International NGO Safety Organisation

Safeguarding and PSEA

Awareness, Prevention, Reporting and Response

Our commitment

Standing up against exploitation and abuse

INSO believes that everyone, including our national and international staff, our NGO partners, our donors, our vendors and suppliers and everyone with whom we may come in to contact, or who may come in to contact with us, has the right to be protected from all forms of harm, abuse, neglect and exploitation.

 

We are committed to addressing safeguarding, protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA), and other forms of harassment, bullying or abuse through the four pillars of awareness, prevention, reporting and response

 

Our policies apply equally to the board of trustees, all employees and associated personnel and apply at all times and in all locations. The following are the steps we are taking to live up to our commitments.

 

If you have a safeguarding concern related to INSO please report it to protect@ngosafety.org.

Awareness

We ensure a robust orientation for all staff, raising awareness of the risks and indicators of abuse and exploitation and their role in preventing and reporting it.

 

Employees are required to read and sign our Code of Conduct before starting their work and suppliers are required to agree before they can do business with us.

 

We have widely publicised our standards and confidential reporting mechanisms.

Prevention

We have developed a robust and extensive internal policy environment, including Safeguarding, PSEA, anti-bullying and abuse, whistleblowing, ethical behavior and a comprehensive staff code of conduct.

 

We use these to implement appropriate safeguarding procedures throughout the employment lifecycle, including when recruiting, managing, and deploying staff and associated personnel.

 

We have established and communicated a strict zero tolerance policy in which abuse and exploitation are dismissal offences.

Reporting

We have established safe and confidential whistleblowing channels, including a single worldwide email, and promoted them widely throughout all levels of the organisation in local languages.

 

We have also established strong whistle-blower protections that protect reporters from retaliatory actions from colleagues and management.

 

We transparently share major incidents with our donors and regulators, and it is our policy to report criminal offences to the relevant authorities for prosecution, where it is safe to do so.

Response

We are committed to a robust and victim-centred response to all reports and have established a permanent organisational wide Designated Person linked to a high-level ‘protect-committee’ which includes Executive and Board personnel.

 

This ensures all reports to straight to the highest levels of the organisation for review and appropriate action. To the best of our ability, we offer support to survivors of harm including support to physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

See related policies