Muslim Charities Forum – Safeguarding Workshop
Reports of unacceptable sexual misconduct by staff working for UK-based international NGOs have raised important questions about the sector’s governance and leadership around safeguarding.This also highlighted that safeguarding should be an absolute priority for any NGO: not only in terms of policies and practices, but also in terms of organisational culture.
In order to promote best practice across UK based Muslim NGOs, this workshop brought together a range of expert speakers to discuss the different dimensions and challenges related to improving safeguarding standards.
Specialist speakers from a range of backgrounds contributed to some important discussions about how Muslim NGO’s can tackle safeguarding issues within their own organisaitons. Speakers included:
• Dr Angela Crack – Senior Lecturer, Centre for European and International Studies Research, University of Portsmouth
• Elanor Jackson – Women’s and girls’ rights and gender equality consultant with 27 years’ experience of working in international development
• Sarah Mistry – Director of effectiveness and learning, Bond
• Kristiana Wrixon – Head of policy, ACEVO
• Michelle Russell – Director of Investigations Monitoring and Enforcement, CharityCommission
• Dr Stuart Gordon – Assistant Professor, Department of International Development, London School of Economics and Political Science
• Representatives from Muslim INGOs
The workshop provided guidance and stimulated discussion by looking deeper into different dimensions of safeguarding.
At the end of the workshop attendees were able to:
• Understand the regulatory framework and expectations
• Become aware of risk factors and proposed policy solutions
• Learnt from other organisations’ practical experiences and challenges
• Identified the steps required to build/strengthen organisation’s safeguarding culture and capacity
• Recognise what good leadership looks like with regard to safeguarding
• Learnt current responses from the INGO sector
