CHS self-assessment: key actions

Rate your organisation from 1 (not achieved) to 5 (fully achieved). The scores start at 3. The chart summarises the nine commitments.

This assessment follows the earlier edition of the CHS. Read about the 2024 edition.

1. Assistance that meets needs

1.1 Has the organisation assessed people’s needs and capacities comprehensively, in consultation with affected communities, and used the findings to plan its response?

1.2 Does the assessment of needs, risks, capacities, vulnerabilities and context involve affected women, men, girls and boys, local organisations and other stakeholders? Are assessment and monitoring data broken down by sex, age and disability?

1.3 How does the organisation identify groups at higher risk?

1.4 Does the analysis of needs and context consider issues that cut across sectors?

1.5 Are supplies, cash and other assistance appropriate to people’s needs and preferences? Are different forms of assistance and protection measures available for different groups?

1.6 Which activities allow the response to adapt to different groups as needs, capacities, risks and circumstances change?

2. Timely assistance

2.1 Does the organisation regularly identify and analyse constraints such as physical barriers, discrimination and risk, and adjust plans in consultation with affected people?

2.2 Are activities planned for the most appropriate time, taking account of weather, seasons, social factors, accessibility and conflict?

2.3 Does the organisation monitor and address delays in planning or delivering assistance?

2.4 Does the response use early warning systems and emergency response plans?

2.5 Are technical standards such as those in the Sphere Handbook used and followed?

2.6 Does the organisation identify and address needs that are still unmet?

2.7 Does the organisation use monitoring findings to update its response plans?

3. Preparedness, recovery and avoiding harm

3.1 Does the organisation identify existing sources of community resilience, including institutions, voluntary groups, leaders and support networks, and plan to strengthen their capacity?

3.2 Does the response use existing information about risks, hazards, vulnerabilities and relevant plans?

3.3 Does the organisation consider whether and how local civil society, authorities and private organisations can lead activities? Does it plan to support local organisations when they take over?

3.4 Are plans to reduce risks and strengthen resilience developed with affected people and communities or led by them?

3.5 How does the organisation consult local leaders and government, formally or informally, to align activities with local and national priorities?

3.6 Do staff support community-led mutual aid, early action and preparation for future responses, including among marginalised minority groups?

3.7 Does the assistance support early recovery?

3.8 Are leadership and decision-making gradually transferred to local people?

3.9 Has the organisation assessed local markets and the economy to identify possible effects of its activities?

3.10 Is there a clear transition and exit plan developed with affected people and other stakeholders?

4. Information and participation

4.1 Does the organisation share information in ways that allow different affected groups to learn who is providing assistance and what is available?

4.2 Can women, men, girls and boys, including people who are marginalised or at particular risk, access and understand the information?

4.3 Does the organisation seek the views of affected people, especially those who are most at risk or marginalised, and use them to plan and deliver assistance?

4.4 Do all groups in affected communities know how to give feedback about assistance, and do they feel safe doing so?

4.5 Does the organisation use feedback and identify what it changed in response? See key actions 1.3 and 2.5.

4.6 Does the organisation recognise and address barriers that make it difficult for people to give feedback?

4.7 Are feedback data broken down by age, sex, disability and other characteristics where appropriate?

4.8 When assistance is provided online, can people give feedback in more than one way without meeting staff in person?

5. Complaints

5.1 Were affected people and communities consulted when the complaints mechanism was designed?

5.2 Do complaints procedures take account of different groups, especially people who need additional safeguards for their safety or privacy?

5.3 Does everyone receive and understand information about the mechanism and the types of complaints it can handle?

5.4 Are deadlines for investigating and responding to complaints agreed and met? Is the time from receipt to resolution recorded?

5.5 Are complaints about sexual exploitation or abuse investigated promptly by competent staff with the appropriate authority?

6. Coordination

6.1 Does the organisation share up-to-date information with other responders about its capacity, resources, areas of work and sectors?

6.2 Does the organisation obtain and use information on the capacity, resources, areas of work and sectors of other organisations, including local and national authorities?

6.3 Has the organisation identified and joined existing coordination mechanisms?

6.4 Does the organisation take other agencies’ work and government-led assistance into account when planning and delivering its response?

6.5 Does the organisation identify and address gaps and duplication in assistance?

7. Learning and improvement

7.1 Does the organisation use evaluations and lessons from previous responses to similar crises when planning assistance?

7.2 Does information from monitoring, evaluation, feedback and complaints help the organisation adapt and improve the way it plans and delivers assistance?

7.3 Does the organisation systematically record what it learns?

7.4 Is there a way to share lessons with affected people, partners and other individuals and organisations involved in the response?

8. Support for staff

8.1 Are new staff introduced to the organisation’s mission and values, and do they understand them?

8.2 Does the organisation monitor staff performance, address poor performance and recognise good work?

8.3 Have staff signed a code of conduct or a similar binding document? If so, do they receive training on the code and relevant policies?

8.4 Does the organisation accept complaints about its staff or partner staff, and how does it deal with them?

8.5 Do staff know what support is available to develop the skills needed for their roles, and do they use it?

9. Resource management

9.1 Do staff make spending decisions in line with the organisation’s procedures?

9.2 Is expenditure monitored regularly and reported to everyone involved in the response?

9.3 Are services and supplies procured through competitive bidding?

9.4 Is potential contamination of water, soil and air, and harm to biodiversity, monitored and mitigated?

9.5 Is there a safe whistleblowing procedure, and do staff, affected people and other stakeholders know about it?

9.6 Does the organisation monitor cost-effectiveness and social impact?