Child Protection Policy

1. Why this policy exists

Our projects welcome children. The homework school in Nkolmesseng receives them every week; food aid, schooling support and family accompaniment involve others. Wherever an adult organisation holds authority over children, a risk of harm exists — including from well-intentioned people, and including within our own organisation.

This policy starts from that fact rather than denying it. It sets out what we commit to doing so that the risk is reduced, detected and addressed.

2. Who it applies to

To anyone acting in the name of or on behalf of the AWAKEN DESTINY foundation or the AWAKEN DESTINY association: board members, members, employees, volunteers, interns, consultants, contractors, implementing partners, and any person accompanying a mission or visiting a site — including donors and journalists.

No one is exempt by reason of status, seniority or role.

3. Definitions

Child — any person under the age of eighteen, in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. This definition applies regardless of the age of majority or consent set by local law.

Abuse — any form of physical or mental violence, injury or ill-treatment, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual violence. It covers in particular:

• physical violence: hitting, corporal punishment, restraint, deprivation;
• sexual violence: any act of a sexual nature involving a child, with or without contact;
• psychological violence: humiliation, threats, rejection, isolation, belittling;
• neglect: deprivation of care, food, protection or supervision;
• exploitation: use of a child for labour, begging, fundraising or imagery, for the benefit of a third party.

Best interests of the child — the primary consideration, which prevails over all others, including the interests of the organisation, the success of a project or the reputation of any individual.

Trusted contact — the safeguarding focal point designated in section 9, to whom any report may be addressed.

4. Our principles

The best interests of the child prevail. Where they conflict with a programme objective, a timeline, a partnership or the organisation's image, they win.

Every child has the same right to protection. Without distinction as to origin, sex, disability, religion, family status or school situation.

No report is dismissed. Every concern is received, recorded and examined — even when uncertain, even when clumsily expressed, even when directed at someone we would rather not doubt.

Silence is not loyalty. Staying quiet to protect a colleague, a partner, a donor or the organisation is serious misconduct.

The child is heard. Their views are sought and taken seriously, in language and settings suited to their age.

Transparency outranks reputation. An organisation that handles an incident openly is stronger than one where nothing ever appears to happen.

Prevention is work, not intention. It takes the form of written rules, checks, training and controls.

5. Obligations of staff, volunteers and visitors

5.1 What everyone commits to

• Treating every child with respect and listening to them.
• Knowing and applying this policy and the Code of Conduct they have signed.
• Reporting without delay any concern, suspicion or behaviour contrary to this policy, including on the part of a superior.
• Remaining visible and accountable when in the presence of children.

5.2 What is prohibited without exception

• Hitting, pushing, shaking or inflicting corporal punishment, whatever educational or cultural justification is invoked.
• Humiliating, belittling, threatening, isolating or subjecting a child to degrading treatment.
• Any sexual activity with a child. Ignorance of their age, or a mistaken belief that they were an adult, is not a defence. The child's consent is irrelevant.
• Being alone with a child in an enclosed space or out of sight of other adults. Where a one-to-one conversation is necessary, it takes place in a visible space, with the door open, and another team member informed beforehand.
• Transporting a child alone in a vehicle, save in a documented emergency reported the same day.
• Accommodating a child at one's home or sleeping in the same room as a child.
• Forming a personal relationship, maintaining private contact, or exchanging messages, phone numbers or social media connections with a child met through our activities, outside the organisation's channels.
• Giving a child money, a gift or any advantage on an individual basis, outside a documented programme mechanism.
• Photographing or filming a child outside the conditions set out in section 7.
• Consuming alcohol or any psychoactive substance in the presence of children during activities.
• Assigning a child a task belonging to adult work, or involving a child in fundraising.

5.3 What is expected if you doubt your own conduct

Anyone who has accidentally been alone with a child, who has had to touch a child while giving first aid, or whose gesture could be misread, reports it themselves to the focal point the same day. Such a voluntary declaration protects the child, protects the individual, and carries no sanction in itself.

6. Obligations of partners and contractors

Every agreement entered into by the foundation or the association with an implementing partner, contractor, health facility or school includes:

• the obligation to apply this policy, or one offering at least an equivalent level of protection;
• the obligation to have the Code of Conduct signed by anyone working in contact with children;
• the obligation to inform the focal point without delay of any incident affecting a child within the project;
• the right, for the foundation or the association, to suspend the partnership in the event of serious breach;
• a prohibition on subcontracting without passing on the same obligations.

A partner who refuses these clauses cannot work with us on any activity involving children.

7. Images, testimonies and data

Consent. No image, recording, testimony or identifying data concerning a child may be collected or published without the written, free and informed consent of the parent or legal guardian, and the child's own assent, obtained in language they understand. The intended use must have been explained. Consent is revocable at any time and without justification.

Dignity. Children are shown appropriately dressed and in non-degrading situations. Images of distress, extreme destitution or medical care are prohibited. We do not display a child to elicit pity.

Identification. We never publish, alongside a child's image, their full name, the name of their school, their address, their precise neighbourhood or any information allowing them to be located.

Retention. Source files are stored on a secure, access-restricted medium together with the corresponding consent form. They are deleted when the agreed period expires or when consent is withdrawn.

Absolute prohibition. No staff member and no visitor keeps images of children taken during activities on a personal device.

8. Preventive measures

8.1 Safe recruitment

For any position, paid or voluntary, involving contact with children:

• an interview including explicit questions on child protection;
• verification of identity and qualifications;
• references from at least two previous employers or supervisors, including the most recent, with a direct question as to whether any safeguarding concerns exist;
• a criminal record extract where the applicable law permits;
• a written declaration by the candidate that they have never been the subject of a conviction, investigation or disciplinary measure relating to harm to a child;
• a probation period with enhanced supervision.

Every check is documented and kept on file.

8.2 Training and undertaking

Anyone working in contact with children signs the Code of Conduct before taking up their duties, receives a briefing on this policy, and attends a refresher at least once a year. New recruits are not left alone with children during their initial period.

8.3 Activity design

• Premises receiving children are laid out so that all spaces remain visible: open or glazed doors, no isolated room that can be locked.
• At least two adults are present during group activities.
• An attendance register for children and supervisors is kept for every session.
• Arrival and departure arrangements are set out in writing: who brings the child, who collects them, what to do if no one comes.
• Toilets and changing areas are subject to specific access rules.

8.4 Visitors, donors and missions

No occasional visitor — donor, journalist, partner, family member of a staff member — has access to children without prior written approval, without being accompanied at all times by an authorised team member, and without having been briefed on the rules of conduct.

We practise no form of humanitarian tourism. Visits are neither a marketing offer nor a reward for giving.

8.5 Digital environment

Communication with families goes through the organisation's channels, never through personal accounts. Devices used for activities are protected by an access code. No content involving a child is stored in a personal messaging account.

9. Reporting

9.1 Who to contact

Safeguarding focal point: Élise EBOKOLO (foundation headquarters, Belgium) — [email protected] — +32 478 13 02 11 or via the online form at https://awakendestiny.org/en/report

A report may be anonymous. It may be made orally, in writing, by message or in person. It requires no proof, no certainty and no particular form.

9.2 Timeframes

9.3 What to do, and what not to do

Do: ensure the child is safe; listen without interrupting; believe them; tell them they were right to speak; record their words as they said them, dated and signed; pass it to the focal point.

Do not: promise secrecy; question the child or make them repeat their account; investigate yourself; confront the person implicated; inform the family before the risk has been assessed; discuss it with anyone other than the focal point.

9.4 Protection of the person reporting

Anyone reporting in good faith is protected against any retaliation, sanction, sidelining, non-renewal or pressure. An act of retaliation is itself serious misconduct. This protection applies even if the report turns out to be unfounded, provided it was made sincerely.

10. Responding

On receiving a report, the focal point:

1. ensures the child's safety and takes an immediate protective measure if needed;
2. records the report in a confidential, access-restricted register;
3. informs the president of each entity within 24 hours, in a form protecting the child's identity;
4. assesses referral to medical, psychosocial or legal support, according to the child's interests;
5. suspends the person implicated from all activity involving children, as a precautionary measure and without prejudging the outcome;
6. determines whether there is an obligation to notify the competent authorities;
7. conducts or arranges an impartial review by someone unconnected to the facts;
8. decides on the outcome: disciplinary measures up to dismissal or termination of the partnership, without prejudice to criminal proceedings.

Facts capable of constituting an offence fall under the law of the place where they occurred — in Cameroon, notably the Penal Code as regards rape, indecent assault on a minor and sexual harassment; in Belgium, the Penal Code, whose article 458bis permits professional secrecy to be lifted in order to protect a minor at risk. The organisation does not compromise on this: protecting the child comes before preserving a relationship or a reputation.

11. Governance of this policy

Accountability. The board of each entity is accountable for implementing this policy. Operational management ensures its day-to-day application.

Focal point. Each entity designates a safeguarding focal point, separate from the operational reporting line, whose name and contact details are displayed at activity sites, communicated to families and published on the website.

Register. A confidential register of reports and outcomes is maintained. An anonymised statistical summary is presented to the steering committee each quarter and in the annual report.

Review. The policy is reviewed at least annually, and after any serious incident.

Dissemination. It is published on the website, displayed at activity sites — including in a simplified, child-accessible version — and given to every new arrival.

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Policy adopted by the board on 31/07/2026. Version 1.0. Contact: [email protected].