We must do whatever we can to keep those who are affected by our work safe, and protect them from all forms of violence, injury, exploitation, abuse, neglect, mistreatment or sexual abuse. We must also respond appropriately to any safeguarding concerns within our organisation, our partners, or the communities where we work.
Our safeguarding work focuses on children and ‘adults at risk’: someone aged 18 or over who has care and support needs because of their age or frailty, gender, mental or physical health problems, learning or physical disabilities or the impact of disasters and conflicts. As a result, they may be unable to protect themselves from harm, exploitation or abuse.
Our safeguarding policy was first published in April 2017, and ensures we adhere to the principles of safeguarding set out by the UK Care Act (2014):
Sightsavers' safeguarding policy, first published in April 2017, sets out how we strive to keep adults and children safe during the course of our work.
Read the policyRecent research on child protection and disability carried out by humanitarian organisation Plan International found that children with disabilities experience far higher levels of abuse than their peers.
We have a specific mandate to protect and promote the rights of people with visual impairments and other disabilities. In recognition of this, our policy outlines a broad child safeguarding approach, but also includes specific actions focused on people with disabilities.
Our policy covers seven areas of focus:
All Sightsavers representatives, including staff, volunteers and external consultants are required to understand their responsibility to keep children and adults safe, and to sign and abide by the Sightsavers Code of Conduct.
At Sightsavers, we believe everyone should be able to participate equally in society without fear of stigma or discrimination.
Our work on disability