Affordable Health Initiative

Working Oversee Policy

Affordable Health Initiative (AHI) Trustees, employees or self-employed consultants based in England will not carry out short- or long-term research projects abroad, on behalf of the organisation. Our UK based team will not have any direct contact with beneficiaries and never be placed in personal danger, by being asked to to work in unstable countries or in areas where tropical infectious diseases are common. AHI CIO is non-political, partisan organisation and will not get involved in politics or campaigning (local or national).

All AHI CIO work abroad will be carried out by local committees who will employ local workers. AHI CIO trustees will make sure local committees follow local employment rules.

AHI CIO requires the same standards to be adopted as in England wherever a local committee is based. While such work would normally be subject to local regulations and policies of the country concerned, AHI CIO cannot allow its local staff to work to a lower standard than those required in England. AHI CIO trustees will make sure local committees follow all AHI CIO policies, even if our policies are broader than the country local guidelines. AHI CIO policies are universal and will be applied to all countries the charity operates.

AHI CIO will be deployed with beneficiaries who are vulnerable to abuse. The charity has comprehensive policies to protect all beneficiaries from abuse and runs regular appropriate checks on anyone who will be working with children and vulnerable people. This includes the following policies:

AHI CIO takes terrorism seriously and the charity trustees will be vigilant about the potential risks from terrorism. Furthermore, preventing radicalisation is part of the AHI CIO activities. In addition to these activities, trustees and local committees must be aware of the legal requirements placed on them in relation to both UK legislation and charity law so that they can properly discharge their duties in the interest of the AHI CIO. Trustees and any person working in connection to AHI CIO activities will be aware of the Charity Committee guidance on Charity and Terrorism (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/charities-and-terrorism).

AHI CIO strategy states that all money raised locally is held on bank deposit in the country of origin for the benefit the local community. AHI CIO trustees will assure that all the public funds will be spent where they were raised. All financial transactions in all countries must be transparent and available for scrutiny. In addition, AHI CIO will carry out audit trails and publish how much money has been spent and where it has been spent. All AHI CIO financial transactions in England and abroad will be carried out through the banking system instead of using cash to help preventing fraud. AHI CIO will have clear procedures setting out how to open and manage bank accounts. 

AHI CIO may enrol other local organisations, in particular schools. This is because our activities are run mainly at the school setting. Before entering into any agreements, AHI CIO trustees will ask a third part to assess the school policies and the school physical environment including health and safety policy to make sure that it is completely reliable and will not put funds at risk. The headteacher of all schools will sign the “AHI CIO School Agreement” (webpage here). Universities may independently assess the cost-effectiveness of our health promoting school. AHI CIO trustees will assure any researcher having contact with children and vulnerable people follow our policies.