LightCastle Conducts a Due Diligence Visit to Assess Organizational Capacity of Development & Humanitarian Organizations

LightCastle Partners has conducted a due diligence visit to 10 development and humanitarian organizations from May 17–22, 2023, in Cox’s Bazar. It focused on identifying the strengths and potential scope of improvement for participating organizations based on a thorough assessment of their current policies, processes, and practices.

As a part of Start Network’s efforts to strengthen the organizational capacity of international, national, and local actors involved in humanitarian action in Bangladesh, LightCastle has worked on a country-specific due diligence module to carry out the evaluation process.

The due diligence visit is a key step toward implementing the module and gaining insights into the organizations’ values, priorities, and needs.

The visiting team from LightCastle included Radi Shafiq, Portfolio Manager and Principal Business Consultant; Shubham Roy, Business Consultant; Ratul Saha, Data and Quality Assurance Manager; and Siam Bin Noor, Trainee Consultant. They held discussions with the representatives of the organizations to understand and validate their organizational structure, governance mechanisms, HR policies, financial management practices, project activities and reporting procedures, anti-corruption policies, and safeguarding measures, among others.

Furthermore, the team evaluated the organizations’ compliance with the humanitarian standards and with the requirements of the NGO Affairs Bureau and other relevant regulatory authorities.

During the visit, the participating organizations welcomed LightCastle’s input as an independent assessor body to support their growth journey. They also recognized Start Network and Start Fund Bangladesh for their collaborative efforts to spearhead the organizational strengthening initiative.

Upon consolidating the findings from the due diligence visit and related assessment, the LightCastle team will provide a set of recommendations to the organizations on achieving their capacity development goals and ensuring sustainability. In addition, the due diligence assessment will help Start Network and Start Fund Bangladesh to make informed decisions regarding potential partnerships with capable organizations on locally-led humanitarian action to serve the vulnerable communities in Bangladesh.

LightCastle’s collaboration with Start Network and Start Fund Bangladesh will foster positive changes in the emergency response and humanitarian assistance landscape of the country by developing capacity and maximizing the impact potential of international, national, and local organizations. Supported by Start Network’s localization efforts in emergency response and rapid funding mechanism, these organizations will be able to respond more effectively to the needs of the affected communities.