Welcome
Welcome to Leadership in Safeguarding in the International Aid Sector. This course is part of a series of three courses, aiming to build capacities of those in leadership positions to develop and practice their safeguarding responsibilities.
Develop your leadership skills and enhance organisational culture
There is a growing need to develop leadership skills and a culture of accountability within organisations working with vulnerable communities in the international aid sector. This free, four-unit blended course will help you improve your leadership capacity. It will provide an opportunity for critical reflection on your personal leadership skills and styles, and y ou’ll be able to watch recorded webinars with esteemed speakers, which will further support the development of your advanced safeguarding practice. This course will equip you with the skills to support greater accountability in your organisation and challenge impunity in the sector, to foster public trust and keep staff, and beneficiaries alike, safe.
Take a strengths-based approach to leadership
You’ll explore the importance of organisational culture and how this is conducive to safeguarding. The course will also emphasise the role of equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in promoting safeguarding. You’ll have the chance to evaluate mechanisms for reporting, responding, and investigating safeguarding concerns before learning how to take a strengths-based approach to leadership, good governance, and organisational oversight in safeguarding.
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.
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 agencies. Course materials were developed with support from BOND, CHS Alliance, Safeguarding Resource and Support Hub, leaders in the sector and critically reviewed by leaders and safeguarding leads in international aid 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.