Child Protection Policy

The purpose of this policy is to protect people, particularly children, at risk adults and beneficiaries of assistance, from any harm.

Child Protection Policy

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to protect people, particularly children, at risk adults and beneficiaries of assistance, from any harm that may be caused due to their coming into contact with the Malki Foundation and American Friends of Keren Malki Inc. (“the MF Entities”). This includes harm arising from:

• The conduct of staff or personnel associated with the MF Entities
• The design and implementation of the MF Entities’ programs and activities

The policy lays out the commitments made by the MF Entities and informs staff and associated personnel of their responsibilities in relation to safeguarding. This policy does not cover:

  • Sexual harassment in the workplace
  • Safeguarding concerns in the wider community not perpetrated by the Malki Foundation or associated personnel

What is Safeguarding?

Safeguarding means protecting peoples’ health, well-being and human rights, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. We understand it to mean protecting people, including children and at-risk adults, from harm that arises from coming into contact with our staff or programs.

Scope

  • All staff contracted by the MF Entities
  • Associated personnel whilst engaged with work or visits related to the MF Entities, including but not limited to the following: consultants; volunteers; contractors; program visitors

Policy Statement

The MF Entities believe that everyone we come into contact with, regardless of age, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation or ethnic origin has the right to be protected from all forms of harm, abuse, neglect and exploitation. The MF Entities will not tolerate abuse and exploitation by staff or associated personnel.

This policy will address the following areas of safeguarding: child safeguarding, adult safeguarding, and protection from sexual exploitation and abuse.

The MF Entities commit to addressing safeguarding throughout its work, through the three pillars of prevention, reporting and response.

Prevention: The MF Entities Responsibilities

The MF Entities will:

  • Ensure all staff have access to, are familiar with, and know their responsibilities within this policy
  • Design and undertake all their programs and activities in a way that protects people from any risk of harm that may arise from their coming into contact with the MF Entities
  • Implement stringent safeguarding procedures when recruiting, managing and deploying staff and associated personnel
  • Ensure staff receive training on safeguarding at a level commensurate with their role in the organization
  • Follow up on reports of safeguarding concerns promptly and according to due process

Staff Responsibilities

Child Safeguarding

The MF Entities staff and associated personnel must not:

  • Engage in sexual activity with anyone under the age of 18
  • Sexually abuse or exploit children
  • Subject a child to physical, emotional or psychological abuse, or neglect
  • Engage in any commercially exploitative activities with children including child labor or trafficking

Adult Safeguarding

The MF Entities staff and associated personnel must not:

  • Sexually abuse or exploit at risk adults
  • Subject an at-risk adult to physical, emotional or psychological abuse, or neglect

Protection From Sexual Exploitation and Abuse

The MF Entities staff and associated personnel must not:

  • Exchange money, employment, goods or services for sexual activity, including any exchange of assistance that is due to beneficiaries of assistance
  • Engage in any sexual relationships with beneficiaries of assistance, since they are based on inherently unequal power dynamics

Additionally, the MF Entities staff and associated personnel are obliged to:

  • Contribute to creating and maintaining an environment that prevents safeguarding violations and promotes the implementation of the Safeguarding Policy
  • Report any concerns or suspicions regarding safeguarding violations by a staff member or associated personnel of the MF Entities to the appropriate staff member

Enabling Reports

The MF Entities will ensure that safe, appropriate, accessible means of reporting safeguarding concerns are made available to staff and the communities we work with.

Any staff reporting concerns or complaints through formal whistleblowing channels (or if they request it) will be protected by the policy as to disclosure of malpractice in the workplace (“whistleblowing”) policy of the MF Entities.

The MF Entities will also accept complaints from external sources including members of the public, partners and official bodies.

How to Report

Staff members who have a complaint or concern relating to safeguarding should report it immediately to their manager. If the staff member does not feel comfortable reporting to their manager (for example if they feel that the report will not be taken seriously, or if that person is implicated in the concern) they may report to any other appropriate staff member.

Response

The MF Entities will follow up safeguarding reports and concerns according to policy and procedure and will apply appropriate disciplinary measures to staff found in breach of policy. The MF Entities will offer support to survivors of harm caused by staff or associated personnel, regardless of whether a formal internal response is carried out (such as an internal investigation).

Confidentiality

It is essential that confidentiality is maintained at all stages of the process when dealing with safeguarding concerns. Information relating to the concern and subsequent case management should be shared on a need-to-know basis only, and should be kept secure at all times.