Child Safeguarding
“Child safeguarding is the responsibility of organisations to ensure they do no harm to children. This means doing all they can to prevent exploitation and abuse, and if abuse occurs, to respond appropriately.”
– Keeping children safe
Meaningful and safe child participation requires several considerations that are not necessarily the same as when working with adults. Ensuring ethical and safe participation for children must always be your number one priority.
On this page, we have collected a series of questions and resources. These questions are meant to spark reflection and get you to start thinking about these issues. Addressing these questions is not like ticking a box on a checklist. Safeguarding children requires continuous work. We recommend that you consult with a child participation expert to ensure that you have consider everything pertinent.
Questions that will help you start to think about child safeguarding
Child safeguarding
- How safe are the activities children would participate in?
- Have you done a risk assessment?
- Does your organization have a child safeguarding policy?
- For this work, what specific safeguarding procedures need to be developed?
- How can you ensure that all involved adults are trained appropriately in safeguarding children and procedures are followed?
Investigate what (legal) material you need for working with children
- What materials do you need to be prepared for age-appropriate activities?
- What is the process for obtaining children’s consent? What is the process for obtaining parental consent?
- How will you ensure all necessary permissions are obtained?
Ensure ethical and meaningful child participation
Please read the following resource and then consult the following questions.
The Nine Basic Requirements for Meaningful and Ethical Children’s Participation
Save the Children
- Where there any pillars that you hadn’t considered prior to reading?
- Was there anything you found suprising?
- What procedures are more challenging or need to be developed to reach the nine pillars?
Tools/Resources:
- Engaging Children in Decision Making – A Guide for Consulting Children, p. 26
Victorian Local Governance Association (VLGA)
This guide provides a project checklist: things you need to do before starting working with children. - CBSS Child Safeguarding Policy
Council of the Baltic Sea States
CBSS safeguarding policy - Writing Safeguarding Policies and Procedures
National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC)
Guide that helps you develop effective safeguarding policies and procedures. - What is Child Safeguarding?
Save the Children, US
Basic introduction to child safeguarding. - Guidance on the Use of Photos of Children
Council of the Baltic Sea States
Guidelines on ethically using photos of children. - Risk Assessment Tool for Adolescent Participation
UNICEF, p. 60
Tool for assessing risks associated with adolescent participation. - Child Safeguarding Risk Self-Assessment Tool
Keeping Children Safe
A self-assessment tool designed to help organizations evaluate their child safeguarding practices. - Risk Assessment Tool for Child Participation
Brave Movement
Tool to helps plan and protect children from harm during Brave Movement activities. - UNICEF Example Consent Form
A template consent form. - Key Considerations for Organisations Working with Children
Emerging Minds
Factors for organisations to consider when working with children.