Safeguarding Children
Safeguarding is a means to promote the welfare of children and young people, and to protect them from any kind of harm or abuse.
As an organisation working with children in both Colombia and the UK, safeguarding is at the heart of everything we do.
Why is safeguarding important?
Safeguarding is essential not only to protect children from harm but to also create safe environments for anyone at risk of abuse or violence. The Safeguarding Childhood study has recently highlighted that Colombia’s national plans and strategies fail to specify the necessary budgetary commitments to be able to meet their goals to target child abuse.
Consequently, we aim to prioritise key safeguarding practices. This allows us to provide key support to victims of abuse and protect vulnerable children in Colombia.
How do we safeguard children?
At Children Change Colombia, we are committed to safeguarding children to protect them from any kind of harm or abuse. We recognise our responsibility to protect and promote the welfare of all children and young people and to minimise any harm that may occur inadvertently from any of our or our partners’ activities. This commitment is shared with our staff, volunteers, partners, and all other agencies involved in our work.
We have implemented strong safeguarding and child protection policies to ensure this is central to everything we do. In March 2021, we officially joined the Keeping Children Safe network. This independent non-profit organisation sets International Child Safeguarding Standards to help organisations protect children from abuse.
Recruitment
- All of our staff and volunteers undergo strict background checks as part of our recruitment process.
- We have appointed a designated Safeguarding Officer and a lead board member for safeguarding.
Training
- All of our staff and volunteers complete compulsory training, regardless of whether they work directly with children and young people on our projects.
- We attend sessions held by Keeping Children Safe to help us to identify safeguarding best practices and to work together to advocate for stronger child safeguarding measures around the world.
Procedures
- All of our staff and volunteers complete compulsory training, regardless of whether they work directly with children and young people on our projects.
- We attend sessions held by Keeping Children Safe to help us to identify safeguarding best practices and to work together to advocate for stronger child safeguarding measures around the world.
