APPROVED
Minutes No. 1/7-23 of 07.04.2023
Board of the NGO “Foundation for Promotion of Democracy”
Policy on the definition and resolution of conflicts of interest
NGO “Foundation for Promotion of Democracy”
EDRPOU code 43134930
1. General provisions
1.1. By this Policy on Identifying and Resolving Conflicts of Interest (hereinafter referred to as the Policy), the NGO “Democracy Assistance Foundation” (hereinafter referred to as the Organization) declares that its members and employees (staff) in their internal activities, during the implementation of any projects, as well as in legal relations with partners, public authorities, local governments, individuals and legal entities, take all efforts and measures to identify, identify, manage, prevent and disclose potential or actual conflicts of interest
1.2. This Policy has been developed in accordance with the Charter of the Organization, other internal documents and the current legislation of Ukraine.
1.3. The text of this Policy is publicly available on the Organization’s website https://fpdi.org.ua/ for all persons who wish to familiarize themselves with it.
2. Determination of the conflict of interest, scope and circle of persons responsible for the implementation of the Policy
2.1. A conflict of interest is a conflict between a person’s personal interests and his or her official duties, which may affect the objectivity or impartiality of decision-making, as well as the performance or non-performance of actions in the exercise of his or her official duties. Conflicts of interest are not necessarily limited to financial opportunities, prospects or advantages; they can also be caused by both financial benefits (monetary or other material benefits) and non-financial benefits (benefits that cannot be assessed).
2.2. This Policy shall be binding on all members and employees of the Organization, as well as other persons, including persons entering into civil law contracts with the Organization, in cases where the relevant obligations are set forth in contracts with them, in internal documents, or directly follow from the provisions of the current legislation of Ukraine.
2.3. This Policy shall also be applied by the Organization, its employees and/or representatives in its legal relations with business partners, including public authorities and local governments. If the Organization becomes aware of any actions that have signs of a conflict of interest by representatives of a business partner or contractor, the Organization has the right to terminate relations with such business partners or contractors.
2.4. The requirements of the Organization’s donors to prevent conflicts of interest contained in the grant agreement shall be taken into account by the Organization as part of this Policy in the framework of the implementation of such an agreement.
2.5. Implementation of measures for the execution (implementation) of this Policy within their powers shall be carried out:
1) Members of the Board of the Organization;
2) Chairman of the Board of the Organization;
3) all employees, members of the Organization, as well as persons who provide services and/or perform work for the Organization on the basis of civil law contracts and/or service agreements.
2.6. In case of necessity to take any measures aimed at implementing this policy, the organization of such measures and control over their implementation shall be entrusted to the Chairman of the Board of the Organization. The list of specific measures, appointment of persons responsible for their implementation, etc. shall be determined in the relevant decision of the Management Board of the Organization.
3. Norms of professional ethics of employees and members of the Organization
3.1. Employees of the Organization are obliged to strictly adhere to generally recognized ethical standards of behavior in the performance of their functional duties.
3.2. Employees of the Organization act objectively, regardless of personal interests, personal attitude to any persons, their political views, ideological, religious or other personal views or beliefs.
3.4. Employees of the Organization shall perform their functional duties, decisions and instructions of the bodies and officials to whom they are subordinate in good faith, in a timely manner, efficiently and responsibly.
3.5. Employees of the Organization, regardless of personal interests, shall refrain from implementing decisions or instructions of the Organization’s management if they pose a threat to the legally protected rights, freedoms or interests of individuals, legal entities, state or public interests or contradict the law.
3.6. Employees of the Organization independently assess the legitimacy of decisions or instructions given by management and the possible damage that will be caused if such decisions or instructions are implemented.
In the event that an employee of the Organization receives decisions or orders for execution that he/she considers illegal or threatening the rights, freedoms or interests of individuals, legal entities, state or public interests protected by law, he/she shall immediately notify his/her immediate supervisor or the Management Board of the Organization in writing.
3.7. The members of the Management Board, the Audit Committee and employees of the Organization shall timely report any potential or existing conflict of interest in relation to any decision under consideration or planned for consideration.
Members of the Management Board, the Audit Committee and employees of the Organization shall timely declare any personal financial or other interest that may affect the performance of their duties, including ownership (by their family/members of the family, close friend/partner) of shares in businesses, enterprises or organizations.
4. Rights and obligations of employees and members of the organization
4.1. Members, employees and other persons acting on behalf of the Organization shall have the right to:
1) to provide suggestions for improving this Policy;
2) to contact the Board of the Organization for advice on the implementation of this Policy and clarifications of its provisions;
3) to report anonymously the facts of violation of this Policy;
4) not to be responsible for reporting identified or potential violations of the provisions of the Policy.
4.2. Employees and other persons acting on behalf of the Organization shall:
1) comply with the relevant requirements of the current legislation on relevant issues and this Policy, as well as ensure their practical implementation;
2) perform their direct duties taking into account the interests of the Organization;
3) immediately inform the Board of the Organization about cases of violation of the requirements of this Policy (or cases of incitement to such actions) by other employees of the Organization or other individuals or legal entities with whom the Organization has or plans to have business relations;
4) immediately inform the Board of the Organization about the emergence of a real or potential conflict of interest;
4.3. Employees and other persons acting on behalf of the Organization are prohibited from:
1) use their official powers or their position and related opportunities to obtain unlawful benefits for themselves or others;
2) use any property of the Organization or its funds in private interests without the consent of the Chairman of the Board of the Organization;
3) demand or receive any material or non-material benefit (for themselves or for close persons) in connection with the performance of their official duties, which is not provided for by the employment or other agreement between them and the Organization;
4) organize, act as an intermediary or personally make any cash or non-cash payments or settlements with the Organization’s business partners, unless such payments or settlements are provided for by applicable law;
5) directly or indirectly influence the decisions of the Organization’s employees in order to obtain any material or non-material benefit for themselves or for close persons, which is not provided for by the employment or other agreement between them and the Organization;
6) take any actions that directly or indirectly incite other employees of the Organization to violate the requirements of the Law or this Policy.
4.4. After dismissal or other termination of cooperation with the Organization, a person is prohibited from disclosing or otherwise using in his/her own interests the information (without the consent of the Chairman of the Board of the Organization) that became known to him/her in connection with the performance of his/her powers, contractual obligations, except in cases established by law.
5. Settlement of conflicts of interest in the activities of the Organization
5.1. In the event of a conflict of interest, the following measures shall be applied in the Organization:
5.1.1. Employees of the Organization and or Persons with whom a contract has been concluded shall notify their immediate supervisor or the person who concluded the contract on behalf of the Organization no later than the next business day from the date when they learned or should have learned about the existence of a real or potential conflict of interest, and shall also undertake not to take actions or make decisions under conditions of a real conflict of interest and take measures to resolve a real or potential conflict of interest.
In the event of a real or potential conflict of interest of the Chairman of the Board of the Organization, he/she shall notify the Board of the Organization in writing.
5.1.2. Within two business days after receiving a notice or independently identifying information about the existence of a real or potential conflict of interest in a person subordinate to him/her, the direct supervisor of the person or the person who entered into an agreement on behalf of the Organization shall decide on the method of resolving the conflict of interest, and notify the employee and the person with whom the agreement was concluded.
5.2. Conflicts of interest shall be resolved through one of the following measures:
5.2.1. removal of the employee or the Person with whom the agreement is concluded from performing a task, taking actions, making a decision or participating in its adoption;
5.2.2. establishment of additional control over the performance of the relevant task by the employee or the Person with whom the agreement is concluded, taking certain actions or making decisions;
5.2.3. Restriction of access of an employee or a person with whom a contract is concluded to certain information;
5.2.4. Revision of the scope of functional duties of an employee;
5.2.5. Transfer of an employee to another position;
5.2.6. Dismissal of an employee, termination of the contract.
5.3. The decision to resolve a conflict of interest in the activities of the Chairman of the Board of the Organization shall be made by the Board of the Organization.
5.4. Employees of the Organization or persons with whom a contract has been concluded may independently take measures to resolve a conflict of interest by depriving themselves of the relevant private interest.
6. Audit and control
6.1. The Organization may conduct an external audit of financial and economic activities, control over the completeness and correctness of data in accounting and compliance with the requirements of applicable law and internal regulatory documents of the Organization, including the principles and requirements established by this Policy.
6.2. As part of the internal control procedures, the Management Board of the Organization may conduct inspections of key areas of activity, including random checks of the legality of payments made, their economic feasibility, expediency of expenses, including for confirmation by primary accounting documents and compliance with the requirements of this Policy.
6.3. The risks associated with a potential conflict of interest must be taken into account when developing and approving the Organization’s internal documents.
7. Making changes
7.1. If the provisions of this Policy are found to be insufficiently effective, or if the requirements of the legislation of Ukraine change, the Management Board of the Organization initiates the development and implementation of an action plan to revise and amend this Policy.
8. 8. Responsibility
8.1. Violation of this Policy and the provisions developed for its implementation shall be grounds for bringing employees of the Organization to liability in accordance with the Charter, internal documents and the norms of the current legislation of Ukraine.
8.2. Violation of this Policy by persons with whom the Organization has entered into civil law contracts or service agreements with individual entrepreneurs shall be grounds for termination of such contracts.