gender, health & education

As global economic growth enables more and more people to climb out of poverty, it is increasingly important to ensure no vulnerable groups or individuals are left behind. The provision of equal access to health and education lies at the heart of this challenge.

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Advancing gender equality and human rights are integral principles of Alinea’s work. We strive to apply a gender-based, pro-human rights approach to the design, implementation and evaluation of all of our projects. Over the past three decades, we have implemented projects on women’s economic empowerment; violence against women and children; women’s health and reproductive rights; access to education for women, girls and vulnerable groups; women’s leadership; women’s citizenship and participation as decision-makers; peace, security and justice for women and vulnerable groups; and women’s role in governance and the public sector.

Since 1995, Alinea has been improving health and promoting well-being. Our health team includes public health, medical and nursing professionals with experience in Africa, Asia and the Americas. We collaborate with national and sub-national partners to create enabling environments for the development of sustainable policies, systems and programs that improve the health of the poor via methodologies such as: strengthening health-related systems; developing synergies and supporting partnerships; and providing training and mentoring.

Alinea has extensive experience implementing education reform worldwide. Our focus is on improving learning outcomes and sustainable livelihoods through systemic change; this includes supporting professional education management at the national and sub-national levels and improving pedagogical leadership and community participation at the school level. Education decentralization has been a major international focus over the past 30 years. Alinea draws on extensive primary, secondary, technical and university best practice experience and continues to promote inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning.

TANZANIA: Regional Maternal Newborn Child Health (RMNCH) Strengthening in Tanzania (Global Affairs Canada)

The RMNCH Strengthening in Tanzania project aims to improve maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) in the Lake Zone area by working with regional and council health management teams to strengthen health systems. Alinea is working in partnership with the University of Calgary to: provide technical assistance for health management teams on planning and management of health services, including effective use of health management information systems; provide training for facility and community-based health providers and promoters on delivering quality MNCH services; provide equipment and supplies to health facilities to improve their capacity to deliver MNCH services; and work with key community figures and local committees to improve MNCH, including the promotion of gender equality. RMNCH began working with the health management team in Misungwi and the regional health management team in Mwanza before extending its effort to Kwimba. Other key partners on this project include the Canadian Paediatric Society, Save the Mothers, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, and Catholic University of Health and Allied Science (Bugando).

JORDAN: School and Field Directorate Improvement Project (SDIP) (Global Affairs Canada)

This five-year project contributed to the Jordanian educational reform agenda by working with the Ministry of Education to develop and implement a national program for school planning and improvement in more than 3,500 schools and 41 field directorates. Through the Project, Alinea built the capacity of the Ministry, field directorates and public schools in gender mainstreaming, policy development, leadership and community engagement. Further technical assistance was provided to the Ministry to develop a national framework for monitoring and evaluating the quality of education in schools, and to develop plans for future school improvements. Results included the development of legislation on the role of school supervisors, as well as the pro-active engagement of parents and the local community in continued school improvement initiatives.

SOMALIA: Social Norms and Behaviour Change for Gender Equality in Somalia (UK DFID)

As programming in Somalia transitioned from emergency response to longer-term development, the international community was committed to ensuring that girls and women were able to participate meaningfully and benefit from the increased stability of government and state structures. Alinea provided expertise in gender and empowerment to identify and present options for innovative interventions to change social norms and motivate behaviour change in relation to women’s participation in all levels of decision-making and harmful traditional practices, including FGM. DFID Somalia was seeking innovative approaches to shift discriminatory social norms and end harmful traditional practices. Engaging men and boys, particularly in terms of increasing community support for ending harmful traditional practices, was regarded as essential to promoting durable shifts in social norms. Alinea provided a range of recommendations for future approaches to enhance gender equality.

INDONESIA: Technical Assistance for MAMPU Partners (DFAT Australia)

The MAMPU Program (2012-2020) is the Australia Government’s main vehicle to empower women and improve gender equality in Indonesia. The MAMPU Program (Bahasa Indonesia for Empowering Indonesian Women for Poverty Reduction Program) works in partnership with Indonesia’s largest women’s empowerment NGOs, developing their collective capacity and helping them to influence decision-making at multiple levels — from the village to national parliament. The Program directly and indirectly supports 108 partners at national and sub-national levels, working in almost 1,000 villages across 27 provinces. Alinea was contracted to the MAMPU Program to facilitate the NGOs (and their sub-partners) in developing their program designs for Phase 2 of the Program – covering five years from (2016-2020). Alinea supported each NGO to deliver a full design to DFAT, who undertook the final assessment and approval of funds. Alinea developed a detailed consultancy plan for the entire process that included purpose and objectives, and a facilitation plan for each step of the process, the inputs required, and the timeframes. Alinea demonstrated flexibility, agility, and understanding as it worked alongside each partner, through workshops, write-shops, and one-on-one support.

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alinea’s whistleblower policy

1.1 Purpose

The following Whistleblower Policy has been established to provide guidance to Alinea International employees and sub-contractors on how to deal with known or suspected improper conduct within the organization. The objectives of this Policy are to:

Create awareness of the Policy and available whistleblower protections
Act as a reference guide to potential whistleblowers wishing to make a disclosure
Define the structure of the whistleblower system, including reporting and investigation procedures, whistleblower protections, and confidentiality, among others
Improve the communication and transparency in the processes associated with whistleblowing and assure protection against derogatory consequences, namely reprisals and detrimental action
Complement the current communication channels between employees, sub-contractors and immediate managers, and hierarchical channels flowing to the President and Senior Management team
Provide guidance to all parties involved in either whistleblowing or whistleblower protection.

1.2 Scope

Alinea requires all employees and sub-contractors to observe high standards of business and personal ethics in the conduct of their duties and responsibilities. All employees and sub-contractors of Alinea are required to comply with applicable laws and regulations of Canada and the countries where we operate. Any allegations of known or suspected improper conduct or mismanagement of organizational resources will be dealt with in accordance with this Policy, and reasonable steps will be taken to protect those who come forward with allegations. Alinea’s Whistleblower Policy covers both internal and external whistleblowing, and establishes the controls and procedures for dealing with allegations of malpractice, fraud and violations of our code of ethics and/or laws or regulations that govern our operations. This Policy is intended to encourage employees and sub-contractors to report known or suspected improper conduct or mismanagement of organizational resources and to enable Alinea’s Senior Management team to address and correct inappropriate action. It is the responsibility of all Board of Directors’ members, the Senior Management team, employees and sub-contractors to report concerns about known or suspected malpractice, fraud and violations of our code of ethics and/or laws or regulations that govern our operations. This Policy is applicable to all employees and sub-contractors of Alinea International.

1.3 Reporting Procedures

Alinea recognizes the value of transparency and accountability in its administrative and management practices and supports the making of disclosures that reveal improper conduct or mismanagement of organizational resources. Our internal controls and operating procedures are intended to detect and prevent malpractice, fraud and violations of our code of ethics and/or laws or regulations that govern our operations. As detailed in Alinea’s Employee Policy and Onboarding manuals, employees and sub-contractors are encouraged to share complaints and/or concerns regarding ethical or legal violations with their immediate managers. If the employee or sub-contractor is not comfortable speaking with their immediate manager or is not satisfied with the response, they are encouraged to speak with the Gatineau or Calgary Office Managers, the Vice Presidents or, as required, the Chief Financial Officer. All members of the Senior Management team are required to report complaints and/or concerns about suspected ethical or legal violations in writing to Alinea’s Ethics Committee who has the responsibility to investigate all reported complaints and/or concerns. In the event that the complaint and/or concern is about the President, it should be raised by the employee or sub-contractor to their immediate manager or the Ethics Committee who will determine how the investigation will proceed. All reports will be promptly investigated and appropriate corrective measures will be taken if warranted by the investigation. Alinea’s Ethics Committee is responsible for acknowledging receipt of the suspected violation and notifying the whistleblower of the outcome of the investigation. Anyone filing a written complaint concerning suspected improper conduct or mismanagement of organizational resources must be acting in good faith and have reasonable grounds for believing the information disclosed indicates a violation. Personal grievances or complaints related to employment are not covered under Alinea’s Whistleblowing Policy. For cases such as this, employees and sub-contractors are advised to first refer to Alineas Employee Policy and Onboarding manuals when considering a disclosure under the Whistleblowing Policy. Any allegations that prove not to be substantiated and which prove to have been made maliciously or knowingly to be false will be viewed as a serious disciplinary offense.

1.4 Confidentiality

Maintaining confidentiality is crucial to ensure reprisals are not made against the whistleblower. Alinea is committed to safeguarding the identity of the whistleblower and to protecting the whistleblower against detrimental action taken in reprisal for allegations of suspected improper conduct or mismanagement of organizational resources. The Ethics Committee is responsible for ensuring whistleblowers are protected from direct and indirect detrimental action, and that the culture of the workplace is supportive of suspected allegations being made. Any employee who retaliates against someone who has reported a violation in good faith is subject to discipline up to and including termination of employment.

1.5 Review

Alinea is committed to implementing ‘best practice’ policies and procedures for dealing with allegations of suspected improper conduct or mismanagement of organizational resources (as defined by this Policy) and the management and protection of whistleblowers making allegation(s). This Policy will be reviewed periodically to ensure it meets the objectives of relevant legislation and remains effective for Alinea, and may be changed at the discretion of the Board of Directors at any time. For allegations of fraud, securities law, or human rights concerns, or when you are not satisfied or uncomfortable with following the Company’s open door policy, individuals should contact the Company’s Ethics Committee directly.

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