This article is part of IIU's Integrity Champion Spotlight series, designed to highlight integrity best practices that GCF Direct Access Entities are developing and implementing. This series will showcase these best practices and provide some lessons learnt for other Direct Access Entities who may be interested in establishing similar systems.

The Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS), one of GCF’s Direct Access Entities, is an international organization comprising 34-member states – 27 African and 7 non-African – headquartered in Tunis, Tunisia. OSS assists its member countries in addressing environmental challenges related to water resources, desertification, biodiversity, and climate change. Operating in these different countries at once can be a challenge, as OSS must ensure that its partners in each location are meeting the same high standards set in OSS’s integrity policies. 

To address any discrepancies, a team within OSS has embarked on a harmonisation effort within its multi-country projects.  They work closely with relevant stakeholders in each country to make sure all their integrity policies are in alignment with the ones at OSS, which also follow the GCF standard. 

“We try and have the entities sing the same music,” Omar Ennaifar, the Grievance Redress Mechanism Focal Point at OSS, explained. “This way, they will speak the same language in their policies and have everything they need already in place.” 

The OSS team works closely with national and local entities as key partners in their project execution, as every entity needs to be aligned in their views, approaches, procedures and goals. To ensure that the various actors are equally aware and informed about OSS procedures, the team reviews the entities’ documents to pinpoint weaknesses and areas of improvement, and then holds meetings with local stakeholders to discuss any gaps found. It is a long and thorough process, lasting several years, from the project development phase through implementation and closure. 

So far, OSS has embarked on policy harmonisation within two projects: one on improving climate resilience for smallholder rice farmers in West Africa and another on establishing a regional early warning system on drought and implementation of adaptation actions in East Africa. The first project benefits 13 countries in west Africa and the second benefits four countries in east Africa, which highlights the need to align policies across these diverse areas.

Within these two projects, OSS has identified significant gaps in alignment, particularly in whistleblower protection and prohibited practices policies and procedures. These gaps stem from inconsistent communication channels, where unclear reporting mechanisms hinder stakeholders from safely reporting concerns or misconduct. Additionally, variations in national regulations and procedures across different countries create conflicting interpretations of what constitutes a prohibited practice, complicating compliance efforts. Language barriers further exacerbate these issues, as translation inconsistencies often lead to misunderstandings, especially when local languages are used that lack legal terminology. Addressing these gaps is crucial to ensure a unified approach and safeguard the integrity of the projects. 

OSS also oversees a GCF project, SAP025, which focuses on climate resilience for vulnerable communities in the northern regions of Guinea-Bissau. By leveraging its involvement in SAP025 and the Resilient Rice Production project, OSS can play a pivotal role in mainstreaming best practices related to integrity policies across all of West Africa.

Aligning integrity policies across all entities, from the executing national entities to OSS to GCF, is a win-win for everyone. “It makes our lives and our partners’ lives easier,” Omar said. “Now, when an entity starts a new project and comes across malpractice, it is easier for them to assess and address it, and the same for OSS as well.” 

In the future, Omar hopes that the five-person team he works on that is responsible for harmonising the policies can grow, so that they can keep pace with the growing number of projects in the OSS portfolio. The team is also looking to create other integrity tools, such as creating a user-friendly app where people can easily report wrongdoing directly on their phones. Currently, to file a complaint to OSS, whistleblowers must fill out a Microsoft Word document and then send that via email or deliver it to the office in person. Relevant stakeholders could also create a similar app, ensuring alignment in their reporting channels. 

For the 15 other regional Direct Access Entities that are within the GCF network, OSS’s process could inform how they approach integrity policy alignment. As Omar points out, it is a process that takes time and consideration – but brings many benefits. 

“Use patience, perseverance and empathy,” he said. “Try and put yourselves in the shoes of local community members, use simple examples, and try to sensitise them to the importance of these policies and the benefits they get from them.” 

To learn more about OSS’s integrity work, contact Omar Ennaifar at [email protected].