Child protection-policy

LIGHT FOR THE WORLD: Child protection policy April 2012
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Because it is about children
Child protection policy
CONFEDERATION OF LIGHT FOR THE WORLD

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Because it is about children
Child protection policy
Confederation of LIGHT FOR THE WORLD
Executive Summary
The objective of this policy paper is to prevent, address and fight all violence against children
with disabilities.
Therefore LIGHT FOR THE WORLD finds it important to have a policy that:
 Increases understanding of staff members working for LIGHT FOR THE WORLD on the
vulnerability of children.
 States the behaviour expected and actions to be taken towards staff members of
LIGHT FOR THE WORLD violating the rights of children including children with
disabilities.
 Provides guidelines towards the use of photographs and films of children with
disabilities in projects supported by LIGHT FOR THE WORLD that might harm the
child.
 Supports training and awareness raising amongst project partners on violence against
children with disabilities.
 Stimulates and supports project partners to develop child protection policies and
activities that protect children with disabilities from violence, and that helps children
with disabilities who have faced violence to find justice.
 Supports advocacy on the topic of violence against children with disabilities and the
need of child protection policies for them on an international and national level.
LIGHT FOR THE WORLD is committed to:
 Have People with a disability live a life of dignity
 Improve the quality of life of people with disabilities in the poorest and the least
served communities in the world
 Advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities in developing countries.
 Support persons with disabilities to exercise their rights.
 Raise awareness on the situation of persons with disabilities.
Having a child protection policy and implementing it will take LIGHT FOR THE WORLD’s
commitment to people with disabilities in developing countries many steps further.

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Content
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................... 2
1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................. 4
2. SCOPE AND VALIDITY OF THIS CHILD PROTECTION POLICY PAPER .................................................................. 5
3. DEFINITIONS AND TYPES OF VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN ............................................................................ 7
4. UNDERSTANDING VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES............................................................. 8
4.1. VULNERABILITY OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES TO VIOLENCE.................................................................................... 8
4.2 CHILD PROTECTION AT HOMES OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES................................................................................... 8
4.3. PROTECTION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN THEIR COMMUNITIES......................................................................... 9
4.4. PROTECTION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN SCHOOLS....................................................................................... 10
4.5. PROTECTION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES FROM CHILD LABOUR .......................................................................... 11
4.6. CHILD PROTECTION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES IN THE JUSTICE SYSTEM, THROUGH LAW AND POLICIES....................... 12
4.7. ORGANIZATIONS THAT COULD WORK ON PROTECTING CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES ..................................................... 12
5. THE ROLE OF LIGHT FOR THE WORLD IN CHILD PROTECTION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES.................. 14
5.1. A POLICY FOR OUR OWN ORGANISATIONS ............................................................................................................ 14
5.2 PARTNER ORGANISATIONS OF LIGHT FOR THE WORLD....................................................................................... 14
5.3. CHILD PROTECTION IN THE COMMUNITY.............................................................................................................. 16
5.4. WORKING ON ADVOCACY FOR THE INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES INTO CHILD PROTECTION .......................... 17
5.5. THE LIGHT FOR THE WORLD CHILD PROTECTION TEAM ..................................................................................... 17
BIBLIOGRAPHY...................................................................................................................................................... 18
ANNEX 1................................................................................................................................................................ 19
LIGHT FOR THE WORLD CODE OF CONDUCT ON CHILD PROTECTION............................................................................ 19

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1. Introduction
LIGHT FOR THE WORLD works through partner organizations for and with children with
disabilities. As organizations involved with children it is necessary to have an understanding
of the risk of violence against a child and have a policy describing how violence against
children can be prevented and dealt with when it happens.
This document describes possibilities to protect and response when violence against a child
happens. This document also describes how we can minimize the risk that the children we
support face violence in their lives. It also explains the commitment of LIGHT FOR THE
WORLD to promote the protection of children with disabilities from violence and help
children with disabilities whose rights have been violated to receive justice.
The principle underpinning this document is the same as that at core of the World Report on
Violence against Children (Pinheiro 2006) and relates to the principles of LIGHT FOR THE
WORLD mentioned in the executive summary: “No violence against children is justifiable and
all violence against children is preventable”.
The first part of this policy paper will describe the scope and validity of the policy paper
followed by a definition and explanation of violence against children.
Then the causes and the vulnerability of children with disabilities to violence are described
followed by potential roles of organisations that would influence child protection.
In the last part of this paper the commitment and procedures of LIGHT FOR THE WORLD to
protect children with disabilities from violence are explained.

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2. Scope and Validity of this Child Protection Policy Paper
Children all over the world are at risk of encountering violence in their lives. The World
Report on Violence against Children (Pinheiro 2006) describes how the dependency of
children on adults increases the likelihood of exposure to violence. Violence takes many
forms and has manifold causes. Violence can happen to children with disabilities in their
homes, in schools, on the street. Situations of conflict increase the risk exponentially (Groce
and Peaglow 2005). This fact is exacerbated by the fact that most descriptions of violence
against children, fail to address children with disabilities.
Through this policy paper LIGHT FOR THE WORLD wants to raise awareness within the
organisation, with partner organisations and other stakeholders about violence against
children with disabilities. Further this policy paper aims to create a code of conduct on how
we work within the organisations to make sure children are protected from violence.
Another aim is to encourage and help partner organisations to do the same for their own
organisations. Through this policy paper a reporting and follow up mechanism should be
created for children who have faced violence directly related to our work and/or related to
the partner organisations and the communities where they work.
This policy paper is meant for:
 All the staff of LIGHT FOR THE WORLD confederation partners in Austria, Belgium,
Czech Republic and the Netherlands.
 All staff working in the country offices of LIGHT FOR THE WORLD in Burkina Faso,
Ethiopia, Mozambique and South Sudan.
 All staff working directly for LIGHT FOR THE WORLD in countries where there is no
country office.
 All staff members of UPSA
 All Volunteers and consultants working for LIGHT FOR THE WORLD.
For project partners will not be required to oblige to the child protection policy of LIGHT FOR
THE WORLD. However LIGHT FOR THE WORLD would like to support its partners in
development of their own child protection policies that are adapted to their local context
and working environment. Project partners will be asked to report on cases of
maltreatment, they will be supported by LIGHT FOR THE WORLD to address cases of child
maltreatment, they will be invited for trainings and will be supported to promote child
protection in projects and within the communities they work with.
This policy works in line with the principles of LIGHT FOR THE WORLD to:
 Support local partners in underprivileged regions of the world in their work with and
for persons who are blind, have other disabilities or are at risk of becoming disabled.

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 Provide help irrespective of gender, ethnicity, or religion and in particular to
underprivileged groups, such as women, children, indigenous peoples and minorities.
 Act according to the needs of the people affected.
 Reach as many people as possible.
 Support programmes leading to sustainable strengthening and social inclusion of
persons who are blind or have other disabilities in their communities.
 Help our programmes through difficult periods and respond to current challenges
with endurance, perseverance and flexibility.
 Apply efficient and economical use of funds and take into consideration principles of
ecological and social sustainability and fair trade whenever possible.
 Enable a global exchange of experiences regarding effective and efficient concepts in
our programme countries.

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3. Definitions and types of violence against children
In this document violence is understood through the following definition: “All forms of
physical or mental violence, injury and abuse, neglect or negligent treatment,
maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse”. (UN Convention on the Rights of the
Child Article 19.1)
The types of violence against children can be described as:
Physical violence: The intentional use of physical violence against a child (including, hitting
with or without objects, denying food, forced labour, and homicide), that either results in or
has a high likelihood to resulting in harm on the child’s health, survival, development or
dignity. (Pinheiro 2006, pg 52)
Psychological violence: Humiliating or degrading treatment causing some degree of pain or
discomfort, in order to discipline, correct, control, change behaviour or in the belief of
educating bringing up the child. Psychological punishment takes various forms such as
humiliation, threat, neglect, degradation, demeaning and ridicule (ACPF 2006).
Sexual violence: Constituting sexual abuse like rape and commercial sexual exploitation
including child prostitution, pornography and trafficking. Including harmful traditional
practices such as abduction, early marriage, female genital mutilation. It covers all forms of
sexual threat, assault, interference and exploitation.
Neglect: failure to meet a child's basic needs ( such as love, safety, food, and warmth ) in a
way that affects their health , development or safety. Harm is not always intended, but it
may result e.g. leaving a young child home alone. Sometimes the child is intentionally
deprived.
Child Labour: Children prematurely leading adult lives, working long hours for low wages
under conditions damaging their health, physical and mental development, sometimes
separated from families, frequently deprived of meaningful educational and playing
opportunities that would open for them a better future. (This does not include teenagers
working a few hours earning pocket money, children helping on the family farm. Nor
youngsters doing household chores (ACPF 2006).

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4. Understanding violence against children with disabilities
4.1. Vulnerability of children with disabilities to violence
The Unicef report on violence against children estimates that violence against children with
disabilities occurs 1.7 times more often than to their non disabled peers (Groce and Peaglow
2005). The general comments on the convention on the Rights of the Child even quotes that
violence against children with disabilities happens 5 times more often than to their non
disabled peers (See http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/GC9_en.doc). Several
studies show that the higher prevalence of violence against children with disability is not
caused by the disability itself but by social, cultural and economic issues (Groce and Peaglow
2005, Stöpler 2008, Boersma 2008).
Children with disabilities are often marginalised within families and communities. This
results in the fact that they are less connected to people, government and non government
services that could protect them from violence. When children with disabilities are not
regarded or regarded as less important in family life, communities in school, in the law, by
health care professionals and in general policy making, then it becomes easier for
perpetrators to violate their rights and more difficult for the victims of violence to protect
themselves. Subsequently it is harder to find justice after their rights have been violated. By
making children with disabilities part of policies (including child protection policies) and
implementation of those policies in society violence against children with disabilities could
be significantly reduced.
4.2 Child protection at homes of children with disabilities
Children with disabilities are often isolated from their own family and herewith from various
aspects of family life. To avoid shame children with disabilities are kept out of sight when
neighbours come, they are not made part of family life when special events take place.
Subsequently they are often less known within their neighbourhood. Even when they are
known they are often regarded as less important by the family because they do not believe
in their ability to contribute either to the family or to the community. All these factors lead
to an increased risk of the child with disabilities to violence. Parents of children with
disabilities are sometimes ashamed of having a child with a disability thinking that the
disability of their child is a punishment because of a sin one of the family members has
committed. This shame and disappointment can result in parents hiding their child,
neglecting their child committing violence towards the child psychologically or physically.
Having a child with a disability will often have financial consequences for families. For
example costs for health care might be a financial strain for families. With some disabilities
children will need more care from family members (or families might lack knowledge on
training their child in becoming independent in daily life activities) which can reduce the
time the family can spend on gaining income. These financial consequences for families can
lead to frustration that can sometimes be expressed in violence against the child.
For many families in poor and middle countries children are their financial security for the
future. Their investment in their children in food, healthcare and education is partly in the
hope that the child will provide for them when they grow old. If a family does not recognise
the potential of a child with a disability and fears that this child will be a financial burden for
the rest of their lives, they are sometimes less inclined to invest in their child. This can lead

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to further disablement of the child (when there is a lack of investment in food, health care
and/- or rehabilitation), and a lower chance of the child enrolling in education.
Not understanding the disability and the support needs of the child, or not understanding
that the child has a disability can also lead to maltreatment. Children with hearing
impairments are often reported to be beaten by their families for being disobedient and not
listening to their parents. Children with intellectual disabilities or children with sensory
impairments like autism or attention deficiency problems are not always recognised as such
by their families and thus regarded as bad behaved children who need to be disciplined
heavily in order to become well behaving children.
Sexual violence against children within the family has always been a big problem in being
reported and recognised. When a child with a disability is regarded as less important by the
family or has difficulty of communicating with the family because he/she does not speak,
sexual abuse has a higher chance of remaining unnoticed for a longer time. The taboo and
shame that is surrounded around sexual violence makes that when family members do know
they sometimes do not report, fearing that the blame will be put on the family or on the
child.
4.3. Protection of children with disabilities in their communities
The link between the family and their immediate community is of high importance. Most
families depend on their immediate community in their daily lives for financial and social
reasons. The response of a family to their child is linked to the ideas they believe in and
these are closely connected to the ideas the community has about children with disabilities.
In the former paragraph the shame of the family towards the community of having a child
with a disability was discussed. Believes and attitudes of families and communities on many
topics including disability, are often similar. Therefore most of the issues described for
violence in the family will be similar in the community.
Many parents of children with disabilities are scared of the judgement of the community and
need the community to maintain their status in society. They feel that is better for their
children to suffer rather than to challenge the injustice in the community. Some parents lack
the courage and the confidence that something can be done about the situation of their
children.
Lack of money to help their children and protect their children is an issue for many families
in developing countries. To ensure adequate protection of children with a disability more
financial resources may be required and the lack of these resources may increase the risk of
violence. Lack of funds for transport to get to school means that children sometimes have to
walk long distances with the risk of facing violence on the road. Some children never reach
school because of lack of money for transportation. There are children who can’t walk to
school or are unable to memorize the route between home and school. Families can assign a
family member to accompany the child but in very poor families where all members take
part in income generation it will be hard to spare time to accompany the child.
Being on the street increases the chances of violence towards the child but also makes it
hard for a family to raise their child with “good behaviour” (since they are influenced by
many people on the street). Some of the parents try to shield their children from violence
on the street and lock them into the house during the day, leaving them to their own

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devices. By trying to protect their children from violence parents sometimes violate the
rights of their own children. Growing up in poverty is not specific to children with disabilities.
What is different is that the need for support, a child can have due to their impairment,
requires adjustments, which may also entail costs to protect the child from harm. Since
children with disabilities are a minority, they tend to lack the peer support on the street and
are more likely to find themselves in vulnerable circumstances and subsequently encounter
violence.
Poverty however does not directly lead to violence. In situations where families are poor the
willingness of the immediate community to contribute to child protection is crucial. When a
child is excepted as part of the community, the community often helps to protect the child
from harm. Working on the relationships that the families of children with disabilities have
with their immediate communities requires little resources and provides effective protection
of children with disabilities from violence.
Sexual violence towards children with disabilities happens also within the community.
Perpetrators of sexual violence towards children with disabilities will be more likely to stay
unnoticed or go without punishment. Children with disabilities are often regarded as non-
sexual. The view of society that persons (including children) are non sexual makes that
children are not included in sexual education and warnings like “not to go with strangers
who can hurt them”. The consequences of minimum, no or sex education also entail that
children with disabilities have a harder time knowing the boundaries of their integrity and
limit their ability to draw those lines. Dependencies and increased power disparities
exacerbate this problem.
The lack of knowledge and sometimes the lack of communication skills children with
disabilities have makes it harder for them to recognise that the sexual violence happening to
them is unacceptable. At the same time when children do report to their families, shame,
lack of response from services like police, judges and healthcare makes that many families
don’t fight for justice when their children have encountered violence.
4.4. Protection of children with disabilities in schools
Depending on the policies and the resources of the country, children with disabilities will go
to special schools or mainstream schools, or they will not attend school at all. Since
specialized schools for children with disabilities are not always nearby, some of these
schools provide boarding for the children. Throughout history boarding schools have been a
place where violence against children is more likely to happen. Any boarding school
(whether for children with disabilities or non disabled children) needs to develop policies
aimed at supporting children to report any problems they might face. Creating an
environment through child protection systems where violence is not tolerated and openly
discussed, can significantly help to break the cycle of violence that might be “created” by
staff and older students.
When special schools have no boarding facilities, they are usually far away from the home
environment of the children. In Ethiopia, children migrate away from their parents
(sometimes with the consent of the parents and sometimes without it). These children rent
a house together with their peers and live in only-children households (Boersma 2008).
Living mostly in child headed households, these children lack protection from their families

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and their rights are frequently violated by the community. Being away from their families
often means that the family will not or cannot negotiate for these children’s rights. Schools
and Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) programmes should become active in protecting
these children from violence and in helping them and the society they live in to develop
higher levels of protection of the children with disabilities living amongst them.
In regular schools where children with disabilities are included, teachers are often not
prepared to include children with disabilities into their classes. Many teachers have to teach
large classes and have limited resources to help children who have so called special needs. In
quite a few cases teachers pass on frustrations to the most vulnerable: children with
disabilities. The children are told that they are difficult or useless in front of their peers.
Other children are told to repeat a class not because of their academic (under) achievements
but because their class in the following year would not be accessible for their wheelchairs.
There is a need for LIGHT FOR THE WORLD through its partners to work with schools to
support the teachers both with materials and with knowledge. The school community needs
awareness about disabilities and impairments in general and specifically about the right of
children with disabilities to be protected from violence, on equal basis with others.
4.5. Protection of children with disabilities from child labour
Children with disabilities as other children might be exploited in child labour, especially in
situations of (extreme) poverty. Children in general are often and easily exploited as most of
them are unaware of their rights and find it hard to speak up for themselves against adults
or (stronger) peers. This is even more the case when the child in question has a disability and
is physically or mentally not able to voice his or her concerns. Children are cheap labour and
less likely to claim their payment or other rights. They often work long hours for little pay in
conditions that are lacking minimum safety regulations.
In many countries persons with disabilities (both adults and children) are found begging on
the street. The believes of society, that persons with disabilities are not able to raise income
in another way and the believes that giving alms to the most vulnerable will give salvation to
the giver of alms, make it more lucrative for families of children with disabilities to send their
child out for begging. Street children with disabilities can encounter violence in this way by
hustlers and gang leaders, who have many children under their care and who exploit the
children by sending them out to beg or work. In some cases, children are being intentionally
disabled for begging purposes.
In some countries children with certain disabilities are believed to be stronger and more
suitable for hard labour. Both children with intellectual and hearing disabilities are reported
to be exploited by having to do hard labour. Girls especially with intellectual disabilities are
also reported more often to be exploited as sex workers or being victim of trafficking. The
other way around, disability is not only cause for child labour, but also a consequence
considering the harsh and unsafe/unhealthy conditions and types of hazardous work that
children are engaged in.
Many NGOs working on the issue of child labour often focus on ‘orphans and other
vulnerable children’ (OVC), being children with HIV/AIDS, girls, street children and children
heading households. Often neither their focus nor their programme is specifically addressing

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or targeting children with disabilities. In general there is a lack of knowledge about the link
between child labour and children with disabilities.
4.6. Child protection of children with disabilities in the justice system, through law and policies
There are different conventions, laws and treaties that protect the rights of all children and
of children with disabilities specifically. In addition to article 23 of the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child (CRC), the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has a
stand-alone provision on children with disabilities (Article 7); additionally, the incorporation
of the views of children with disabilities is a general principle (Article 3).
History has shown that there is a need to mention children with disabilities specifically.
Although the Convention on the Rights of the Child is for all children, in the implementation
of the convention children with disabilities are often forgotten. In practice this means that
courts are not accessible for children with disabilities. When children manage to get their
case to court, they still might not have access to justice because, for example, they are
speaking a language that is not acknowledged by the court (sign language), or because they
are considered lacking intellect. In many cases police officers and other people working in
the justice system are equally like other parts of the society, lacking the belief that there is a
need to protect children with disabilities from violence. When perpetrators are considered
more important to society, persecuting them for violating the right of a child with a
disability, is then often regarded as a harm to society instead of a benefit.
This is also reflected in ways violation of the rights of children with disabilities is settled
within community structures. Families that are ashamed of having a child with disabilities
and do not see how this child will support the family in future, show little persistence to find
justice for their children. When families try to fight for justice on behalf of their child they
often face more resistance from society (Boersma 2008).
Government policies that favour the inclusion of children with disabilities into all spheres of
life can help in protecting children with disabilities from violence. The absence of these
policies essentially equates to the government not caring about the lives of children with
disabilities. When policies are available these can be used to lobby for the protection of
children with disabilities and to find justice when the rights of children with disabilities are
violated. In case policies on protection and inclusion of children with disabilities, are lacking,
there is a need to build awareness of the government on the need to have policies that
include children with disabilities.
4.7. Organizations that could work on protecting children with disabilities
There are several organizations on national and international level working for people with
disabilities. These organizations are often focusing on prevention of disability and
rehabilitation. In recent years through the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities the attention on rights of persons with disabilities has increased.
CBR projects take place in the community and the field workers are often the first outsiders
to find out about violence against children with disabilities in the communities where they
work. CBR projects have proved to be an effective channel to address neglect of children
with disabilities and help families and children to access their right to health, education and
other services. Most CBR implementing organisations do not have a child protection policy

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and often struggle to find solutions for physical, sexual violence against children with
disabilities. In the current situation there are cases of children dying because of families that
refuse to collaborate with the care offered through the CBR projects. When CBR projects are
supported to make appropriate child protection policies and become active in promoting
child protection in the communities where they work, violence against children with
disabilities in those communities can be significantly reduced.
Disabled Peoples Organizations (DPOs) are very often the first place where young people
with a disability meet more people with disabilities. They find encouragement from the
group and they learn about the life stories of others who also have struggled to get
recognized in many aspects of life. Learning from other persons with disabilities is very
empowering and encouraging for children with disabilities. Therefore, including DPOs in
working on the protection of children with disabilities could be an empowerment tool both
for the children and the organizations themselves. The DPOs would ideally be the key
partners in fighting violence against children with disabilities. However especially in
developing countries, they often lack the capacity to be main players in fighting violence
against children with disabilities. But since they are such powerful stakeholders in the
struggle for equality and inclusion they should be supported to become advocates for this
issue. DPOs will increase their awareness on the issue of violence against children with
disabilities amongst their own members and at the same time it will help in the psychological
and social support for children with disabilities.
Other partners of LIGHT FOR THE WORLD can be actively working on both promoting child
protection of children with disabilities and ensuring that in their own work children are
protected from violence. This can be reached through better understanding of the problem
and helping partners to put child protecting policies in place.
Mainstream organizations that work on child rights need to be better informed about the
need to protect children with disabilities and increase their awareness on reasons why
children with disabilities are more vulnerable to violence than their non-disabled peers.
LIGHT FOR THE WORLD has a task to raise awareness on this topic in mainstream NGOs and
UN organisations both those concerned with disability and organisations working on child
protection that do not include children with disabilities already.
LIGHT FOR THE WORLD as an organisation needs to make sure that all employees
understand the need to protect children with disabilities from violence, that children with
disabilities are more vulnerable to violence and which (in)action can potentially increase the
risk of violence for children to face/be exposed to violence. LIGHT FOR THE WORLD needs to
put a system in place that raises awareness and supports partners to work on protection of
children with disabilities from violence.

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5. The role of LIGHT FOR THE WORLD in child protection of children with disabilities
A child protection policy for LIGHT FOR THE WORLD will work on different levels:
1. A policy for the confederation of LIGHT FOR THE WORLD
2. Policies of Partner organisations of LIGHT FOR THE WORLD
3. Child protection in the community
4. Working on advocacy for the inclusion of children with disabilities into child
protection.
5.1. A policy for our own organisations1
The following statements apply to all people working within the confederation of LIGHT FOR
THE WORLD
 All the staff of LIGHT FOR THE WORLD confederation partners in Austria, Belgium,
Czech Republic and the Netherlands.
 All staff working in the country offices of LIGHT FOR THE WORLD in Burkina Faso,
Ethiopia, Mozambique and South Sudan.
 All staff working directly for LIGHT FOR THE WORLD in countries where there is no
country office.
 All staff members of UPSA
 All volunteers and consultants working for LIGHT FOR THE WORLD.
To make sure that all children are protected from and minimized of risk from violence by all
the above mentioned employees of LIGHT FOR THE WORLD,
All employees of LIGHT FOR THE WORLD will sign a statement (Annex 1) that they have
read the code of conduct and will oblige to it.
5.2 Partner organisations of LIGHT FOR THE WORLD
Both LIGHT FOR THE WORLD as well as project partners work for children. If in these projects
children are suffering from violence this will affect the partner organization and our own
organization. All partner organisations of LIGHT FOR THE WORLD should receive information
from the LIGHT FOR THE WORLD project officer responsible for their respective programs
about the child protection policy of our organisation.
Certain standards should be introduced to ensure child protection, they should include:
1. When entering a project partnership all potential partner organisations will be asked
if they have any child protection policy. When there is no child protection policy
1
The guidelines for keeping children safe within our own organisation are derived from the “keep the children safe; tool 1”

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available partners will be informed about the possibility to receive help from our
organisations to develop a policy.
2. Project partners will receive training and other forms of information about child
protection and LIGHT FOR THE WORLD’s approach to child protection.
3. In bi-annual reporting all partner organisations will be asked if they have faced any
problems with violence against children either within the organisation or with
children that are beneficiaries to the organisation.
4. When there is an incidence of violence against a child this will be reported to
childprotection@light-for-the-world.org. and followed up by the child protection
team in collaboration with the LIGHT FOR THE WORLD staff responsible.
5. LIGHT FOR THE WORLD is committed to support the partner organization – in the
case of a concrete situation of violence against a child – to establish systems to
prevent further damage and find systemic solutions. Organisations will also be
supported to help the child to overcome the trauma of the violence.
a. When a project partner reports a case of violence to any of the LIGHT FOR
THE WORLD staff members he/she will contact the child protection team and
discuss possibilities for supporting the child and the project partner.
b. All people responsible for the project partner will be informed about the
situation but only one person will follow up directly with the project partner.
c. The child protection team will keep track of the follow up and record the
outcome of the case
d. The main concern in follow up will be the best interest of the child ! This
means that in every country a culturally sensitive way of approaching the
situation has to be taken into account. This also means that in some cases
indirect approaches will be taken to solve the problem. Local staff will
therefore have a key position to find solutions to the problem.
e. Responsible staff members will have the opportunity to follow up on the case.
However the identity of the child needs to be protected to prevent further
damage to the child.
6. At the end of each year all project officers in the confederation and in the country
offices will be asked by the child protection team whether they have checked with
partners in reporting about:
 Progress in empowering partners to work on child protection
 Whether they have been actively checking with project partners about child
protection and cases of violence against children.
 Whether cases of violence against children were reported and what has been
done for follow up.

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5.3. Child protection in the community
LIGHT FOR THE WORLD partners work on disability issues in the community. Addressing the
issue of violence against children with disabilities within the community is more complex
because the projects often work with many different organisations and structures that help
in the development and rehabilitation of the child. Having a policy within the partner
organisations will not be enough. Therefore our partner organisations will be stimulated and
supported to train community programs and support them in developing policies and
activities that would help the protection of children with disabilities in the communities
where they live2
.
These trainings will include issues on:
 Schooling and making sure schools protect children from violence, within the school
hours and in lodges or other houses where children stay when the school is far from
their home.
 Support that can be given to a child, its family and rehabilitation workers, on
community level.
 Awareness raising that can be done on the level of the family and the community.
 Awareness raising should be done with the police and ,members of the justice
system. (Referrals made to the justice system should benefit the child and not cause
more trauma to the child) In order for a case of a child to be taken serious, police
and the justice system must be disability, gender and child friendly. This will need:
o Legal measures to punish and remove perpetrators from the home and
ensure that the child is not deprived from the family and can continue to live
a safe and healthy environment.
o Accessible and safe, disability and child friendly complaint mechanism.
o Access to the necessary communication, physical and other support to enable
them to participate in legal proceedings.
The approach will follow a community protection approach, working to empower children to
protect themselves without giving them the sole responsibility for their own protection.
Since LIGHT FOR THE WORLD works in multiple project partners in a country it should
support local partners to link up to relevant bodies that could help to facilitate child
protection on a community level. This could be done for example through a CBR network
(Ethiopia) or the Disability Law Unit (North East India). In this way efforts on a local
community level will be supported by regional and national levels.
2
Training is developed for CBR projects in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Mozambique at the moment and should
be made available for all community projects supported by LIGHT FOR THE WORLD.

17
5.4. Working on advocacy for the inclusion of children with disabilities into child
protection
LIGHT FOR THE WORLD is known for its work in lobby, advocacy and mainstreaming on
national levels, EU level and at the UN. In our work on all these levels our organisations will
take a proactive role in raising the issue of violence against children with disabilities3
. At the
moment most child protection policies do not mention children with disabilities and if they
are mentioned there are often no guidelines explaining why children with disabilities are
more vulnerable to violence and what considerations have to be made in order to protect
children with disabilities from violence. Therefore the LIGHT FOR THE WORLD confederation
is committed to contribute at all the levels of its lobby and advocacy work to child protection
that is inclusive of children with disabilities.
5.5. The LIGHT FOR THE WORLD child protection team
 The child protection team will consist of LIGHT FOR THE WORLD staff. The team will
consist of one person from each of the confederation members and one person from
the UPSA team. Additional staff and consultants might be involved in activities on an
implementation level.
 The child protection team will lead the process to develop a plan for the
implementation phase of the child protection policy.
 The child protection team will follow up and report about the progress made in child
protection by requesting information from confederation offices and country offices
annually.
 The child protection team will be involved in the development of training for LFTW
staff and project partners on the topic of child protection and follow up on the
knowledge of staff members about the child protection policy.
 The child protection team will support the development of “good practices” and
report about it in the UPSA newsletter and will support PR teams when they would
like to report on successes made in the field of protecting children with disabilities
for external publications.
 In case of violence against a child in one of the projects of our partners or by LIGHT
FOR THE WORLD staff the child protection team will follow up on the case in
collaboration with other responsible staff and report through UPSA about the
outcomes.
 The child protection team will follow up on activities of LIGHT FOR THE WORLD to
promote child protection of children with disabilities.
 The child protection team will review the child protection policy at least once in five
years.
3
Taking into account the laws and regulation of each country where we work.

18
Bibliography
ACPF (2006). Violence against children in Ethiopia, In Their Words. Addis Abeba, African
Child Policy Forum.
Boersma J.M.F. (2008). Violence against Ethiopian Children with Disabilities, the Stories of
Children. Amsterdam, Master Thesis University of Amsterdam.
Groce, N. E. and C. Peaglow (2005). Violence Against Disabled Children. UN secretary report
on violence against children. New York, UNICEF.
Pinheiro, P. S. (2006). World report on Violence against Children. Geneva, United Nations
Publishing Service.
Stöpler, L. (2008). Hidden Shame, Violence against Children with Disabilities in East Africa.
DenHaag, Terre des Homes.

19
ANNEX 1
LIGHT FOR THE WORLD code of conduct on child protection
Code of conduct:
 Try to never be alone with a child. If it is necessary to be alone with a child try to
make sure that others can hear/see what you are doing (this applies for home visits,
taking children to your own house, but also for taking a child for medical or other
care in a personal vehicle or taxi).
 Do not be involved in bathing or toilet activities except with pre-schoolers or children
incapable of washing themselves- and only then if done in an open way with another
worker within hearing distance.
 When teaching children or raising awareness amongst children about our work,
make sure that it happens in an open environment where other adults are present or
have access to the room.
 Do not engage in inappropriate physical contact with children, including overly
affectionate touching, suggestive behaviour, rough physical play, or inappropriate
tickling.
 Do not spend excessive time with any particular child/children or show obvious
favouritism.
 Do not use physical punishment to discipline a child. Discuss any potential
disciplinary issues to a colleague/manager.
 Do not engage children in domestic work. Following the ILO Minimum Age
Convention (C138), which states that minimum age for any kind of work is never less
than the age of completion of compulsory schooling and in any case not less than 15
years (with exception of 14 years in specific countries) (art.2). National laws may
permit children of 13 to 15 years to be involved in light work, as long as it does not
harm their health or development, and does not prejudice their attendance at school
(art.7). In other words, children can engage in domestic and personal work for staff
or anyone else as long as they still go to school and have time to finish their
homework, have sufficient time to rest, leisure time et cetera.
 Follow all the national policies and international policies on child rights
Communication with children:
 Create a warm and safe environment for children, treating them with dignity and
respect.
 Do not use harsh, harmful, threatening, or insulting language when talking to a child.

20
 Make sure that your language, in a setting where children are involved, is
appropriate, understandable and inclusive of those children.
What to do in case of child abuse?
 Report any suspected violence against a child immediately to childprotection@light-
for-the-world.org. This email box will be accessible to the LIGHT FOR THE WORLD
child protection team, who will follow up on the case and make a decision together
with the relevant staff member(s) of LIGHT FOR THE WORLD. Steps will be taken and
followed up until a good solution is found for the child and the case is closed. All
cases will be reported on in such a way that the child can’t be identified through the
report.
I, ___________ have read these behavioural guidelines and I am committed will commit
myself to these guidelines.
Signed: Date: Place:
____________ ____________ ____________

21
When using stories and images of children and when listening to stories of children,
employees of LIGHT FOR THE WORLD will:
 Inform any journalist travelling to project partners about the below statements and
ask them to work within the organisations child protection guidelines.
 Acquire permission from the child/guardian to use any materials of the child for the
work of LIGHT FOR THE WORLD
 Let children (with disabilities) give their own accounts as much as possible, rather
than others talking on their behalf.
 Make accurate and balanced portrayal of children, keeping their dignity and as much
as possible, making reference to their, social, cultural and economic environment.
 Respect local traditions and taboos when taking photos. Local staff of LIGHT FOR THE
WORLD and partner organizations should indicate to visiting journalists and LIGHT
FOR THE WORLD staff from another country when statements or photos will be
regarded as a negative in the context of the child.
 Avoid the child participating in the activity with false expectations about how the
project will benefit them and their family.
 Make it clear to the participating children that they have the right to say no at any
time, without the need to provide a reason.
 Avoid unduly influencing participation by the use of incentives. If incentives are
necessary, they must be in line with local living standards.
 Avoid questions, attitudes or comments that are judgmental, insensitive to cultural
values or inappropriate with regard to the age of the child, and that might place a
child in danger or expose a child to humiliation.
 Respect the right of the child to remain silent on issues too sensitive to talk about.
Notice when the child is uncomfortable. Stop the interview when the child becomes
upset.
 Always change the name and obscure the visual identity of any child who is identified
as:
o A victim of sexual violence or exploitation or any other severe violence,
o A perpetrator of physical or sexual violence,
o HIV positive, or living with AIDS,
o Charged or convicted of a crime.
 In certain circumstances of risk or potential risk of harm or retribution, change the
name and obscure the visual identity of any child who is identified as:
o A current or former child combatant,
o An asylum seeker, a refugee or an internal displaced person.

22
 Avoid degrading and discrimination of any kind.
 Make sure that children are appropriately clothed in pictures.
 No pictures of children will be taken that portray the child in sexually provocative
poses.
I, ___________ have read these behavioural guidelines and I am committed will commit
myself to these guidelines.
Signed: Date: Place:
____________ ____________ ____________

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