OCHA-CHSA-HQAI_statement

UN OCHA To Pilot HQAI CHS Audits as Proxies for Internal Capacity Assessments

Geneva and New York, May 26, 2026

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), the Humanitarian Quality Assurance Initiative (HQAI), and the Core Humanitarian Standard Alliance (CHS Alliance) are exploring ways to reduce bureaucratic burdens and duplicative due diligence processes for aid organisations, while supporting the current drive for efficiency under UN80.

A joint mapping and analysis found that 90% of the questions in UN OCHA’s Pooled Fund’s capacity assessments can be answered in whole or in part by HQAI’s CHS audits. Building on these results, OCHA intends to pilot the use of CHS audits as proxies for its Pooled Funds capacity assessments, subject to approval on a country-by-country basis. HQAI and UN OCHA also intend to explore how OCHA’s Pooled Fund capacity assessments can similarly serve as evidence for CHS audits.

This approach aims to advance the entities’ joint objectives of reducing duplication, increasing efficiency, and facilitating more equitable access to funding. By piloting the mutual recognition of assessment information across the CHS Audits and OCHA’s Pooled Fund’s capacity assessments, the aim is to:

• Accelerate access to Funding: Support faster and informed decisions on who receives humanitarian grants.
• Support Local Actors: reduce the due diligence burden currently faced by national NGOs, which currently make up nearly 50% of the CHS Alliance members and HQAI-audited partners.
• Maintain Rigor: Ensure high standards for accountability and risk management remain intact through a verified, two-stage conversion tool.

Read and share our joint statement: