Whistleblowing

GIZ’s whistleblowing system

Any violation of a law, internal rule or personal commitment can cause harm – to people outside the company, to an individual GIZ employee or to GIZ as a company. 

GIZ's whistleblowing system is a vital early warning system for identifying potential grievances and initiating effective countermeasures. The objective is to avert or minimise possible damage within or outside the company as early as possible, which may result from the misconduct of individuals or from errors in the system. 

Whistleblowing 

We encourage all of you to report any legal violations or rule-breaking that is relevant to the work of GIZ. To make this possible, GIZ has set up an extensive whistleblowing system, which you can use to submit reports, especially on the following:

• Corruption and bribery
• Misappropriation, fraud and embezzlement
• Conflicts of interest 
• Sexual misconduct and sexual exploitation
• Violations of human rights
• Violations of environment-related obligations (violations of environmental law)

GIZ always follows up on all grievances reported and ensures they are investigated resolutely and fairly. For this purpose, a standardised and transparent processing procedure with deadlines was developed. GIZ also does all it can to ensure there are no negative repercussions for the whistleblower, provided there was no wrongdoing on the part of the informant.

Reporting channels

The whistleblower system offers the following reporting channels that can be used anonymously if required:  

• The online whistleblower portal can be used at any time of day, anywhere in the world, and is available in several languages. It can be used to anonymously report suspected infringements and to communicate in accordance with the highest security standards, without being required to provide an email address or telephone number.
  Link to the online whistleblower portal: https://www.giz.de/tell-us 
• Violations of laws and regulations related to GIZ’s work can also be reported to Compliance and Integrity Advisory Services by email:  Compliance-mailbox@giz.de
• Information or complaints concerning discrimination and sexual misconduct can be reported in confidence to stop-it@giz.de. This address can also be used to report infringements of the German General Act on Equal Treatment (AGG) to GIZ’s complaints committee.

An external ombudsman is available as a point of contact outside the company. He has a duty of confidentiality vis-à-vis the company by virtue of his role as a lawyer and collects confidential evidence of compliance infringements. He will contact the company and communicate the evidence to GIZ only with prior approval from the whistleblower. This too can be provided anonymously if required.

GIZ’s external ombudsman:  
Email: ombudsmann@ra-js.de 
Tel.: Edgar Joussen, +49 30 3151870
Post: Rechtsanwalt Dr Edgar Joussen, Bleibtreustr. 1, 10623 Berlin, Germany
Internet: www.ra-js.de

Tips for whistleblowing 

Information can be processed most effectively if the matter at hand is described as conclusively as possible. Informants can use the following questions to help them describe the matter they wish to report on: 

• What kind of violation/breach has taken place? 
• How was it perpetrated?
• Who did it (person(s), name of company/ies)
• Where did the incident take place (project name, place, country)?
• When did the incidence take place (time, date)?
• What proof/indication is there to support your assertion?