GCPS aims to provide a comprehensive service to agencies looking to
develop and strengthen their child protection measures. As part of our
commitment to support agencies we will publish some thoughts, ideas, hints,
tips, advice and guidance here in the hope that they may help and inspire you
to do as much as you can to protect children.
"We don't work with children'
...'Yes you do!" It is interesting how many organisations that are not principally focused on children will say that they don't actually work with children. Just one look at their annual reports usually dispels this myth - glossy pictures of children tend to feature quite highly! OK, so they work with communities. Last time I looked at any given community there were usually at least 50% of the members under the age of 18!
You can't do international relief and development work and not work with children. Or, if by that you mean that you never consider children, well that is possible and possibly what you mean, but that should be seen as completely inappropriate.
Working in aid and development normally entails a commitment to quality programming and aid effectiveness, and if you are not considering the situation of children, their needs and rights including their rights to protection, then you are not fully addressing the reality of your beneficiaries.
It is also true that if you work with children then you will inevitably encounter issues of child abuse and child protection in one way or another. Again, all agencies need to think about their responsibilities to keep children safe and to take steps to meet these responsibilities. You should look at the contexts you are operating in, the nature of your work and the specific risks and issues that impact on children and their safety and make appropriate provisions to address these.
Getting started
Getting started with child protection can seem like a daunting prospect. It is a huge area and one that can seem like a highly technical and possibly very scary one. It isn't, well not totally. The main thing is to be committed to the protection of children.
If you know how damaging violence against children is and the negative consequences of child abuse, then you know how important it is to do as much as you can to promote their health, well being and development and to keep them safe from harm.
Once organisations are clear about the risks and issues and understand their responsibilities to protect children, writing a policy or statement of commitment is the next stage of the process. You should make this an inclusive and participatory process.
Get as many people involved as you can and in different ways - you will need someone to lead the policy development process and senior managers will have to be engaged and consulted, but everyone can have a say as the child protection policy will affect the whole staff as well as other representatives such as volunteers, contractors, consultants, and so on.