SAFEGUARDING AND CHILD PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS

Protecting people and safeguarding responsibilities must be a governance priority for every Karmakar Foundation grantee.

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Your safeguarding and child protection policies and procedures are an important part of protecting children and young people. They must be supported by good governance, health and safety, financial management, staff supervision and management.

Children have the right to be protected from harm. If your organisation or group works with children or young people you must have a clear set of guidelines about how you will:

  • Keep children safe
  • Respond to child protection concerns

Safeguarding and child protection is everyone’s responsibility. Your organisation’s policies must apply to all staff, volunteers, trustees and anyone else affiliated with your organisation. Your policies must be consistent with the procedures relevant to local safeguarding regulations, as well as international norms and standards for child protection. Policy and procedures should apply to extended school and off-site activities.

The Karmakar Foundation must have copies of your must recent policies, and will often request follow-up reporting from grantees. For any assistance in developing or updating your policy, our program officers can refer you to reliable sources.

What is a safeguarding policy statement?

A safeguarding or child protection policy statement makes it clear what your organisation or group will do to keep children safe.

It should set out:

  • your organisation’s commitment to protecting all children;
  • and the detailed policies and procedures your organisation will put in place to keep children safe and respond to child protection concerns.

Definitions

Safeguarding

Safeguarding is the responsibility that an organisation has to ensure that their employees and volunteers, partners, vendors, operations and programmes do no harm to children, young people or vulnerable adults; that they do not expose them to the risk of discrimination, neglect, harm and abuse; and that any concerns the organisation has about the safety of vulnerable people within the communities in which they work, are dealt with and reported to the appropriate authorities. It is also the responsibility that the organisation has for protecting its employees and volunteers when they are vulnerable, for example, when ill or at risk of harm or abuse.

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children means:

  • protecting children from maltreatment;
  • preventing impairment of children’s health or development;
  • ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care;
  • and taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

Child Protection

Child protection is a central part of, but not separate to, safeguarding. It is the process of protecting individual children identified as either suffering or at risk of significant harm as a result of abuse or programme of work. It also includes measures and structures designed to prevent and respond to abuse. Over recent years, there has been increasing recognition of the way in which children, young people and vulnerable adults can be at risk of discrimination, neglect, abuse and exploitation by those who are in positions of trust and power over them, including through international development activities. As a consequence, there has been a significant increase in the efforts made by development organisations to ensure that no harm results from the contact their employees, volunteers and other representatives have with their target populations or communities.

Child protection refers to activities undertaken to prevent children suffering, or being likely to suffer, significant harm. Abuse is a form of maltreatment of a child and may involve inflicting harm or failing to act to prevent harm. Neglect is a form of abuse and is the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development.

References to ‘children’ or ‘child’ includes everyone under the age of 18.

Expectations of Applications

We expect all applicant to ensure their organisation is fully prepared to protect children, and safeguard against harm. This includes:

  • appropriate policies and procedures in place, which are followed by all trustees, staff, volunteers and beneficiaries;
  • background checks that people are suitable to act in their roles;
  • understanding of how to spot and handle concerns in a full and open manner;
  • ensuring all staff are aware of, and understand fully their statutory responsibilities with respect to safeguarding;
  • proper training for staff to recognise and report safeguarding issues;
  • taking appropriate action in a timely manner to safeguard and promote children’s welfare;
  • having a clear system of referring or reporting to relevant organisations as soon as concerns are suspected or identified;
  • reviewing risks and how they will be managed in a risk register which is regularly reviewed;
  • following statutory guidance, best practice guidance and legislation relevant to their organisation;
  • not ignoring harm or downplaying failures;
  • making sure protecting people from harm is central to its culture;
  • having enough resources, including trained staff/volunteers/trustees for safeguarding and protecting people;
  • and conducting periodic reviews of safeguarding policies, procedures and practice.