New child protection policy
Too often, we hear of cases where children’s rights are violated. That is why, starting in 2025, Wilde Ganzen will request a child protection policy as part of every project application with children or vulnerable adults as beneficiaries.
Some children do not attend school, they grow up in an unsafe environment or do not receive the care they need. It also happens that children are not protected from people who mean harm within civil society organizations.
We never want children to be harmed
The projects that Wilde Ganzen supports together with you often aim to improve access to education or healthcare, for example. But what hasn’t been given much attention is the way children are protected within the organizations we support. We need to change this, because the last thing we want is for children to be abused, exploited or neglected.
Criteria as of 2025
Therefore, starting in 2025, Wilde Ganzen will ask for a child protection policy with every project application targeting children or vulnerable adults. We will check these against the following criteria:
- The policy follows certain frameworks (e.g.: UN convention of the rights of the child/ African Charter on the rights and welfare of the child/ national laws and regulations).
- There is a child protection officer/focal point within the organization responsible for this policy and reports.
- Includes prevention measures (conditions of recruitment, selection and hiring of staff, code of conduct, awareness among children and stakeholders, culture within the organization).
- Contains information on how to make a report in case of (suspected) harmful behavior, and what the procedure is after a report is made (who is responsible within the organization, who is confidant, is there a clear process described).
- Contains information about aftercare (clear measures if a child’s rights have been violated).
- Contains information about planning, monitoring, evaluation, and learning (mechanisms to ensure that this policy is implemented, and kept alive within the organization, and adjusted as needed).
2025 is a year of transition
2025 will be a year of transition. If you don’t yet have a child protection policy in place, we will ask for a risk analysis specific to the project or program support being requested from Wilde Ganzen. As of 2026, we will no longer fund project applications targeting children/vulnerable adults if an organization cannot submit a child protection policy.
More information
Would you like some support with writing a policy?
- Toolkit Change the Game Academy (English)
- Keeping children safe toolkit (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic or Nepalese)
Or click here for more information and practical tools in dutch.