The Norwegian refugee Council (NRC) is committed to high ethical standards and transparency in all our work and to remain accountable to all internal and external stakeholders.
Our policy is to be transparent, and one element of that is that annually, by 30 June, we publish an overview of the closed corruption cases which were investigated the previous year.
NRC is subject to and will act in accordance with all applicable professional, ethical and legal requirements and the relevant donors’ regulations and procedures. This applies to all staff, contractors, and third parties engaged in delivering humanitarian assistance on NRC’s behalf.
NRC’s position on corruption:
- NRC takes a firm position against corruption in any form, and actively works to prevent, avoid and detect all forms of corruption, through a set of compliance procedures.
- NRC has zero- tolerance for inaction to all types of corruption, and acts and reacts promptly when/if corruption occurs.
- NRC staff and representatives must commit to a zero- tolerance for inaction to corruption and line managers must foster an understanding and culture where corruption is not tolerated.
- NRC staff and representatives are not allowed to provide for, request or receive anything that can be defined as corruption according to NRC’s definition of corruption.
- NRC staff and representatives who become aware of possible corruption/breaches of the Code of Conduct must report immediately to one of NRC’s whistleblowing (Speak Up) channels.
- NRC encourages open discussions of corruption in the organisation.
- NRC seeks to continuously strengthen its control framework by incorporating lessons learned from corruption cases.
During 2025, NRC investigated and closed a total of 40 corruption / misconduct cases across 18 countries. The top three categories of corruption were: (1) Fraud (40%); (2) Extortion (13%); and (3) Conflict of Interest (12%).
Of the 40 corruption/misconduct cases, 23 (58%) were substantiated on a balance of probabilities. The total confirmed financial implications are approximately 73,000 USD. All investigations were led by qualified investigations specialists under NRC’s whistleblowing framework, Speak Up. All substantiated cases are referred for disciplinary action in accordance with NRC procedures and relevant labour law.
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