The second part of the Compliance Series by Digni and the Swedish Mission Council (SMC) took place at the end of March 2026. Two hundred participants from over 45 countries attended.
Miriam Mondragon, SMC’s Coordinator for organisation, network and digital transformation, and Stein Ole Kolstad Varhaug, Controller in Digni, are satisfied after three intensive course days.
– As donors managing public funds, we see the need for strengthened internal controls and a greater focus on compliance within our partner organisations, says Stein Ole Kolstad Varhaug, the course facilitator. He continues:
– What inspires me about these courses is that the participants are eager to learn how they can practically move forward, not just to meet donor requirements, but because they want to improve the financial management of their organisation. If we can provide them with specific tools for their everyday work, I am happy.
Compliance Series 2 focused more in depth on financial management topics highlighted in Compliance Series 1, as well as on developing whistleblowing channels and Complaints and Response Mechanisms.
– And then, of course, repetition, says Mondragon, because repetition is the mother of all knowledge.
Cooperation between Norway and Sweden
While SMC stood for all the planning and preparation of Läkarmissionen’s studio, Digni developed the course content and conducted the training sessions. Mondragon and Varhaug facilitated from the studio together, and agree that they have found a “sweet spot” with the Compliance Series:
– The requirements for organisations handling funds from either Sida or Norad are quite similar. The collaboration between Digni and SMC has been crucial for such a successful course. This should also serve as a reminder to Scandinavian organisations to cooperate more.
Mondragon adds that training on difficult topics such as whistleblowing and complaints needs to be dealt with in a very serious way. Still, it is important that webinars are interactive and easy to follow with practical cases and examples from partner’s daily work.
Practical cases and examples
The Compliance Series is developed based on experiences from partner’s work. Participants’ engagement was evident in their impressive delivery of homework tasks, where they should develop their own Complaints and Response Mechanism, as well as dealing with an incoming complaint.
Varhaug lights up when asked about the participants’ feedback:
– The feedback related to both the course facilitation and the content is overwhelmingly positive. 98 % of participants found the course relevant or very relevant. However, the feedback that “Stein Ole is always taking from the field side” is what touches me most.