MSF-Canada Reporting Hotline

The MSF Canada Reporting Hotline is a practical mechanism put in place by MSF Canada to identify, track, and pursue staff reports of MSF policy violations. The hotline platform is hosted by Clearview Connects, an external service provider.

The hotline can be used by all MSF-Canada office volunteers and staff—including current and former staff, International Mobile Staff, hosted staff—and members of the MSF Canada Association.

The MSF Canada hotline is designed to facilitate reporting of violations of MSF policies, both domestic and international. These include but are not limited to violations of the MSF Behavioral Commitments  and the MSF Charter . Examples of violations include discrimination, harassment, financial misconduct, theft or misappropriation of resources, abuse of power, and assault. Hotline reporting can be used for yourself or as a proxy, to report something you have witnessed or to submit a report on behalf of another person. Inappropriate behavior needs to be addressed to be changed, and that means we (MSF staff) are all responsible for reporting.

We still encourage you to address issues directly with a manager, the Human Resources department, Country Coordination, or via the Operational Center (OC) reporting lines.  However, the MSF Canada Reporting Hotline is available in case you may want to report outside of regular line management or traditional OC channels. We recognize that reporting can be an intimidating process and that many people have concerns about retaliation. As such, our goal is for this hotline to increase transparency, access to information and support for those coming forward. In some instances, you may want to use both the hotline and regular management channels to submit a report. It is important that reports of violations are submitted so that allegations may be thoroughly investigated by the relevant MSF entity. 

The MSF Canada Reporting Hotline is an independent service that can be used instead of or in addition to OC reporting lines or reporting directly to HR in Toronto. The hotline platform allows for reports to be made outside of regular MSF channels by facilitating direct communication with HR in the Toronto office. Potential complainants can make contact with the hotline anonymously, and communication can continue with anonymity on the hotline platform. The hotline platform also aggregates, processes, and tracks reports, allowing us to develop a coherent statistical picture of hotline use.

The hotline is a reporting, consultation and support mechanism, not an investigative or sanctioning mechanism. This means that reports made on the hotline are still investigated through the same routes as reports filed in person. That is to say:

• Reports filed about incidents in the field will be routed to the relevant OCs for investigation;
• Reports concerning incidents at OC headquarters, partner sections outside Canada, official meetings, conferences, etc. will likewise be routed to the hosting MSF entity for investigation;
• Reports for incidents in Canada will be referred to the appropriate HQ HR department for investigation. 

You can access the hotline 24/7 at here.
Phone: 1.855.894.2502

The hotline allows a user to communicate anonymously with the HR department at MSF Canada. MSF Canada makes every effort to protect confidentiality while responding to reports. However, in some instances, it may not be possible to take full action on a report without the reporting party identifying themselves.

MSF Canada takes the safety and wellbeing of its people very seriously, and recognizes that people reporting abuses of power may have very serious concerns for retaliation. For this reason, procedure around reporting and investigation are very intentionally geared towards the safety of the complainant.

Reporting parties should understand that details in their report may result in the unintended (deductive) disclosure of their identities.

Once a report is filed, a unique report number is issued. Using the report number, it’s possible to check the status of the report anytime via the hotline platform or telephone.

Reports made to the MSF Canada hotline are tracked by unique case file numbers. Users submitting reports will be informed of case status and outcomes.

As each case has a unique report number, MSF Canada can contact anonymous reporters using the case number and request additional information via the hotline platform.

Users may also provide additional information and documentation to an existing report via the hotline platform.

The team at MSF Canada decided that an independent, third-party platform provided the best technical solution to process sensitive information from across a large international organization. We want to ensure that staff have a safe and secure platform when they need to report violations of our policies.

When you report, your details are accessed by the HR Director and the HR Advisor for Responsible Behaviour at MSF-Canada and cases remain strictly confidential.

They do not have any access to the identities of the reporting party if the user has chosen anonymity.