ERIKS Child Safeguarding Policy

Adopted by Erikshjälpen’s board 2022-02-03. Minor adjustment approved by Erikshjälpen and Erikshjälpen Second Hand’s management groups 2023-01-31.

Contents

1. Introduction and purpose
2. ERIKS’ fundamental values
3. ERIKS’ commitments to ensure that children are protected
4. Reporting
5. Liability
6. Attachments
7. Certification

1. Introduction and purpose

ERIKS vision is “A better world where children’s dreams come true”. It is a world where every child feels safe and secure. Therefore, ERIKS takes all necessary measures to ensure that the organisation, its programs, and employees have the best interests of the child in focus and prevent children from being harmed. Any suspicious or confirmed cases of neglect, violation and abuse are taken seriously and handled according to established procedures and guidelines.

This Child Safeguarding Policy aims to formulate and clarify the principles and approaches that ERIKS applies to prevent children from being maltreated and how the organisation acts if any child is harmed in any of ERIKS’ activities. It applies to the entire ERIKS, which means the Child Rights- and the Second Hand- organisation in Sweden as well as internationally and should be applied to by ERIKS’s employees, trainees, field students, volunteers, recruiters, board members, consultants and other people who perform work for ERIKS. The policy determines responsibilities and roles in the work to ensure that children are protected and safe within the organisation. The policy is complemented by a position paper¹, describing ERIKS’s view on children’s right to protection and explaining how ERIKS works with this issue as a focus area in the program activities.

The Child Safeguarding Policy interacts with the organisation’s other policies. When needed, guidelines and practices are developed to provide guidance to employees in how the work should be carried out within different parts of the organisation.

ERIKS is a child rights organisation and works primarily with a focus on children. A child is any person under the age of 18. ERIKS’s own activities or projects supported by ERIKS also involve young adults, above the age of 18. The overarching principles of the right to protection in this policy, and related documents, apply to all persons who participate in or are affected by ERIKS’s work and activities.

The policy’s main message is adapted and made accessible and understandable to participating children in the activities for which ERIKS is directly responsible.

In cases where activities are carried out by partners, and the partner has its own policy for child safeguarding, the partners policy should be followed.

This policy is followed up annually and revised if necessary.

2. ERIKS’ fundamental values

ERIKS’ commitment to work for the rights of the child is guided by the organisation’s identity and values – to work in the spirit of founder Erik Nilsson, based on Christian values, a Christian view of humanity, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Convention on the Rights of the Child clearly states that every child has the right to life and development, and to be protected from all forms of violence, abuse, maltreatment, and exploitation. All children, without distinction, have the right to be protected in the activities of ERIKS and its partners. Everything ERIKS does should have the best interests of the child in focus. Therefore, ERIKS commits itself to create safe environments for children where they can develop and prosper, as well as to integrate measures to ensure children’s safety and protection in all processes and systems within the organisation. ERIKS has zero tolerance for child exploitation and abuse, as well as violations and harassment.

ERIKS adheres to the following definition of child protection: Measures and structures to prevent and respond to abuse, neglect, exploitation, and violence affecting children. Child protection means safeguarding children from harm. Harm includes violence, abuse, exploitation, and neglect. The goal of child protection is to promote, protect and fulfil children’s rights to protection from abuse, neglect, exploitation, and violence as expressed in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and other human rights, humanitarian and refugee treaties and conventions, as well as national laws.²

In addition to the above, ERIKS recognizes that harm includes physical, sexual, social, psychological, emotional, and spiritual aspects which affect the child’s health, survival, development, or dignity in the context of a relationship or responsibility, trust, or power. Children must be protected from both potential and actual harm.

3. ERIKS’ commitments to ensure that children are protected

In order to ensure children’s right to protection in their activities, ERIKS undertakes to prevent, act and follow up as follows:

3.1 Prevent

All workers in Sweden and internationally, i.e., employees, trainees, field students, volunteers, recruiters, board members, consultants and other people who perform work for ERIKS are obliged to sign that they have read and understood ERIKS’s policy and will follow its guidelines.

When recruiting workers for work assignments together with children, their suitability is checked through, for example, references and extracts from criminal records.

ERIKS creates awareness among staff and other persons concerned about the issue of children’s safety and protection through information and training.

ERIKS plans its work so that risks are minimized for children to be harmed, exploited, or abused, which includes carrying out risk assessments.

ERIKS has an easily accessible and child-friendly complaints and response mechanism for reporting on anomalies in its activities as well as routines for how complaints should be followed up.

ERIKS informs participants and guardians in activities for which ERIKS is directly responsible about the Policy on Child Safeguarding and where they can turn to report irregularities. In cases where activities are carried out by partners, it is the partner’s responsibility to inform participants and guardians about its policy. The partner’s reporting procedure shall be followed.

ERIKS has specially appointed persons (child protection representatives) in the organisation with the task of proactively monitoring the issue of children’s safety and protection and ensuring that the organisation’s commitments are fulfilled.

ERIKS ensures that partner organisations within the programs have their own policy for child safeguarding and that it is complied with. ERIKS also encourages partners to have their own child-friendly complaints and response mechanism. In cases where such a policy is missing, partners must apply ERIKS’s policy until they have designed their own.

3.2 Act

ERIKS commits itself to take any concerns raised seriously and to act promptly based on developed guidelines and practices in the event of suspicion of or detected misconducts and irregularities related to children’s right to safety and protection. ERIKS also ensures that partners act according to this paragraph.

ERIKS assists in facilitating any investigation in cases that must be reported to authorities.

3.3 Follow up

If misconducts or irregularities are detected, this is followed up with measures to ensure that the incident does not happen again. It may involve amendments of routines, suspension of cooperation or transfer of staff or termination of contracts. Victims of abuse or violation are offered support based on what the situation requires.

4. Reporting

In the event of suspicion of or detected misconducts and irregularities relating to children’s right to safety and protection in ERIKS´s activities, reporting must be done in accordance with decided guidelines. Internal reporting takes place in all cases. Reporting to the relevant authorities is made after consultation with the nearest manager concerned and where the conclusion is that it should be done.

In the event of incidents within international projects supported by ERIKS, ERIKS’ regional offices ensures that the partner organisation handles the matter in accordance with the current policy and applicable laws and regulations in the country in question.

All reporting, both near miss and incident reporting, shall take place urgently, if possible, within 24 hours.

All reports received are handled professionally, confidentially and in the most appropriate manner. If the authorities need to be involved, this is done with the best interests of the child in mind.

For more detailed instructions on reporting procedures guidelines should be available.

5. Liability

The Boards of ERIKS and ERIKS Second Hand are responsible for adopting the policy and for revising it if necessary.

The Secretary General of ERIKS and Chief Executive Officer for ERIKS Second Hand have the ultimate responsibility for the safety and protection of children within ERIKS’ activities, that the policy is implemented, followed, and complied with as well as kept alive and updated. A summary description of how the policy has been complied with should be included in ERIKS’ annual report.

Each program director and regional manager are responsible for ensuring that the policy is followed in their area of responsibility, and that perspectives on children’s safety and protection are integrated into all work. This is done in consultation with the specially appointed child protection representatives from the program departments.

In international projects run by partners, the regional manager is responsible for ensuring that a Child Safeguarding Policy are in place and complied with.

Everyone who works for ERIKS (employees, trainees, field students, volunteers, recruiters, board members, consultants and other people who perform work for ERIKS) should contribute to ensure that children are safe within the organisation’s activities by following this policy and attached guidelines, as well as reporting deviations from the policy.

In connection with temporary visits to ERIKS’s projects or activities, in Sweden as well as internationally, where children participate, receiving staff are responsible for ensuring that visitors follow ERIKS’s Child Safeguarding Policy and associated guidelines

6. Attachments

• Attachment 1: Definitions
• Attachment 2: Guidelines for child safeguarding and reporting procedure
• Attachment 3: Statement of acceptance for child safeguarding

7. Certification

I hereby certify that I have read and understood ERIKS Child Safeguarding Policy and associated attachments. I undertake to always act in accordance with this policy and to contribute to its compliance with the organization. I undertake to do everything I can, based on my powers and responsibilities, to protect children from harm, risk of harm or of being subjected to violation and abuse as well as to report deviations from the policy. I thereby contribute to ensuring that children can be safe and secure in all the activities conducted by ERIKS and its partners.

I understand that violations of ERIKS Child Safeguarding Policy can lead to labor law measures and constitute reasons for the termination of my employment or assignment for ERIKS.

I am aware that certain behaviors that breach ERIKS Child Safeguarding Policy might result in a police report which can lead to consequences under criminal law.