Viwango certification Process
Step by step process
1.Application for certification by the CSO to Viwango
A CSO wishing to get certified will fill an application form, Application forms are available via the
website . The completed application form will be signed by the Chair of the Board and the designated
authority head of the organisation. Receipt of the application, document checklist and payment
confirmation
2. After submission of the application and the organisation is found eligible, A virtual call is done with the CSO for the purpose of introducing the Assessor to the CSO, sharing the complete package of certification materials.
3. Organisation Capacity Self-Assessment by the CSO.
At this stage the organisation will conduct a capacity self-assessment. It will compile and gather
information and documentation that provides evidence of compliance with all the standards and
produce a self-assessment report. CSOs are instructed to prepare and organize documentation
materials to aid assessors in quickly location the right evidence of compliance and in identifying
questions that need to be resolved during the organizational review visit. These are uploaded to One Drive for the Desk review.
4. Desk Assessment by Viwango
Viwango will conduct the desk assessment of the CSOs operations, policies, systems and capacities and compile a desk assessment report. At this stage, a preliminary judgement about whether the COS meets the certification standards will be made. If a recommendation is made to continue to the organizational review stage, the CSO will have at least six weeks from receiving the desk assessment report to to prepare for the organisation review.
5. Organisation Review by Viwango
The organizational review visit is the most important aspect of the certification process as it gathers and verifies information regarding the compliance of the CSO with the KCSO standards. The review visit (in person) usually involves a two- or three-day visit to the CSO’s head office. The virtual review will take longer as it requires scheduled calls to be made with relevant stakeholders in the process and can take up to a week.
Once a recommendation from the desk review is made to proceed with the organisation review visit, Viwango contacts the CSO with information about possible dates and general schedule for the organisational review visit and the composition of the assessment team. The assessment team is given access to the desk – assessment results, the review visit schedule or plan, and any other materials provided by the CSO.
When the team arrives on-site, an orientation is provided by the CSO ; the CSO contact person
coordinates on site activities with the assessment team leader . This team completes it work,
providing an opportunity to the CSO before completing the review to provide additional information and complete a CSO feedback form. The team reports its findings in an exit briefing with the head of the organisation and key staff prior to departure from the site.
6. Organisational review report
A report will be prepared and provided to the CSO for comment before being submitted to the Certification Council. The CSO may prepare a response or comments regarding the assessment report to be included in materials to be reviewed by the Certification Council. The assessment team may or may not make amendments to the report upon comments received by the CSO.
7. Technical Team review
The secretariat, assessors and one or two external members to moderate the reports prior to presentation to the Certification Council.
8. Certification Council Review
The assessment team provides its findings to Viwango in an organisational review report that includes the team’s findings as to compliance with references to key supporting documentation. The Certification Council renders one of the following recommendations to the board:
• Denial
• Certification
• Cancellation of certification
The Certification Council’s recommendation is forwarded to the Viwango Board for approval. If the CSO is certified, the Board provides a letter, a certificate and other visibility materials. If certification is denied, the CSO will be informed of the reasons for this decision.
Following an adverse decision by the Viwango Certification Council, a CSO may not apply for
certification again before the expiry of one year from the date of the decision. The CSO is free to
dispute the Council’s decision which should be done in writing.
9. Post Review OCA evaluation survey
10. Monitoring of the Organisation
11. Maintenance of Certification by the CSO
After certification is achieved, certified CSOs are expected to maintain compliance with the standards and keep evidence of compliance up to date. Each CSO will be required to complete and file with the Viwango and annual maintenance report. A certified CSO must operate in compliance with standards and strive to continually improve its level of compliance. Certification is valid with the standards and strive to continually improve its level of compliance. Certification is valid got three (3) years from issuance of the certificate, after which the entity may apply for re- certification. Re- certification process involves the same steps as the original application process.
