direct to the donor.
We are also aiming to increase our climate/environmental awareness through everyday changes such as less use of plastic cups, encouraging carbon offsetting for flights and using recycled material where possible. Our future goals are to ensure we enshrine climate, disability and gender related cognizance as cross cutting themes across all projects. We have also been working closely with our Compliance department to ensure we have fully developed several policies and training for staff, partners and volunteers.
Below are just some of the new policies that are most relevant to WF-AID’s work drawn up by our Compliance and Risk Manager:
- Code of Conduct and training video (covering all aspects of Safeguarding)
- Media policy (use of images, consent, social media etc)
- Privacy Policy and General Data Protection (GDPR) training
- Beneficiary data protection
- Volunteer training
Other measures have also been taken internally, to ensure the coming in and going out of funds are even more traceable than before and that there is an audit trail for everything.
The Office Bearers have been fantastic in supporting all of these initiatives. As we look forward towards the next term with a new incoming president and new set of Office Bearers, I hope to introduce further structure and focus to WF-AID’s work with a renewed sense of purpose especially towards the alleviation of poverty in the Khoja community. Councillors Sibteinbhai Asaria and Mustafabhai Kassam; members of the WF-AID Advisory Board are leading on this and we are already drawing up plans to assist impoverished Khoja families in Pakistan, India and Africa with small business loans and education loans.
At WF-AID we are always welcome to feedback, suggestions and ideas and would love for the community to get involved in whichever way possible. Many thanks for your efforts and support so far, and we hope you continue to support and pray for WF-AID’s further success in serving the most marginalized and impoverished communities around the world.