Consideration of accreditation proposals and activities – Addendum VIII Accreditation assessment of APL180

The GCF Accreditation Panel recommends the accreditation of HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation (APL180) for 'small' individual projects with a maximum environmental and social risk category of medium risk (category B/I-2). The assessment found that Helvetas fully meets most fiduciary, environmental, social, and gender standards, though it partially meets basic fiduciary standards due to gaps in internal audit quality assessment and the public disclosure of investigative guidelines. Helvetas is recommended for accreditation provided it meets specific conditions regarding the publication of its investigation terms of reference and the delivery of an external quality assessment of its internal audit function.

• The Accreditation Panel recommends accrediting HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation for 'small' projects, defined as those with total projected costs above USD 10 million and up to USD 50 million.
• Helvetas is recommended for accreditation with a maximum environmental and social risk category of medium risk (category B/intermediation 2 (I-2)).
• The applicant is found to partially meet basic fiduciary standards because it has not implemented external quality assessments for its internal audit function and has not published details of its investigative process and Case Management Unit terms of reference.
• Helvetas demonstrates a strong commitment to climate-resilient development, targeting climate-responsive interventions to represent at least 40 per cent of its total programme volume by 2028, with a goal of full responsiveness by 2040.
• The organization's Environmental and Social Safeguards Management (ESSM) Policy, revised in 2022, explicitly adopts International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standards 1–8.
• Helvetas has established a gender strategy through its Gender and Social Equity (GSE) policy (2022) and the GSE Diamonds framework, with women representing 57 per cent of headquarters staff and 40.3 per cent of country office staff as of December 2025.
• The applicant's project management and grant-awarding mechanisms were found to fully meet the specialized fiduciary standards, supported by a track record of implementing multi-year programmes in regions including Eurasia, the Western Balkans, and Ethiopia.
• Helvetas utilizes an independent external reporting channel called Safecall for its grievance redress mechanism, which supports complaints in more than 170 languages.

APA

Green Climate Fund (2026). Consideration of accreditation proposals and activities – Addendum VIII Accreditation assessment of APL180. https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/documents/2026-06/12-consideration-accreditation-proposals-and-activities-addendum-viii-helvetas-gcf-b45-03-add08.pdf

Chicago

Green Climate Fund. Consideration of accreditation proposals and activities – Addendum VIII Accreditation assessment of APL180. 2026. https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/documents/2026-06/12-consideration-accreditation-proposals-and-activities-addendum-viii-helvetas-gcf-b45-03-add08.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Green Climate Fund |title=Consideration of accreditation proposals and activities – Addendum VIII Accreditation assessment of APL180 |date=8 June 2026 |url=https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/documents/2026-06/12-consideration-accreditation-proposals-and-activities-addendum-viii-helvetas-gcf-b45-03-add08.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greenclimatefund2026consideration, author = {{Green Climate Fund}}, title = {{Consideration of accreditation proposals and activities – Addendum VIII Accreditation assessment of APL180}}, institution = {Green Climate Fund}, year = {2026}, month = jun, url = {https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/documents/2026-06/12-consideration-accreditation-proposals-and-activities-addendum-viii-helvetas-gcf-b45-03-add08.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }