Unit 6: Learning and organisational culture

6.2 The role of leadership

An illustration of tangled lines on the left-hand side which go into a circular smiley face. When the lines come out on the right-hand side of the face, they become straight arrows.
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The tone and culture in an organisation is often set by the behaviour of those in the leadership team. You will remember Principle 6 of the IASC PSEA Task Force standards states:

Humanitarian workers are obliged to create and maintain an environment which prevents sexual exploitation and abuse and promotes the implementation of their code of conduct. Managers at all levels have particular responsibilities to support and develop systems which maintain this environment.

Therefore, managers at all levels must steer the development, communication and reinforcement of a positive safeguarding culture. Everything that leaders communicate, say or do is visible and has an influence on the rest of the organisation.

Some practical and meaningful ways that leaders impact the culture include:

The extent to which their words match their deeds and how this is handled when they don’t.
The way in which they are seen to handle failure.
The way in which their values are seen to be lived and acted out.
The way in which their interactions and relationships with other senior managers are experienced by the wider organisation.
The decisions they make about who is hired and who is fired, and why.
The decisions they make about who is valued and rewarded, who isn’t, and why.
The systems and processes that they champion and prioritise.

Organisations that encourage open conversations about safeguarding, and where suspected or alleged abuse and neglect can be readily reported, will have a strong culture of safeguarding and are more likely to be in a better position to mitigate against risk, prevent harm and respond effectively.

It is also essential that each member of staff feels that his or her dignity is recognised and respected through an ethos of nurturing a supportive workplace and is respectful towards each other. A respectful workplace brings enormous benefits to organisations and there are negative ramifications of not paying enough attention to this.

It is important that Safeguarding Leads and senior colleagues:

Make support available for anyone raising concerns. This could include having Safeguarding Leads/focal points or champions.
Encourage staff to look out for changes in the behaviour of children, vulnerable adults, staff and associated personnel that they work with, as this could indicate exploitation, abuse, and harassment.
Ensure that any changes or other concerns are recorded and shared as soon as possible within the confines of confidentiality, and immediate action is taken if exploitation abuse or harassment is considered or suspected.

Activity 6.1 Case study

Read the case study below and consider the following questions:

How did ABC-AID’s managers and leaders respond to the concerns which arose?
What role did organisational culture play in the response?

ABC-AID is an international NGO working with refugees and displaced populations. It has a zero tolerance toward sexual misconduct and all staff and associated personnel are requested to sign the code of conduct.

Pedro is a driver for ABC-AID and recently Hami, the senior medical officer, asked Pedro to bring two refugee girls from the camp to a nearby guesthouse to meet Hami. Hami is well connected with local politicians and gets on very well with senior management. Pedro complied with Hami’s request, but it made him feel uneasy. Pedro was later reminded that not reporting safeguarding concerns, especially sexual misconduct, would also be a breach of the code of conduct, and he could get into trouble if it ever came out. He spoke to Mary, the field coordinator.

Mary, the field coordinator did not know what to do, so she emailed the deputy director. The deputy director was on leave and learnt about the driver’s story when he returned two weeks later. He then informed the country director. The country director decided to do a preliminary investigation and asked Mary, the field coordinator, to ‘find out what was going on’. All the senior staff working in this location live together in a shared house and get on very well together.

In the meantime, one of the girls, aged 14, who had been taken to the guesthouse, approached Ling, the co-ordinator of a gender-based violence programme, run by a different NGO. News had reached her father of her sexual relationship with an aid worker, and her father had beaten her and then thrown her out of the family home. Ling informed the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR, the UN’s Refugee Agency) that the girl was in need of housing and support, using the radio, as this was the only means of communication.

The UNHCR, which funds ABC-AID, reported its concerns to ABC-AID and insisted they proceed with an internal investigation immediately. When the allegations were substantiated at the end of an independent investigation, the country director did not want to start disciplinary proceedings against Hami, as Hami was well-connected to local politicians.

(© Adapted case study from CHS Alliance, PSEA Investigations Training Toolkit)

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Activity 6.2 Organisational culture interview

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MAHESH DHUNGANA: Hi, this is Mahesh. And I’m working for WaterAid Nepal since two years. And I am responsible for the implementation of washing at school interventions. And I closely work with the local partner, Dalit Janakalyan Yuba Club. And I am also the focal persons of the safeguarding focal persons of the Beacon Project and Beacon Project is implementing true local partners. And Kiran is the project coordinator of our local partners.

KIRAN DHUNGANA: Namaste. I’m Kiran Dhungana. And I have been here working as a programme coordinator in Dalit Janakalyan Yuba Club, which is implementing the Beacon Project in Lahan Municipality. Thank you.

MAHESH DHUNGANA: What we did, we do have a global child safeguarding policy, global code of conduct. I’ll recruit, recruitment of new staffs. We do orient them clearly, because the safeguarding is the responsibility of the organisations. There are procedures, and there is staffs, their operations should not harm any of the people or any children. This is the safeguarding measures. And safeguarding do’s and don’ts. And we disseminate this message in the community and school children, as well. And we do have a clear reporting mechanism, as well. So, we are promoting community feedback and accountability mechanisms for harm through this two, three kind of members.

And every, like community people, and school children, and school management come and do have this member in their board, as well. So, these are like the ways and measures we are implementing in the communities and the schools, as well. In our implementing partner, they do have their own policy and procedures.

KIRAN DHUNGANA: At first, we orient them about what is abuse, what should do, or what should not do. Similarly, the reporting mechanism to them. And we also follow up regularly. Another board member, also, they are also responsible persons. And we have focal person safeguarding and child protection focal persons. That’s why we have a strong reporting system, as well.

MAHESH DHUNGANA: In like, I will monitor in multiple ways. Sometimes I used to talk with these children, the school children while I was visiting their schools. And sometimes I do meetings with the school management committee, as well. And sometimes I used to go to the meeting with the partner, organise the staff meetings. And I explore any messages and misconduct through and over the year. And then similarly, in our partner organisations they do have their own systems, as well.

KIRAN DHUNGANA: In our organisation is one board member is the focal person safeguarding, and especially the immediate supervisor is responsible to collect complaints from the staff, and similarly from the communities, from the child clubs. We also give this information to the child club, and similarly other community members, other school authorities. And also, notice board, also. The information board, also. We have now we just distribute this.

MAHESH DHUNGANA: All our nations should know and should internalise that things that we don’t harm the children and vulnerable adults through our activities. So, we always follow ‘do no harm’ principles. So, for guiding the staff’s operations and projects all stakeholders, all NGOs, all INGOs should have their clear safeguarding policies. Because this is the right track to overall guide and overall creating that kind of safe working environment for the organisations as well.

Watch the video above from WaterAid regarding organisational culture and working with partners during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Having watched the video, reflect on the following question and make notes in your learning journal:

How do these organisational measures compare to those in your organisation?