| “The greatness of these people who deal with the wounded and death in disaster zones all because of their passion for humanitarianism made us realise how small we were. The least we could do was to help them achieve their objective…” |
Partnering for sustainability
As a non-profit volunteer relief organisation providing medical and humanitarian services worldwide, MERCY Malaysia (MM) sought PwC’s help to enhance its governance and control framework to meet the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP) requirements.
In reading MERCY Malaysia’s (MM) documentation of their response to the Indian Ocean tsunami, a member of the team was struck by one article. It described MM volunteers tending a woman close to death, including removing the maggots from her body, just so she could die with dignity.
“The greatness of these people who deal with the wounded and death in disaster zones all because of their passion for humanitarianism made us realise how small we were,” said Wong Siew Mun, executive director leading the PwC team.
“The least we could do was help them achieve their objective – enhance governance, transparency, accountability and internal controls in order to obtain HAP certification.”
The firm leadership supported the move and gave approval for the team to continue working with MM on a pro-bono basis for sustainability and capability building.
Instead of just providing MM with a report, the team initiated an Action Prioritisation workshop attended by MM’s management to discuss and prioritise the remedial actions arising from a gap analysis.
Meanwhile, with capacity building in mind, PwC conducted a Process Mapping course for MM, followed by a workshop to apply the theory learnt in documenting the process map for disaster relief operations.
The efforts assisted MERCY Malaysia in achieving the HAP certification – a first in Asia.
MM President Datuk Dr Jemilah Mahmood has this to say: “MERCY Malaysia has been very fortunate to have PwC work with us in developing the organisation’s capacity. Although donations of funds are always welcome, what PwC has done for MM is more sustainable and allows our organisation to grow and enhance its efficiencies.”
