Launching The Community-Based Safeguarding Visual Toolkit

The NGO community has made significant progress in safeguarding against sexual abuse or exploitation by and of humanitarian and development workers and beneficiaries.

As NGOs continue to progress, there is increased recognition that these safeguarding measures will only go so far without intentional, effective community engagement. While safeguarding policies, staff training, and complaints mechanisms are key components of effective safeguarding, no safeguarding approach will be holistic without ensuring that communities know their rights around safeguarding.

To address this, Habitat for Humanity International, Oxfam International, and WaterAid, with the help of funding from InterAction, teamed up to create a “community-based safeguarding visual toolkit.” The toolkit is adaptable and designed to assist humanitarian and development agencies to communicate key safeguarding messages derived from the (IASC) Six Core Principles Relating to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse to the communities in which they and their partners work, helping to break down barriers of language, literacy, and accessibility. The ultimate goal of this toolkit is to support communities in realizing their rights in preventing sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment by promoting a ‘speak up’ culture.

This toolkit was developed by Rooftop design agency in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity International, Oxfam International, and WaterAid for use by humanitarian and development organizations working in partnership with communities around the world. This product was made possible in part through the support of InterAction and can be downloaded for free from our resource library.

Please take the time to read the user information guide which provides background information on the development of the toolkit, how it can be used and adapted to suit a wide range of needs, as well as a technical guide. Please note that the toolkit has been released in 24 languages so far. More translations will become available, with support from Translators Without Borders.

Questions? Please reach out to Kirsten Mullin, InterAction’s From Pledge to Action Team Program Associate.