Safeguarding

Safeguarding is the protection of vulnerable people from harm, whether malicious or unintended, by believing and responding to concerns through a systematic approach.

Working directly with youth-centred organisations in complex settings, it is vital that we and our partners have a clear understanding of and commitment to international safeguarding standards, and how they can be applied to and shaped by local practices. We needed to be confident that our work was not putting the children and young people that we work with at further risk. At the same time, research staff need to be equipped with the skills and support to remain safe, and be confident that they are contributing to a social good.

Diligence around safeguarding depends on the expertise and experience of those ‘on the ground’ in each project region. This included the appointment of Regional Safeguarding Leads for each of the five global regions in which Changing the Story operates was operating.

A core resource pack and toolkit was produced to contribute to a knowledge base around young people’s wellbeing, experiences of abuse or neglect, and the risks and opportunities associated with involvement in international development and research programmes. Each project team then supplemented this with its own context-specific safeguarding agenda and policy, as well as workshop materials (including child-friendly versions) in a language and using terminology that is familiar to the intended audience.

Changing the Story produced a series of short videos that address various aspects of safeguarding in international development research. The intention is to provide you with food for thought, and to help your project team reflect on safeguarding policies and procedures that are appropriate in your context.

Using the resource archive

You can use the search box or click the links in the author, categories or tags fields to immediately filter the content, (this can be repeated multiple times). Select the link in the title column to see more information about that resource including the ability to watch, preview and download the content. See below for a selection of resources from the archive highlighting material relating to safeguarding.