Policies

We are a Foundation accountable under Swiss law and recognised by Switzerland as an international organisation. We are governed by a set of independent, voluntary Board members. We follow Statutes and Bylaws which set out the aims, principles and structure of the Foundation. These statutory documents define the different organs of the Foundation, such as the Board, the Partnership Council and the Secretariat. They clearly specify the function and composition of the Board, the appointment and selection criteria of Board members, the requirements for the appointment of members of the Partnership Council, as well as the functioning of the Secretariat. 

The Principles of Engagement articulate GAIN’s values and guide whom GAIN will work with, whether as a recipient of funding, partner, donor or collaborator in any other ways. The principles underpin GAIN’s commitment to global public values, i.e. acting with respect for the individual, following good business practices, and doing no harm through our programmes and projects.

GAIN is committed to promoting and maintaining best practices in its everyday operations. We expect the highest standards of conduct from all staff and interns. Our Code of Conduct sets out standards consistent with our core values, and with our vision and mission. The Code is organised in five chapters, each of which contains a set of basic standards of conduct: communities, people, partners, reputation, resources.

Each staff member remains responsible and accountable for exercising reasonable judgment and, when in doubt, for seeking and obtaining guidance.

The programmes and projects that GAIN funds through grants address the needs of vulnerable communities and groups. The aim of this policy is to promote and ensure the safeguarding of vulnerable persons directly served by GAIN and its partners, as well as to ensure that any abuse of vulnerable persons that occurs in the context of GAIN’s programmes and projects is reported and addressed.

The purpose of this policy is to communicate to all GAIN employees that GAIN believes in ensuring a positive and professional working environment and will not tolerate any form of harassment or bullying behaviour under any circumstances.

All employees have the right to a safe, healthy work environment; one where people are treated with respect and dignity and one that is free from bullying and harassment.

GAIN is committed to creating and maintaining a working environment free from hostility - a place in which individuals can feel valued for their contribution and can develop to their full potential. Our organisational values of Teamwork, Innovation, Passion and Excellence must be clearly demonstrated in everything we do, including in our behavior and interaction with others.

GAIN expects all staff, volunteers, partners, interns and consultants to treat each other professionally and with respect, in a manner which recognises everyone’s right to dignity at work. Any behaviour that undermines this is unacceptable.

Ensuring an environment free from all forms of bullying and harassment is the responsibility of every person who works at GAIN. 

Respect and dignity require an organisation to have and maintain a certain behavioural culture. This policy has been designed to inform employees about the type of behaviour that is unacceptable, and provides employees who are the victims of such unacceptable behaviour, ie harassment and bullying, with a means of redress.

GAIN believes that knowledge, data, results and innovations resulting from its programmes should be shared and communicated effectively to serve the objectives of the global health community.

Through this policy, GAIN affirms its commitment to the principle of global access as the driving force in intellectual property management.

GAIN will seek to emphasise and achieve the following outcomes in any situation involving the identification or management of intellectual property:

• prompt dissemination of knowledge generated through GAIN’s projects to the scientific community or the public; and
• facilitated access to products generated through research, product development, technologies or innovations to the people most in need in developing countries.

This Risk management policy forms part of GAIN’s governance and control arrangements.

Risk management is not an isolated activity. It is one element - together with planning, project and performance management - of effective governance. The focus is on those risks that could disrupt the achievement of the GAIN strategy.

The purpose of this policy and the supporting guidance is to establish GAIN’s underlying approach to risk management by clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the Board of Directors, the Finance and Audit Committee, Senior Management and other staff. It also describes the context for risk management as part of the overall system of internal controls and arrangements for periodic review. It aims to support those staff with particular involvement in anticipating, assessing and managing risks, so that they can take timely and well-founded risk-informed decisions.

GAIN is committed to protecting the rights and freedoms of all its stakeholders and safely and securely processing their data in accordance with legal obligations. We hold personal data about our employees, partners, suppliers and other individuals for a variety of business purposes.

The Data protection policy sets out how we seek to protect personal data and ensure that GAIN staff understand the rules governing the use of the personal data to which they have access in the course of their work. We will not hold personal information about individuals without their knowledge and consent.

At GAIN we aim to have a diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace: where all staff, whatever their gender, race, ethnicity/national origin, age, sexual orientation or identity, education, disability or religious belief feel valued and respected. We respect and value diverse life experiences and heritages and are committed to promoting and providing equal opportunity in employment and avoiding discrimination at recruitment and during employment.

GAIN recognises that a diverse workforce makes an essential contribution to the success of its programmes and to its ability to reduce malnutrition through sustainable strategies aimed at improving the health and nutrition of populations at risk. Drawing on the different perspectives and experiences of many individuals will add value to GAIN’s core business.

Issues of diversity (where everyone is invited), inclusion (where everyone contributes) and equity (where results and benefits are distributed fairly) are intrinsically and instrumentally important for preventing and addressing malnutrition. We are fully aware of this and seek to live this knowledge through our shared values.

The aim of the policy is to communicate the commitment of the organisation to the promotion of equality of opportunity in GAIN amongst its employees, and its relationships with other stakeholders.

The new task force will benchmark GAIN’s approach to diversity, equity and inclusion compared to other organisations, it will review GAIN’s written policies as well as our everyday processes and practices, and it will listen and learn from staff through survey and focus group explorations designed to get a nuanced view of what it is like to work at GAIN and what we can do to make it more empowering for all.

Gender relations and the unequal power held by men and women affect and are affected by interactions within households, communities, markets, and food systems. Indeed, gender inequality and women’s disempowerment are root causes of malnutrition. Furthering gender equity is thus central to achieving GAIN’s goal of improving nutrition, particularly for the most vulnerable. However, GAIN’s programmes currently have too limited a gender focus: while some have implicit gender objectives, others do not consider the ways in which they impact or may be impacted by the social relations between men and women, girls and boys. This lessens their potential effectiveness and sustainability. 

Through this revised strategy, GAIN therefore seeks to make all its programmes gender aware and, where relevant and feasible, move towards gender-sensitive or gender-transformative programming - always with the end goal of improving nutrition.