The UK Government has developed wide ranging and comprehensive legislation to protect children and young people from abuse and to ensure that organisations and institutions discharge their legal duty of care towards children by  providing them with a safe and secure environment. However, for UK-based NGOs working overseas in the Global South, the situation isn't always as clear-cut as back home. This is because safeguarding practice may vary from country to country and may be non-existent in some places. Children in many Global South countries are also largely invisible to their government agencies and are often exploited for different purposes while society at large ignores their plight.

 

Whilst progress is slowly being made to tackle the lack of protective legislation and infrastructure in many countries, the challenges of widespread child abuse still remains largely unaddressed. Therefore, it is important that UK NGOs have the wherewithal to enable them to address the cultural, legal and practical challenges of  safeguarding in the Global South. To ensure this happens, both international and domestic NGOs must implement robust in-house safeguarding systems to support the work they do with partner organisations. This is not only to enable them to work safely with vulnerable groups but to ensure that cases of abuse can be readily identified and handled more effectively. 

 

At Stephen Boyo & Associates we have the tools and expertise to support international development NGOs with developing robust and practical safeguarding solutions that will enable them work more efficiently with their partners to keep children and other vulnerable groups safe from harm. Call us to find out how we can help you.        

​