Child Protection & Safeguarding

Creating safe environments for children and young people

 Our goal is to empower children to drive change in practice and policy at several levels, to prepare children and communities by strengthening various community structures, such to respond to crisis and adversity, and to support safe and successful growth of children.

Ntengwe for Community Development’s aim is to advance children’s rights.  We work with local stakeholders and governments, including advocates at every level to further our goal.  We engage children about their rights from the ground up.  

We focus on keeping leaders and governments accountable for their actions towards children and we ensure that our initiatives are child focused, community-based, measurable in terms of outcomes.

Together with our partners, we collaborate with families, government ministries, community groups, child protection committees, other service providers and children themselves to deliver basic case management services.  

These include the identification of vulnerable children, risk assessments and planning, referral to services and follow up strong case management practices and systems for coordinated reporting mechanisms and service delivery at the individual household, referral to services and follow up, and identify actions that should be taken to improve the quality of case management work for the benefit of children, families and communities.

Keeping Children Safe

Ntengwe for Community Development recognizes that violence against children is prevalent in all societies.  We are deeply committed to eradicating violence against children and take very seriously our duty to safeguard all children in our communities.  

This also means holding ourselves accountable in ensuring that no child is harmed or placed at risk of harm as a result of their association with us.

Our safeguarding framework helps us ensure we do all we can to make sure children stay safe and protected when they engage with us and with those who represent us.

Our Safeguarding Framework 

Ntengwe for Community Development has a clear and unequivocal safeguarding policy that ensures that all staff, volunteers, partners, visitors who are associated with Ntengwe do no harm to children, young people or vulnerable adults, that they do not expose them to the risk of discrimination, neglect, abuse; and that any concerns the organization has about the safety of vulnerable people within the communities in which they work, are dealt with and reported to the appropriate authorities.  

Policy and Guidance 

We have a strong policy, related guidance and tools in place which:

• Minimize the risks of any exploitation and abuse of program participants 
• To raise awareness amongst employees and volunteers about the dangers and impacts of exploitation and abuse 
• Protect program participants from any form of abuse or exploitation by anyone who is in contact with Ntengwe Programs e.g. Consultants, Government stakeholders and Enumerators
• Ensure complaints and feedback channels are received and responded to in an effective manner

Awareness and Prevention 

We work on creating a culture of awareness where:

• All staff are aware of and understand the problem of abuse and their roles and responsibilities to prevent harm and keep children and young people safe and protected.
• Those associated with the organization understand their responsibilities to prevent harm and protect children and young people.
• Children, young people and communities we work with are aware of the policy so they know what behaviours to expect and how to report any concerns.

Reporting and Responding 

We ensure that staff and associates are clear on what steps to take when concerns arise and that the organization can respond effectively to these concerns.

Clear Responsibilities 

We include child and youth safeguarding in risk management to ensure that risks are identified and appropriate controls put in place.  We ensure that managers and designated safeguarding focal point staff are aware of their responsibilities for creating safe environments for children and young people, implementing the policy and ensuring child protection measures are operating effectively and are clearly defined.

Monitoring and Evaluation 

We monitor the extent to which safeguarding measures are in place, evaluating their effectiveness and undertaking safeguarding reviews/audits. In addition, we undertake staff surveys to monitor attitudes towards and awareness of safeguarding children and young people.

For further information on safeguarding: