Our Commitment to Safeguarding
ChildFund is a global community of people who care about children, families and communities and take action to help them live at their fullest potential at every stage of their lives. We exist for children – and their voices and experiences guide everything we do. Each year, we reach millions of children and family members contending with poverty through programs that support them to create the conditions children need to thrive
We have an overarching safeguarding policy and procedure for the protection of all program participants (children, young people, and vulnerable adults) from all harm. It lays out ChildFund’s commitment to implement viable measures and actions spanning all organizational activities online and offline to prevent, detect, report, and respond appropriately to all safeguarding concerns including but not limited to physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, trafficking, exploitation, kidnapping, suicide attempts, ongoing childhood trauma and violence, that may result from the actions or inactions of ChildFund staff, partners, representatives, programs, and operations - contextualized to each country where we work
We have zero tolerance for sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, neglect, and all forms of abuse/harm to all program participants including but not limited to sexual abuse, trafficking, exploitation, kidnapping, suicide attempts, ongoing childhood trauma and violence.
We have a duty of care, to do no harm, build a safe, and trusted environment that promotes the rights, welfare, and best interests of those we work with directly or indirectly; and those under the care of the organizations we partner with.
We are committed to the safe recruitment and selection practices of staff and representatives to address and manage safeguarding risks in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. In all recruitment and selection processes, ChildFund systematically vets and screens all personnel (employees and representatives) in accordance with local laws to check for unsuitable individuals who are not onboarded as employees or representatives.
We provide ongoing awareness raising and mandatory training of staff, partners, representatives, and program participants to understand their safeguarding responsibilities and the standards of behaviour expected of them and from them; and how to recognize signs and symptoms of abuse/harm, to prevent, report and appropriately respond to all safeguarding concerns
We offer protection for the survivors, as well as whistleblowers and/or witnesses, and are committed to taking appropriate measures against any form of retaliation
We support all our implementing partners to develop and implement comprehensive safeguarding policies and procedures consistent with or more stringent than ChildFund’s safeguarding requirements. Agreements with local partner organizations and other business partners include safeguarding clauses and they are monitored for compliance
ChildFund is committed to taking corrective action in response to breach of safeguarding violations, including disciplinary action, legal or other actions against perpetrators or any other ChildFund representative aware of a violation.
Safe use of program participant's personal data and images: Children, young people, and vulnerable adults can be harmed when their personal information and images are taken and used without their explicit informed consent. ChildFund is committed to safeguarding the dignity, respect and right to confidentiality of all program participants and the consequences of shame and stigma that may result. We obtain Informed consent or permission from all program participants who primarily feature in ChildFund documented images, videos, and stories before they are published either online or in the print media. Program participants need to be fully informed of the reasons: why their personal information is being asked for or their images are being taken, where it will be used, who will have access to it, and where it’s being published.
We share our commitment to safeguarding with supporters (sponsors and other donors) so that they can align their own behaviors with this commitment, including understanding how communications between sponsors and children are managed
Safe visits to ChildFund programs/operations: Visits to programs may be undertaken by any supporter — sponsors, donors, corporations, media, celebrities, politicians, etc. All visits are coordinated by ChildFund, and a comprehensive donor visit procedure is in place to prevent the risk of harm during sponsor or donor visits
Safeguarding risk mitigation: Safeguarding risk assessments and mitigation are an integral part of every ChildFund program/project and operation. If there are any risks identified, we put in place mitigation measures to prevent or reduce the risk of harm to program participants. We conduct thorough child participation risk assessments prior to encouraging child/youth participation in programs/projects, advocacy activities/events; and develop and implement mitigation plans to prevent the risk of harm or abuse identified.
Mandatory reporting: All safeguarding concerns are reported to the safeguarding focal points through established reporting mechanisms.