Little Hearts Organisation (LHO) Child Protection Policy
At Little Hearts we take Child Protection extremely seriously.
Helping children break the cycle of poverty is more than providing health care and education. It’s about working towards the complete well-being of each and every child — and that means keeping them safe.
LHO strictly follows 5 basic rules:
- Having zero-tolerance for child abuse.
- Protecting children’s rights and their best interests.
- Placing the child as the first priority when dealing with all identified or suspected cases of child abuse.
- Empowering and educating children on their rights, personal safety and steps they can take, if there is a problem.
- Integrating child protection into all aspects of our organizational strategy, structures and work practices.
Child protection policy
LHO’s Child Protection Policy is made up of several components, all with the goal of keeping children and youth safe. It includes specific child protection principles, guidelines for reporting incidents, steps for preventing abuse, training for Little Hearts staff, the rules we follow for using information in print and web materials and safety measures for sponsor-beneficiary interactions.
Child protection principles
We strictly follow child protection principles based on international Child Protection Policies. These principles include local laws on child abuse, procedures that are required by local law, a list of local authorities to whom child abuse cases are reported, as well as a list of partner organizations to contact that can provide the appropriate support services for victims.
Reporting incidents
For all reported child-abuse incidents, LHO requires that the child’s best interest be the first priority. In addition, all incidents must be dealt with promptly, and they must be handled in a confidential manner that does not harm the victim or the person reporting the abuse.
Abuse prevention
Preventing abuse of any form is fundamental. LHO believes that all staff, partners and related entities must do everything in their power to identify, report and prevent cases of abuse as much as possible to help ensure children’s safety. The key to our strategy is training and education:
- Training children, staff and volunteers on how to identify and prevent child abuse.
- Giving children the opportunity to participate in programs that educate them on their rights, personal-safety techniques and steps they can take in case of a problem.
- Encouraging and supporting children, staff and community members to report cases of abuse.
- Including child protection information into other LHO programs so that we reach more people and generate awareness about the importance of protecting children.
- Allowing all children and teens the opportunity to participate in programs regardless of gender, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity or religion.
LHO publications
As you read through our web and print materials, you may have already noticed some of the measures we take to protect children. These include:
- Telling the truth of the story. This means never using manipulated or sensationalized text and/or images, and certainly not employing discriminatory or degrading language.
- Never using images of inappropriately clothed children.
- Not publicly disclosing a child’s last name, personal address or other information that could be used to locate a child within a country, unless the family or individual has given us written consent..
- Not publishing health information, unless the family or individual has given us written consent.