Child Safeguarding Policy

The purpose and scope of this policy statement 

Balay provides grants to partner NGOs in the Philippines who work with children and their families as part of their support activities. The types of projects and programs carried out by our partner NGOs include: 

  • programs or projects which provide homes and care for children who are in need of a home, such as those that have lost parental/family care through being orphaned, abused or abandoned
  • programs or projects which provide support to children suffering with mental or physical health issues 
  • programs or projects which help children to complete their school education
  • programs or projects which help elder children and young adults complete their college/university/vocational education or training
  • projects or programs which provide support to communities, especially children, affected by natural disasters 
  • projects which provide leadership or value formation skills to children, such as sports events, sports training or summer camps
  • projects which bring happiness to severely deprived children, for instance holding Christmas parties with gift-giving for children that would not usually receive a Christmas gift.      

The purpose of this policy statement is to protect children and parents who receive benefits arising from services funded wholly or partially through grants received from Balay. This policy provides staff and volunteers with the overarching principles that guide our approach to child protection. This policy statement applies to anyone working or volunteering on programs or projects wholly or partially funded by Balay, including the trustees, paid staff and volunteers associated with partner organisations. 

Legal framework 

This policy has been drawn up on the basis of legislation, policy and guidance that seeks to protect children in the Philippines, in particular the Republic Act 7610 entitled ‘An Act Providing For Stronger Deterrence and Special Protection Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination, Providing Penalties for its Violation and For Other Purposes’, signed into Philippines law in 1992, and overseen by the Department of Justice’s Committee for the Special Protection of Children which provides legal protection of children and monitors and coordinates the investigation and prosecution of cases of child abuse under the Act. The Act is available here: 

https://www.pcw.gov.ph/sites/default/files/documents/laws/republic_act_7610.pdf

We also draw guidance from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is available here:

https://www.unicef.org.uk/what-we-do/un-convention-child-rights/

At Balay, we believe that:

  • children and young people should never experience abuse of any kind
  • we have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people, to keep them safe and to work with our partners to undertake programs in a way that protects them.

We recognise that: 

  • the welfare of the child is paramount 
  • all children, regardless of age, disability, gender, race, religion, beliefs or sexual orientation have a right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse
  • some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or other issues
  • working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare. 

We will work with our NGO partners to keep children, young people and their parents safe by: 

  • valuing, listening to and respecting them 
  • appointing a nominated child protection/safeguarding lead from our volunteer network in the Philippines to monitor safeguarding compliance amongst our partner NGOs 
  • requiring our partner NGOs to recruit staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary background checks are made for staff or volunteer appointments which require working closely with children 
  • ensuring that our partner NGOs provide safe physical environments for children when in their care, either temporarily or permanently
  • requiring our partner NGOs to record and store information professionally and securely, and protecting the identity of children who receive benefit from our programs to avoid abuse and bullying from other children.  

We will require partner NGOs to have policies and procedures which include as a minimum:  

  • internal procedures to effectively manage any complaints or allegations against staff and/or volunteers
  • a code of conduct and working procedures for their staff and volunteers
  • regularly updated child protection and safeguarding policies and procedures to reflect best practice
  • safe recruitment procedures
  • a procedure outlining minimum adult to child supervision ratios for various settings  
  • a procedure for photography, filming and image sharing  
  • procedures for keeping child records together with retention and storage procedures. 

All or some of these may be written as sections within a combined Operations Manual. 

This policy was last reviewed on 12 February 2021.