Unit 1: Introduction to Safeguarding

1.1 What’s this course about?

ANEETA: Welcome to Introduction to Safeguarding in the International Aid Sector. This course has been designed for you if you have responsibility for safeguarding in your organisation, and you’re working in the international development and humanitarian sector. Over the past 25 years, I’ve been advising, supporting, and training organisations both nationally and internationally on safeguarding, gender and human rights. Through working with survivors of sexual and physical abuse, I have become convinced that more could be done to prevent harm from occurring in the first place.

And when it does occur, we could respond in a more appropriate and survivor-centred way, especially when we are having contact with those who are more vulnerable to abuse due to power imbalances, cultural assumptions, gender inequality, and lack of diversity and inclusion. Safeguarding people is such an important issue and goes for the heart of the work that we do in international development and humanitarian sector. Over the next six units, you will learn how to identify the different forms of harm and explore how you can safeguard people from harm. You will look at how your organisation can prevent harm from occurring.

You will learn how important it is to have a safe reporting mechanism within your organisation, and you will explore how to support those who have been harmed. By the end of the course, you would have thought about how to implement everything have learnt, to create an organisational culture that supports safeguarding. As you can see, there is a lot to explore and learn in the next few units. Don’t worry, we won’t make you read lots of texts. We’re going to be using case studies to bring issues to life. You’ll watch short videos and discuss them with your fellow learners in the discussion forums.

We’ve provided you checklists to go through, to check your organisational policies and procedures and when you want to test yourself on what you have learnt, there are fun quizzes at the end of each unit. At the end of the course, there is a reflective space for you to see how far you’ve come and how the course has made a difference to you in your current role. But first, let’s get to know each other. Head over to the interactive map and introduce yourself to other learners on the course. I’ll see you there, and in the meantime, good luck, and I wish you well on your safeguarding journey.

Watch the video above in which your lead educator, Aneeta Williams, welcomes you and gives you an overview of what you will be learning about on this course.

Safeguarding children, vulnerable adults and our staff as well as associated personnel is a legal and moral obligation for all those who work in international development agencies.

It has increasingly become an important area of risk for organisations working in the humanitarian and international development sector. It is everyone’s responsibility to safeguard and to prevent, report on and respond to harm that occurs to children, vulnerable adults and staff and associated personnel by putting measures in place to reduce the risk of harm, injury or abuse.

However, several high-profile safeguarding incidents in recent years such as those occurring within Oxfam GB, Save the Children UK, MercyCorps USA and Amnesty International, to name just a few, have highlighted the need for more effective safeguarding systems and processes to prevent and respond to sexual abuse, exploitation, and sexual harassment (SEAH) in the sector.

If you are working in this sector, safeguarding people that you and your organisation have direct or indirect contact with must be given priority. It’s good practice that staff and associated personnel are provided with the opportunity to develop more in-depth knowledge in order to put safeguarding people at the centre of everything that your organisation does.

Organisations should identify a Designated Safeguarding Officer, Safeguarding Lead or Safeguarding Focal Persons so that safeguarding concerns can be reported and responded to appropriately.

This course has been designed for those of you who are new to those positions, and it aims to support you on your journey. It will equip you with the skills and tools you need to play your part in responding to this new and exciting role.

Also, the materials in the course are equally relevant to individuals who may not currently be working in an international organisation but wish to continue refreshing and updating their knowledge and skills.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

Identify the risks associated with those who work for or are engaged with your organisation when they are in contact with others.
Summarise and explain the different forms of harm, abuse and exploitation, and associated indicators that may be suffered by people with whom your organisation works.
Use a safeguarding framework based on international standards and donor requirements to improve on safeguarding policies, procedures and practice.
Support the design of appropriate preventative, reporting and response mechanisms to handle safeguarding concerns.
Support the development of a safeguarding culture of accountability in your organisation and in communities for safeguarding concerns to be reported and responded to appropriately.

The course should take around 24 learning hours and is divided into 3–4 hours per unit over 6 units (although you can study it at your own pace). The outline of the course content is:

A diagram detailing the unit 1-6 structure of the course. An accessible PDF version is available for download below.

A downloadable version of this diagram is available below.

Downloadable PDF