The Trustees and Senior Leaders of Cord are committed to providing a safe and caring environment for all those who are associated with our organisation. This includes children, young people, adults who may be vulnerable, leaders, staff, volunteers, partners and associates and trustees.
We recognise that children, young people and adults can be the victims of physical, sexual, emotional or psychological abuse and neglect and of additional types of abuse including financial abuse, discrimination and human trafficking. We accept the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant of Human Rights, which states that everyone is entitled to “all the rights and freedoms set forth therein, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status”. We also concur with the Convention on the Rights of the Child which states that children should be able to develop their full potential, free from hunger and want, neglect and abuse. They have a right to be protected from “all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s), or any other person who has care of the child.”
The trustees and leaders of Cord recognise our accountability to the communities with whom we work and commit to ensuring that all of our activities contribute to the wellbeing of those communities and do not place anyone at further risk. The leadership commits to the principles of conflict sensitive programming and in recognising the vulnerabilities of where we operate. We also adhere to the principle that our organisation will do no harm.
As a Leadership we have therefore adopted the principles and procedures set out in our safeguarding policy. Cord recognises that global policies do not always readily transfer in other contexts and there is a need to work in a culturally competent way with our international partners.
The Leadership undertakes to:
- Endorse and follow, in the principles of protection and non-discrimination enshrined in the international conventions outlined above.
- Assess all our activities and new initiatives in a community context to ensure that they do not have a negative impact on the safety and well-being of children or adults at risk in our community – or cause unintended consequences that makes some groups less safe.
- Appoint a Global safeguarding lead to identify and support the protection of children and adults.
- Train our staff and all those who work for us on how to uphold those principles and what to do if they have concerns about the safety or welfare of a child or adult.
- Ensure that we offer a welcoming and inclusive environment to all members of the communities we work with and support.
Our safeguarding policy must be read in conjunction with Cord’s Global Code of Conduct and our Staff Handbook. These documents are designed:
- To enable the building of safe and healthy cultures in which strong safeguarding procedures are understood by all and underpin all aspects of our work.
- To ensure that all our staff and volunteers work within safe boundaries.
- To ensure staff and volunteers are trained and equipped to respond to safeguarding concerns appropriately.
- To ensure that appropriate care and support is available for those at risk of harm or who have been harmed.
