Child Safety Program @ YouMeWe NPO
We decided to create a Child Safety Policy because it’s important for us to know what to do when we come across any situation of Child Abuse, and to take action. So the policy that we created basically asks for details on the case of abuse including information about when it happened, the location and the child's information. All these steps are really important to act upon the incident in a timely manner to make sure the child has a voice.
Background from Global Giving:
Introduction The first Child Safeguarding Standards were launched over 12 years ago by a coalition of relief and development charities that later became known as Keeping Children Safe. Since then there has been a growing recognition that, as well as risks to children from staff and associates, inappropriately designed programmes and poor operational management can also create the possibility of risks to children. Keeping Children Safe represents a commitment by those working in this sector to ensure that their organisations “do no harm” and that they meet the responsibilities set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to protect children from all forms of abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence. Drawing on the knowledge and experience of experts, Keeping Children Safe developed the Keeping Children Safe Standards, which was supported by a comprehensive Toolkit for implementing the Standards. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, then independent expert for the UN study on violence against children, acknowledged the importance of the Toolkit, stating that: “It offers an excellent opportunity not only for the improvement of the quality and professionalism of those working with children, but most importantly, it will help to achieve a greater impact for children.” Since it was first published, hundreds of organisations and thousands of professionals worldwide have used the Toolkit. The increasing demand for the Toolkit reflects the growing recognition by organisations, which work with, impact on, or come into contact with children, that they have a responsibility to keep them safe. What is child safeguarding? Child safeguarding is the responsibility that organisations have to make sure their staff, operations, and programmes do no harm to children, that is that they do not expose children to the risk of harm and abuse, and that any concerns the organisation has about children’s safety within the communities in which they work, are reported to the appropriate authorities. “Do no harm” is a principle that has been used in the humanitarian sector but can equally be applied to the development field. It refers to organisations’ responsibility to minimise the harm they may be doing inadvertently as a result of their organisational activities.
CHILD SAFETY POLICY
Dear Volunteer,
Thank you for volunteering at YouMeWe NPO today. As we are a group focusing on youth living in group homes, it is important to express and read the following:
The 30,000 children living in Japanese families do so for a variety of reasons. Some are abuse, financial constraints, parental imprisonment or other situations.
For this:
We never ask children any questions about their families.
Even if they ask, we do not give them contact information.
We will never ask for their surnames
Some parents do not know where their children live, so we do not take pictures of their faces.
We do not offer something to the home's superiors or children without confirmation: gifts, food, promises of another visit, or lessons of any kind
We must be aware of our clothes and take a professional attitude. We need to be aware of physical contact. The house demands that the small children not be excessively hugged.
In the safe zone, each homes shakes their hands and touches their shoulders. Do not touch the face, head or other areas.
It is important that volunteers visiting the home stay healthy to avoid the spread of diseases and pathogens to children in the home. If you can not volunteer because of illness, please notify us directly or home if visiting regularly.
If you have a small child at a home asking you to pick up and hug a lot, don't pick the child up. Instead, point the child to the hand holding their hand. This is because the child may be suffering from attachment problems.
Should you witness or hear about any abuse in the home or from a child, please use the attached document to report this immediately.
Link to report: HERE
Thank you for your participation. If you have any questions about the above or anything else, please feel free to contact us.
Thank you
YouMeWe NPO