Fingo is an umbrella organisation for Finnish civil society organisations that promotes the role of civil society in sustainable development in Finland and around the world. Fingo and its member organisations work to make the world more just – for everyone. We are committed to ensuring that no one is left behind, discriminated against, or harmed.
Our work is grounded in achieving the goals of development cooperation – namely, the eradication of poverty and inequality – and in implementing the UN’s 2030 Agenda in a fair manner that strengthens human rights.
Accountability is a core principle of our operations; to uphold it, we carefully monitor and evaluate our work, our operating environment, and the associated risks, and we continuously develop our expertise. In addition to legislation, our work is guided by internal operating principles, guidelines from our funders, and international regulations. We adhere to good governance in all our work.
We promote equity in all our activities. We actively review our own practices so that we can prevent, identify, and correct any potential issues.
At the societal level, we actively advocate for equality in our communications and advocacy work and share information on promoting equality with our target audiences and stakeholders. The events we organize are generally open to anyone interested in social advocacy.
Our workplace’s principles of equality and non-discrimination are outlined in Fingo’s “Equality and Non-Discrimination in Fingo’s Personnel Policy and Operations” plan and are based on valuing diversity and ensuring fair and equal treatment for all employees.
Fingo does not tolerate emotional abuse, workplace bullying, or harassment, nor does it tolerate sexual or gender-based harassment or abuse in any form. We take all allegations of harassment or abuse seriously and will take the necessary steps without delay to resolve the matter. We prevent bullying and harassment through a zero-tolerance policy and clear guidelines.
Sexual harassment, abuse, and exploitation are serious forms of misconduct. They always result in disciplinary action, the most severe of which is termination of employment at Fingo or, in the case of third parties, termination of any cooperation agreement.
The investigation of cases involving bullying, harassment, and abuse among Fingo’s staff begins primarily within the employee’s own work community. Third parties are encouraged to report such incidents immediately through Fingo’s Whistleblowing channel.
We have also made a commitment to combat racism, which we are supplementing by developing a more detailed plan to promote diversity, equality, and inclusion in our operations.
We provide training for our staff on the principles of diversity and equality, the prevention of discrimination, recognizing and addressing racism, and issues related to accessibility. We ensure that everyone in our workplace can express their opinions without fear of discrimination. In our hiring practices, we adhere to the principles of non-discrimination.
We review the language and imagery we use to ensure that they do not reinforce existing inequalities or stereotypes. We are committed to the Guidelines for Ethical Development Communications.
Fingo’s events and gatherings follow the guidelines for the principles of a safer space. The aim of these guidelines is to ensure an equal and welcoming experience for everyone participating in the event. Creating a safe space is the responsibility of all of us. If you notice violations of the principles, bring it up directly, by informing the event organizer or by email at koulutus@fingo.fi.
Principles in brief:
To ensure accessibility in our activities
We adhere to good governance in all our activities in accordance with our management and financial regulations. We put procurements out to bid and strive to favour the most ethical and environmentally friendly options possible. We also uphold the principles of transparency and non-discrimination in our procurement processes.
Our conflict-of-interest guidelines help us increase the transparency of our operations and prevent conflicts of interest. We mitigate the risk of financial misconduct through effective risk management, clear descriptions of administrative processes, and procedural guidelines. We regularly monitor and analyse the risks associated with our operations in accordance with our risk management guidelines.
We continuously review our own operations, collect data, and analyse it. We strive to learn from the results of our work and apply these lessons in our decision-making. In addition to our own monitoring, we commission more in-depth evaluations of our work from external and independent experts.
Globally, corruption is one of the most blatant phenomena undermining the realization of human rights. The purpose of Fingo’s anti-corruption programme is to prevent corruption within Fingo and in collaboration with partner organisations.
This programme applies to all Fingo’s paid and volunteer staff, as well as to partners who have access to Fingo’s funds. The programmes three key elements are: zero tolerance; the prevention, detection, and investigation of all forms of corruption; and the rectification of irregularities. It includes guidelines for situations where corruption or other misconduct is suspected.
All our cooperation and procurement agreements include provisions on the prevention and detection of corruption, as well as compliance with sanctions and trade embargoes in the operations of our contractual partners. The contracting party also commits to immediately notifying Fingo if any suspicions of corruption arise in its operations.
Our whistleblowing channel provides third parties with a confidential means to report suspicions of misconduct, violations of our operating principles, or unethical behaviour.
In our procurement, we always strive to select environmentally certified and Fair-Trade products. We serve only vegan food at our events, and World Village Festival, which we organize, offers exclusively vegetarian options. We encourage the use of public transportation and overland travel, and we strive to reduce our energy consumption. We are continuously working to make our operations more sustainable.
We are a member of Fairtrade Finland and Finnwatch, an organisation that researches the global impacts of business and promotes responsible business practices. As an employer, Fingo is a member of The Finnish Association of Private Care Providers – Hyvinvointiala Hali ry employers’ association and adheres to the collective bargaining agreement for social services organisations.