Children are equal citizen of the nation and hence it is extremely important to

safeguard the children from any risk to their lives. Recognising the importance of
safety and protection of all children, recognised and guaranteed in the Constitution
of India to all children to ensure equality, and non-discrimination on basis of gender,
(dis) ability, age, religion, ethnicity etc., and the UN vide its UN Convention on Rights
of the Child (1989)proclaimed via article19 that:

“State parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and
educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental
violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or
exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s)
or any other person who has the care of the child.”

Further, Clause 2.2 of the preamble of National Policy for Children, 2012 states that,

 “All children have equal rights irrespective of place of birth, sex, religion, caste,
class, language, and disability, social economic or any other status;
 All children have the right to a loving family, a dignified life free from
exploitation and that families are to be supported by a strong social safety net
in caring for and nurturing their children.
 Safety and security of all children is integral to their well-being and children are
to be protected from all forms of harm, abuse, neglect, violence, maltreatment
and exploitation”

Oxfam also recognises rights of protection of children provided by the special

laws on children, in particular:
 Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015;
 Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act 2012;
 Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006;
 Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 2016

The purpose of this policy is to create awareness on Child Protection and how to
prevent and report child abuse by any stake holders of Oxfam India.

As an international development organization, Oxfam India is committed to the well-

being of children and has zero tolerance to any form of child abuse or exploitation.
This policy is inconsonance with the UN Convention on Rights of the Child (1989).

This policy is also a testimony of Oxfam India commitment to all four sets of rights of
children i.e. Rights to Survival, Development, Protection and Participation and is
based on the principles of best Interest of the child, non-discrimination and right of
every child to be heard.

Undertake special measures for especially vulnerable children based on age , (dis)
ability, gender, geographical location, ethnicity, religion and socio-economic status
to ensure that they are not further marginalised or unprotected.
‘
Oxfam India comes face to face with children on many occasions during the course
of its work. Some of the situations where children may be involved are:
 Programmes– Oxfam India facilitates the implementation of grass roots
programmes through its Partner NGOs in areas such as essential services,
education, health and sanitation, youth and active citizenship and gender
justice where children form a significant focus group. Children also form a part
of target audience during field visits, focus group discussions, and other
interactions.

 Marketing and Campaigns–Oxfam India uses collaterals such as posters,

brochures, handouts, and direct mailers, which use children’s images and
stories to convey the work done in project areas.

 Response to Disasters – During the course of its work on humanitarian

response Disasters and DRR in the affected communities, children form a
significant part of Oxfam India’s rehabilitation beneficiaries.

 Children of the employees of Oxfam India: Oxfam India respects the dignity
and rights of the children of the employees of Oxfam India.

Drawing inferences from point 3, this policy would apply to

 Oxfam India: Board, all staff, consultants, interns, and volunteers.
 Project partner organizations: All its staff (part-time and full-time), board,
consultants, interns, and volunteers.
 Other associates: all vendors, suppliers, and donors (institutional and
individual).

For the purpose of the document, any person under the physical age of 18
years would be deemed to be a Child and as defined by the UN Convention
on the Rights of Children , The National Policy for Children 2012.

Child Protection means and included:

i. Protecting a child from any perceived risk or danger to their life, their
personhood, and their childhood.
ii. Reducing their vulnerability to harmful situations and protecting them
against social, psychological, and emotional insecurity and distress.
iii. Ensuring that no child falls out of the social security and safety net and
those who do, receive necessary care and protection to be brought back
into the safety net.
iv. Believing that a child is entitled to express her/his opinion and can take
decisions for herself/himself and acting accordingly.

Child abuse refers to all forms of physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual
abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, commercial exploitation, resulting in
actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival, development or dignity,
in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power.
Physical abuse of a child is the one that results in actual or potential physical
harm from an interaction or lack of an interaction, which is reasonably within
the control of apparent or person in a position of responsibility, power or trust.
There may be single or repeated incidents.

Emotional abuse includes the failure to provide a developmentally appropriate,

supportive environment, including the availability of a primary attachment
figure, so that the child can develop a stable and full range of emotional and
social competencies commensurate with her or his personal potentials and in
the context of the society in which the child dwells. There may also be acts
towards the child that cause or have a high probability of causing harm to the
child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. These
acts must be reasonably within the control of the parent or person in a
relationship of responsibility, trust or power. Acts include restriction of
movement, patterns of belittling, and denigrating, threatening, scaring,
discriminating, ridiculing or other non-physical forms of hostile or rejecting
treatment.

Child sexual abuse (as also defined in Section 2 of Protection of Children from
Sexual Offences Act 2012) is the involvement of a child in sexual activity that
he or she does not fully comprehend, is unable to give informed consent to, or
for which the child is not developmentally prepared and cannot give consent,
or that violates the laws and social taboos of society. Child sexual abuse is
evidenced by this activity between a child and an adult or another child who by
age or relationship is in a relationship of responsibility, trust or power, the
activity being intended to gratify or satisfy the needs of the other person. This
may include but not limited to:
 The inducement or coercion of a child to engage in any unlawful sexual
activity.
 The exploitative use of children in prostitution or other unlawful sexual
practices.
 The exploitative use of children in pornographic performances and
materials.

Commercial or other exploitation of a child refers to the use of the child in work
or other activities for the benefit of others. This includes, but is not limited to,
child labour (as in the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act 2016,
child trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation and other purposes (as
defined under Section 370 of the Indian Penal Code).These activities are to
the detriment of the child’s physical or mental health, education, or spiritual,
moral or social-emotional development.

Neglect is the failure to provide for the development of the child in all spheres:
health, education, emotional development, nutrition, shelter, and safe living
conditions, in the context of resources reasonably available to the family or
caretakers and causes or has a high probability of causing harm to the child’s
health of physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. This includes
the failure to properly supervise and protect children from harm as much as is
feasible.
 Child Protection Violation in this policy amounts to:-
 Any actor behavior that puts a child at risk of abuse.
 Any actor behavior that could potentially increase the risk of abuse.
 A failure to act in a situation where a child is being abused.
 Failure to follow the code of conduct or any other prescribed protocol
without suitable justification.
 Failure to report any act of abuse and exploitation to the appropriate
authorities for due action as per the laws

 Recognition of children’s rights: The rights of all children must be protected

and promoted as set out in the Cons titution of India and th e UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child. This includes the right to freedom from
abuse and exploitation. Oxfam India is committed to upholding the rights and
obligations of children and recognizes that some children, such as children
with disabilities and children living in areas impacted by disasters are
particularly vulnerable. Child Protection forms an integral part of all Oxfam
India’s work where children are made aware of their rights, which would help
them to be safe from abuses.

 Zero tolerance of child abuse: We have a commitment to protecting children

with/for whom we work. Child abuse shall not be tolerated by Oxfam India in
any form. We would not knowingly engage, directly or in directly, anyone who
poses an unacceptable risk to children, nor fund any individual or that do so
.When we work through partners, they have a responsibility to meet minimum
standards of protection for children in their programmes.

All staff, interns, volunteers, consultants and visitors shall:

 Establish an atmosphere conducive for the development of children through
their word, deed and demeanor. This includes listening to children and
showing respect to them.
 Respect the local cultural context and behave inappropriate manner with
children in communities.
 Not allow project children to visit the homes of any staff, intern, etc. unless it is
precipitated by a severe threat to the safety of the child.
 Not have the project children stay overnight in the home of Oxfam India
personnel at anytime.
 Not employ children as domestic workers in their homes .Should not take
services provided by child labour or any activity/action that leads to child
labour.
 Prevent marriages of their children before the legal age of marriage.
 Not engage in any form of corporal punishment of children
 Not spend time alone, in a personal capacity, with a project child or children.
There should always be another adult who would be able to see the interaction.

The exception to this may be in the event where personnel are employed as
professionally recognized trained counselors, teachers, and doctors.
 Always be calm during the interaction between an adult and a child even when
it appears that a child is acting in a provocative manner.
 Not touch private parts of the body, or any touch in such a way that would
make a child uncomfortable.
  Never hit, otherwise physically assault, or physically abuse children.
 Never develop physical/sexual relationships with children or any such
relationships, which could be deemed exploitative or abusive.
 Not use language, make suggestions or offer advice, which is inappropriate,
offensive or abusive to children.
 Not actin ways intended to shame, humiliate, be little or degrade children, or
otherwise perpetrate any form of emotional abuse.
 Not discriminate against, or favour a particular child to the exclusion of others.
 No staff will document/ take picture/video of children, which shows the child in
distress and undignified condition. Also will ensure proper consent on the
parents of the child while doing so.

This is not an exhaustive or exclusive list. The principle is that staff should avoid
actions or behaviour, which may constitute poor practice or potentially abusive
behaviour
It is important for all staff and others in contact with children to:
 Be aware of situations, which may present risks and manage these.
 Plan and organize the work and the work place to minimize risks as far as
possible.
 Ensure that a culture of openness exists to enable any issues or concerns to
be raised and discussed.
 Ensure that as essence of accountability exists between staffs o that poor
practice or potentially abusive behaviour does not go unchallenged.
 Talk to children about their contact with staff or others and encourage them
to raise any concerns.
 Empower children- discuss with them their rights, what is acceptable and
unacceptable, and what they can do if there is a problem

Creating Awareness – A concentrated effort would be done to generate

awareness on Child Protection within all stakeholders of Oxfam India at various
level.

During induction: At the staff level,

Child Protection would form a part of the i n d u c t i o n t r a i n i n g w h i c h
w o u l d b e facilitated by HR in due consultations with the Gender Justice
team.

During induction: At the level of partners

During annual partners meet for partners, all the regional managers shall be
responsible for percolating this training to the partners and ensuring that the
partners download it to their grassroots ’target audience, in return.

Information to the Board:

The SLT shall be responsible to take it to the Board members.

Information to the Vendors

The Admin & procurement team shall be responsible for creating awareness
among their vendors

Dissemination of information in general:

Along with organization’s position on child protection, awareness s efforts

would also be made on whistle blowing, complaint & redressal mechanisms/
procedures through various means such as staff induction, policy documents
haring and dissemination of contact details of Child Protection Committee.
Oxfam India will ensure access to child protection policy as well as the Internal
Committee constituted under Sexual Harassment readily available to all

Oxfam India will ensure that he process to make complaint is informed, active
and responsive to each situation.

Prevention and Redressal Mechanism

a) Committee for awareness, monitoring and redressal–

A committee called the Child Protection Committee shall be set up within
the organization, which shall consist of a Director, the Lead Specialist–
Gender Justice, the Coordinator-Education and up to three
members from regional offices across all grades and one ex officio
member–child rights specialist/ activists. These members would
carefully be chosen and their contact details would be widely shared
among all stakeholders.

Role of the Committee:

a. Committee will give recommendation to the board of directors
b. The committee shall ensure availability of the contact details for
registering complain on violation of CP through various mediums of
communication.
c. The committee shall work in collaboration with the Communication
Team in case any image of child/ children in used.
d. The actions/ Redressal undertaken by the committee will be
informed by the Board and Directors annually.
e. The committee will be responsible for investing, monitoring and
evaluate the cases of Child Protection Violation. The committee will
give recommendation to the jury

b) Jury on Child Protection Policy: The Jury will comprise of an ex offiicio

member -a child rights activist, SLT member, CEO and Board Member.
 The Jury will meet within 3 days of receiving the recommendation
from the Child Protection Committee.
 The Jury will give its verdict within 5 working days after listening to
the CPP and person in contact.
 The verdict given by the Jury will be final for the concern department.

c) The role and duty of Human Resources department in Child

Protection–
Recruitment Child Protection would be made integral part of staff
recruitment process. Child right related question(s) would be made
mandatory part of assessment format as well as reference check. Along
with this, Child Protection policy would be included in the offer letter to all
new employees and all Oxfam India Board members. As part of the
acceptance procedure, employees would be asked to sign a declaration
of the policy stating that they are aware of its existence and would abide/
adhere to it. The declaration would be kept on the staff members file and
may be referred to in legal proceedings if a staff member is found to be in
breach of the policy.

Evaluation: Human Resource will critically assess the performance of the

staff in concern. (KRA will assess the individual’s ability up to live the
values of the organization in this context)
d) The responsibility and authority of all Oxfam India Staff in Child
Protection: Specific delegated authorities’ are outlined below.
 Activity Who When
Report concern, suspicion,
disclosure or witness of incidents of As per reporting
All Staff
procedures.
child abuse or breaches of the Code
of Conduct
a) Line Manager

b) Director - Operations Investigate within

24 hours of
Investigate incidents
(With support from Child receipt of report.
Protection Delegate or
Focal Point)

Decision to refer incidents to external

Director – Operations As required.
authority.
Child Protection
Register incidents As received.
Committee
Report on incidents and breaches of
Child Protection
the policy and code to the Director- Quarterly
Committee.
Operations.
Report, as part of the Annual
Program Report, on application of
child protection policies and Director – Operations Annually
procedures as they relate to
beneficiaries (as per Executive
Limitation
Ensure all 2.1)
field office staff have Annually or more
access to and participate in Child regularly if
Director-Operations
Protection training required.
Ensure all Oxfam India staff have Annually or more
access to and participate in Child Director-Operations regularly if
Protection training required.

All Oxfam India Staff and partners, by the nature of their work, interact with
vulnerable communities and children and therefore should be aware of sensitive
information concerning children. In the event of such a situation, concerns that are
evidenced by impairment of health, physical in jury, sexual exploitation, criminal
activity or threats must be reported immediately to statutory child protection
agencies or equivalent authorities. This information may be called upon as evidence
in child protection investigations or to inform decision-making. Oxfam India and
partner staff may become aware of infringements of Rights, or, allegations of
infringements, or, stories of infringements. Sometimes circumstances and intuition
would leave the worker suspecting an infringement of rights. These circumstances
would also be investigated.

(i) Oxfam India staff/ partner having firsthand account of such child abuse will
inform the child protection committee. Confidentiality will be maintained for
each case.
(ii) All children, OIN employees, partner staff, volunteers, consultants will be
informed about the Redressal mechanism process and also the
communication process to report cases of child abuse and exploitation.
(iii) All incidents of abuse, complains, enquiry proceedings and Redressal of it
 would be documented formally and monitored on regular basis. These
documentations would be shared with staff from time to time to create new
benchmark in Child Protection practices within the organization.
(iv) Disciplinary measures would be initiated against any Staff member found to be
engaged in the following acts:
 Inducing or coercing a child to engage in sexual activity
 Exploitative activities with children including child labour or trafficking
 Use of children’s photographs for pornographic or other inappropriate use
 Subjecting any child to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment
 Mistreating or depriving the child in any manner

Disciplinary measures would include

 Suspension1 until the Child Protection Committee investigates and
submits the report and HR officially communicates the person to rejoin
the office.
 In case the Jury recommends legal action then the Organisation will
pursue a legal case against the person.
 Public apology to the concerned child and community
 As recommended by the Jury and the Child Protection Committee

(v) Any partner/ vendor found to be engaged, or suspected of being engaged in

the above acts would be reported to the relevant authorities at the discretion
of Oxfam India. If such an allegation were proved against a partner or vendor,
Oxfam India would discontinue working with such a partner or vendor.

Staff is encouraged to be sensitive and respect the cultural identity of children

in areas and communities where we work.

This policy will be reviewed every three years to keep it inconsonance with changing times.