Child Safeguarding Policy

Purpose and Scope of the Policy Statement: 

As defined by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Article 1:
“A child means every human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier”. 

The organisation’s purpose of this child safeguarding policy statement is: 

• to protect children and young people who will be contacted as participants in the organisation’s projects and activities;
• to provide persons interacting with the organisation’s projects and activities with the overarching principles that reflect our approach to child protection. 

Actors involved:

This policy statement applies to all working partners and contributors to the organisation’s projects and activities. 

We believe that: 

• Children and young people should never experience abuse of any kind;
• We have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people, and to keep them safe. 

We recognize that: 

• The welfare of the child is paramount;
• All children, regardless of age, disability, gender, race, religion or belief, or sexual orientation have a right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse;
• Some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues;
• Working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.

We will keep Children and Young People safe by: 

• Valuing, listening to and respecting them;
• Ensuring child protection and safeguarding policies and procedures are in place for all activities involving children;
• Recruiting staff safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made;
• Recording and storing information professionally and securely, to ensure, if necessary, anonymity of the children participating in the activities within the organisation’s projects and activities.

Reporting and Complaint Procedures:

Any disclosures, concerns or allegations of child abuse should be reported immediately to the Designated Child Protection Officer: 
Oana Laslău, Vice President & Project Manager
E-mail: [email protected]

Complaint Mechanism:

• Complaints may be submitted by children, parents, partners, or any third party via e-mail to [email protected];
• Reports will be acknowledged within 3 working days and investigated within 10 working days;
• Complaints are handled confidentially. Anonymity and protection from retaliation are ensured. Under no circumstances should a child be left in a situation that exposes him or her to harm or of risk to harm; 
• In emergencies or cases of immediate danger, the police or child protection services must be contacted directly. The organisation staff who has received a disclosure of child abuse or who has concerns about a child should bring them to the attention of the proper authorities. 

The Code of Conduct for activities with Children in the Organisation is based on the four Areas described in the Keeping Children Safe Child Safeguarding Standards: https://commission.europa.eu/system/files/201706/standards_child_protection_kcsc_en_1.pdf 

• Standard 1: Policy
  The organisation develops a policy that describes how it is committed to preventing, and responding appropriately to, harm to children;
• Standard 2: People
  The organisation places clear responsibilities and expectations on its staff and associates and supports them to understand and act in line with these;
• Standard 3: Procedures
  The organisation creates a child-safe environment through implementing child safeguarding procedures that are applied across the organisation;  
• Standard 4: Accountability
  The organisation monitors and reviews its safeguarding measures.

Unacceptable Behaviours when working with Children:

All individuals interacting with children must refrain from:

• Any form of physical violence or punishment;
• Sexual contact or suggestive behaviour towards children;
• Using inappropriate, discriminatory, or abusive language;
• Exploiting children in any form;
• Taking photos or videos of children without explicit written consent from guardians;
• Failing to report suspected abuse.

Reviewing the Policy:

This policy will be reviewed annually or following any incident involving children.