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© Abel Gichuru pour Action contre la Faim

Audit, Risk & Compliance Department

Action contre la Faim places central importance on complying with all applicable rules and regulations. This is essential for its accountability, the quality of its activities, and the management of the many risks it faces daily.

To this end, Action contre la Faim has established a dedicated department for institutional risk management: the ARC (Audit, Risk, and Compliance Department). This department brings together a range of expertise and holds a unique position to ensure its independence, reporting hierarchically to the Executive Director and functionally to the Audit and Risk Committee (a body stemming from the association’s Board of Directors).

Across this entire scope, the ARC acts as a technical expert, standardizing practices and defining policies, charters, methods, and tools related to these areas. This ensures a consistent level of quality and a unified approach throughout the association and its country offices.

Broadly speaking, the ARC is also responsible for advising the entire organization and its governing bodies on risk management and oversight. Finally, the ARC is a member of the ACFIN risk group, which reports to the IEC (International Executive Committee). Since 2023, ARC France has been responsible for coordinating this group within the international ACFIN network.

Risk Management

Every decision or activity involves an element of uncertainty. That is why Action contre la Faim promotes risk-based decision-making — evaluating and appropriately managing risks that could affect objectives. Risk management is a key function for reducing uncertainty and maximizing opportunities to achieve Action contre la Faim’s goals, especially given the organization’s dynamic and uncertain operating environment.

Action contre la Faim has made risk management a cornerstone of the effective and efficient conduct of its activities, both at headquarters and in the field. It supports both strategic decision-making and operational planning.

This is why the ARC department also includes the Risk Manager, who is responsible for developing the risk management system and supporting the various organizational units in its implementation.

Fraud and Safeguarding

Within the ARC, there is a unit responsible for managing abuse cases. The Fraud and Safeguarding team receives all alerts related to fraud or safeguarding incidents and supports our teams abroad in handling these alerts to ensure the implementation of the principles outlined in our policies:

If you suspect abuse, you can send an email to: alerteHQ@Actioncontrelafaim.org

This team is also responsible for implementing the Anti-Fraud and Safeguarding policies and for preventing incidents.

Legal Affairs

The Legal Unit provides daily support to our teams in the field and at headquarters to ensure, in particular:

External Audit

The External Audit Unit coordinates the implementation of audits mandated by institutional donors, which may focus specifically on projects or on Action contre la Faim as an organization.

Project audits serve to verify that the funds received are used in accordance with donor regulations, while organizational audits aim to confirm the strength and reliability of internal processes. These are sometimes required to renew multi-year strategic partnerships with certain donors.

More than a hundred audits are conducted each year by independent, accredited firms that operate under international standards and produce official reports shared with the mandating institutions.

Audits may lead to requests to reimburse part of the received funds, which Action contre la Faim must repay if confirmed by the donors.

Our external audit coordination team therefore plays a key role in ensuring accountability and transparency toward our institutional funders, beneficiaries, and partners.

We work closely with various departments at headquarters and in the field, and we support the wider network through regular seminars that promote experience sharing and best practices.

Insurance Coordination

 

The role of the Insurance Coordination is to ensure coverage for the main risks generated by the activities of Action Against Hunger France. By defining the organization’s insurance strategy through the identification and analysis of insurable risks, the Insurance Coordination is responsible for overseeing Action contre la Faim France’s insurance coverage.

It manages all insurance contracts undertaken by Action contre la Faim France and works closely with brokers and insurers, particularly when incidents occur that impact the organization.

The Insurance Coordination collaborates with various departments within Action contre la Faim France, as well as with members of the Action contre la Faim International network.

Finally, it also serves as a technical internal advisor and supports Country Offices in managing and placing their local insurance contracts.

Internal Audit

Internal audit is an independent function within Action contre la Faim and the ARC, tasked with providing the organization with reasonable assurance regarding the proper management of its risks, compliance with applicable rules, and the relevance of the internal control system in place.

Internal audit represents the third line in the “Three Lines of Defense” model, ensuring that the first and second lines are well designed, effective, and properly implemented.

How does internal audit fulfill its mission?

Internal audit operates in strict compliance with the general principles set by the International Institute of Internal Auditors (objectivity, materiality, confidentiality, etc.). These are commonly shared professional standards that ensure the quality and legitimacy of the work carried out by internal audit.