It is important that organisations working directly with children, or supporting projects that might have an impact on the safety of children, have a Child Safeguarding and Protection Policy. The aim of such policy is to help prevent any harm that might be caused intentionally or inadvertently to children. This means preventing people in your organisation, including staff, volunteers, consultants, contractors, etc. as well as those connected to projects you fund or support in another way, from committing child abuse. In addition, it will help ensure the projects you directly run, or indirectly support, do not cause harm to children. Without clear written policies and procedures on child safeguarding and protection, it may be difficult for those who are associated with your organisation, or partners who you support, to know how to prevent harm to children, and what they should do to respond appropriately and consistently when concerns are raised.
The “Guidance: How to develop a Child Safeguarding and Protection Policy for your organisation,” has been written with the aim of helping your organisation take steps to prevent children being harmed. To do this, the guide provides a brief description of:
- What is meant by child safeguarding and child protection
- What should be included in your organisation’s Child Safeguarding and Protection Policy
- Some ideas and tools for planning and implementing a Child Safeguarding and Protection Policy
The guide is split into sections. Some sections provide information relevant to internal procedures within your own organisation whilst others are appliable to working with partners. The development of an organisation’s Child Safeguarding and Protection Policy is the responsibility of management but should involve different stakeholders, including children themselves. Your organisation might already have a Child Safeguarding and/or Child Protection Policy in which case, this document might help in assessing the strength of the Policy and whether any changes are required.
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