Child Protection Policy

INTRODUCTION

In any organization where the primary beneficiaries include children, all people involved in organizing the activities represent key actors in making sure the children take part in safe, inclusive and accessible spaces and activities. “Împreună” Agency is no exception when it comes to our commitment to keeping the children safe during our activities, projects or others matters concerning them. For ease of reference, we will refer to employees, volunteers, partners and external collaborators as personnel.

This policy outlines our commitment to safeguarding all children who come into contact with our organization, irrespective of ability, ethnicity, faith, gender, sexuality and culture. We are committed to ensuring that all children feel safe, respected, and protected from harm when participating in our activities, when our organization has an impact in their community, as well as in everyday interactions inside and outside work.

POLICY STATEMENT

We strongly believe and actively act towards keeping children safe from harm, both as part of our organization’s work philosophy when approaching schools and communities, and as individuals promoting healthy and harmonious development for all children.

„Împreună” Agency’s mission is to help build inclusive, diverse, well developed communities and school environments based on mutual understanding, interculturality, solidarity and empathy. This mission can only be accomplished by addressing school children directly, as well as through community development impacting on every children’s well-being in meaningful, long-lasting, positive and irreversible ways.

As such, we try to take every possible step for preventing and reducing harm to children since we acknowledge and are keenly aware, from over 20 years of experience in the field, of the possible harms and outcomes neglect, abuse, exploitation and exclusion has to children’s development, and in turn, to the community as a whole.

TAILORING OUR APPROACH

We recognize that safeguarding children is a complex issue and that there are many different types of abuse, including physical, emotional, sexual abuse, neglect and exploitation. We also recognize that safeguarding risks can vary according to the individual child and that the means of addressing risks may also vary. Many Roma children face increased exclusion and discrimination both outside and inside the school, as well as having larger barriers than non-Roma in accessing basic services, such as health, education, adequate housing or even safe play grounds. As such, we try to tailor our approaches to the necessities of each school, community and children, paying special attention to Roma-specific issues, such as racism and increased risk of marginalization.

STEPS FOR INSURING CHILDREN SAFEGUARDING

We will now briefly present some of the steps “Împreună” Agency takes in order to make sure no harm is done to children in the schools and communities we interact with, directly or indirectly:

a. We carry out regular risk assessments to identify potential risks to children. We take all reasonable steps to mitigate those risks, including implementing appropriate safeguarding measures and procedures.

b. We undertake robust recruitment procedures to ensure that all staff, volunteers and associates who work with children have been screened and vetted appropriately, including undertaking background checks and providing appropriate references.

c. We provide a code of conduct for all staff, volunteers and associates that sets out expected behaviours and responsibilities. We ensure that all staff, volunteers and associates understand the importance of safeguarding and their responsibility to prevent harm to children, inside and outside the workplace.

d. We provide appropriate training and support to all staff, volunteers and associates to ensure they have the knowledge and skills necessary to safeguard children effectively.

e. We design all programmes and activities with the safety and well-being of children in mind, including considering potential risks and specific challenges to segregated or ethnically diverse schools and communities.

f. We provide clear guidelines and communications to all staff, volunteers and associates about their responsibilities with regards to safeguarding children.

g. We ensure that all managers and senior staff have clear responsibilities and accountability for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, as well as taking an active and central role in promoting the code of conduct and training to everyone in our organization.

h. We have clear procedures for reporting and responding to concerns about child safeguarding. We will provide confidential reporting mechanisms for staff and volunteers to raise concerns about safeguarding issues, as well as for beneficiaries who might be witness or subject to harm or risks of harm.

i. We regularly review and update our child safeguarding policy to ensure it remains up-to-date and effective.

Regarding media and communication, our procedure stipulates 2 principles:
• Accuracy: The portrayal of children must not be manipulated or sensationalized in any way. Images and stories should provide a balanced depiction of the child’s life and circumstances, balancing negatives with empowering images or showing the progress that children are making. Communications should avoid making generalizations, which do not accurately reflect the nature of the situation and pictures should not be taken and used out of context.
• Privacy: Any information that could be used to identify a child or put them at risk will not be used. We will ensure that only use first names of children: be careful not to reveal details about the place where they live, their school and other information to would lead to their place of residence and the recorded images will focus on an activity and, where possible, feature groups of children rather than individuals.

EXTERNAL IMPLEMENTATION OF SAFE GUARDS

In our foundation, there is always one person for each activity in charge in making sure that the matters of this policy are respected and correctly implemented. For external activities (that are happening without the direct supervision of employees) there is always one person in charge with this task. For delegation, camps, outdoor activities or other types which span for multiple days, personnel is tasked with the role of “safe person”, a person who can be easily approached or contacted during the activities by the beneficiaries to report any suspicion of misconduct that has the potential to endanger the children, their personal well-being or make them feel uncomfortable. Additionally, any employee, volunteer, partner or external collaborator should report any concern in regard to the well-being and integrity of the beneficiaries.

The children, parents/legal guardians, as well as teachers, local coordinators and other relevant actors are informed of our commitment to keeping children safe at the start of each project. Prior to the start of project/specific activities, children and their parents/legal guardians are informed of the data collected, and photos/videos that could be taken. Their agreement, along with other clauses, fall under the EU GDPR, which the parent/legal guardian agrees to. At any point, without offering a reason, the child, parent/legal guardian can withdraw their agreement for the data collection, photos or videos taken at any time, in accordance to the European and national regulation.

Data and identity protection play a big part in assuring all the safety standards for our beneficiaries, thus, only authorized personnel are allowed to access and operate with it. All data collected, as well as agreements, attendance list are kept in a secure and orderly fashion.

INTERNAL IMPLEMENTATION OF SAFE GUARDS

All personnel benefit from a training or briefing on this specific topic and are required to sign the agreement which includes the clauses of this policy. Upon recruitment, new personnel are provided with a printed copy of this policy and the agreement above mentioned which they must commit to, as a condition of employment/recruitment. New members of our foundation are trained on this matter as well as on other relevant topics within the first 3 weeks of their activity.

When it comes to the selection process, we include in our interview guides specific question to evaluate the candidate ability to work with children while also performing background checks from multiple sources, (such as criminal records, references from past employers etc.). Probation periods are frequently implemented to assess the full range of skills of the new employee as well as their ability to work and create safe environments for children. This applies as well to all other types of personnel, not exclusively to the paid staff.

Management is a key pillar in making sure that all the policies keeping children safe are correctly implemented and respected. The managerial staff has the role to promote and raise awareness over our policy and act as a source of support and information for all personnel, beneficiaries and parents/legal guardians.

ACCOUNTABILITY

If any suspicion or reports of misconduct in regards to any personnel comes from any source, an internal investigation is started and the person in cause is suspended from any activity which involve children or their data. If reports hold true, the personnel contract is immediately terminated and competent authorities are informed.

As stated at the begging of the policy paper, we continuously review and assess our policies in order to keep the children safe and provide an inclusive and diverse environment. We perform regular monitoring and evaluation of our implementation, project by project, and we are committed to learning from practical cases and experiences. We constantly communicate any changes, progress or concern to all personnel as well as to the other partners or whomever might request it.

CONCLUSION

This policy provides an overarching commitment to preventing harm to children and promoting their welfare. We recognize that having a child safeguarding policy does not mean that all harm to children is eliminated, but it does mean that we will do everything possible to minimize risk and address concerns and incidents appropriately when they arise. „Împreună” Agency strongly believes that safeguarding children is everyone’s responsibility and we are committed to working together to achieve this goal.