Welcome
Welcome to Implementing Safeguarding in the International Aid Sector. This course is intended for learners who already have some knowledge and experience of safeguarding, therefore we strongly recommend learners complete the introductory course Introduction to Safeguarding in the International Aid Sector first.
Improve the safeguarding standards in your international aid organisation
Safeguarding is vital for protecting the children and vulnerable individuals that international aid organisations work with, as well as their staff and personnel from all forms of harm. This has also been identified as an area that needs strengthening in the international aid sector. This free six-week course will help you consolidate your understanding of the causes of harm, abuse, and exploitation and learn how to implement improvements in your organisation’s safeguarding measures in different programmatic contexts. Ultimately, the course will equip you with the skills and tools you need to effectively prevent, report, respond, and learn from implementing safeguarding in your work.
Understand the risks posed to safeguarding in the international aid sector
On the course, you’ll have the chance to examine the risks to safeguarding people that are commonly found in different areas of international aid work. You’ll also get to evaluate the prevention mechanisms used to minimise these risks and consider how these processes could be strengthened.
Develop effective safeguarding procedures and learn improvements for reporting and responding to exploitation and abuse
The course covers appropriate responses to disclosures and survivor-centred referrals, complaints and whistleblower mechanisms, safe marketing and accountability.
PLEASE NOTE: The themes and content of the course can inevitably sometimes be disturbing and because of this we recommend that only learners aged 18 and over view this material. It is important that you are prepared and look after your own welfare, particularly when you watch or listen to the audio and visual material.
Access safeguarding training from the experts at The Open University.
This course was originally presented as a MOOC on www.futurelearn.com and has been created by The Open University in partnership with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. This course was co-created by senior academic safeguarding specialists from The Open University and an international human rights and safeguarding expert who has worked with several international aid and humanitarian agencies. The course material was developed with advice from BOND, CHS Alliance, and the learner community and reviewed by Safeguarding Leads in international agencies.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have any safeguarding concerns these should be reported through your own organisational mechanisms and not through this site. The 'Report a concern' button at the bottom of each page on each course is for any content or technical issues that you encounter whilst learning on this platform.
