Keeping Children Safe Network: full member!
We are delighted to share that Help a Child has become a full member of the Keeping Children Safe (KCS) Network. KCS is an independent not-for-profit, setting out internationally recognised child safeguarding standards that ensure all organisations working directly for and with children have comprehensive safeguarding measures in place. What does our full membership mean for Help a Child and our project participants? A few question for Geert de Jonge:
What made you decide to join the KCS members network?
As a child-focused organisation it’s our ambition to make an impact in the lives of the most vulnerable children in this world, so that all children have a life in dignity, with love, and a promising future. KCS helps us to ensure that in all we do, we make both impact and also ensure child safeguarding at the same time. We have been an associate member for some time, and especially now that we are growing, with more country and field offices, we feel it is important to ensure quality Safeguarding standards in all our work.
KCS helps us to ensure that in all we do, we make both impact and also ensure child safeguarding at the same time.”
What is your key driver to implementing child safeguarding?
All children need to be free from abuse, they have the right to live in safety and dignity to be able to develop to their full potential. Help a Child wants to safeguard these children and ensure that in all we do, all our work as organisation we will not hinder this safeguarding. Besides that, we want to be accountable to our donors: Help a Child is dedicated to doing what is in its power to protect children in and through its programs.
Where do you think your organisation will be regarding child safeguarding in a year?
Child safeguarding is part of our Integrity Policy. In a year we will have actively shared and trained all staff, partners and communities on our integrity policy so that our policy comes alive, and children are active safeguarded. Also, currently, Help a Child is in a process of updating our private sponsorship policies and corporate communication strategy regarding child safeguarding.
What message do you want to tell your staff, donors and the wider world?
That through our membership with KCS, Help a Child is even more motivated to protect children in and through its programs. And that we are committed to learning and improving our way of working, based on the input of experts. And moreover, based on the feedback of the targeted children and other project participants themselves.