Action for Children in Crisis International (ACCI) is a non-governmental organization focused on child development and youth empowerment in Liberia. Founded in 2008, ACCI aims to ¹ ²:

• Improve Educational Support: Develop mechanisms to support children’s education and combat violence and abuse against them.
• Empower Communities: Transform vulnerable children’s lives, preserve families, and empower communities to create dignity, belonging, and justice for all.
• Promote Child Rights: Defend and promote children’s rights, prioritizing their best interests and ensuring equal access to opportunities.

Key Areas of Focus:

• Children & Youth: ACCI prioritizes children’s needs, providing support and opportunities for growth.
• Community Development: The organization empowers communities to address pressing issues.
• Education: ACCI focuses on improving access to quality education.
• Health & Medicine: While not the primary focus, ACCI’s work contributes to overall well-being.

Location and Funding:

• Based in Monrovia: ACCI operates in Liberia, specifically

CHILD PROTECTION POLICY

Everyone who works for ACTION FOR CHILDREN IN CRISIS INTERNATIONAL (ACCI) is entitled to do so in an enjoyable and safe environment. The organization is under moral and legal obligation to ensure that, when given a responsibility for children of all categories: care givers, teachers, coaches, mentors and workers must provide children with the highest possible standard of care to ensure their wellbeing and protection.

ACCI ORGANIZATION is committed to developing and implementing policies so that everyone in the organization accepts their respective roles and responsibilities to safeguard children from potential harm and abuse. This means to follow prescribed procedures to protect children and report any concerns about their welfare to appropriate authorities.

The aim of this policy, therefore, is to promote good practices, providing children and young people with appropriate safety/protection while in the employ of this organization and to allow staff, volunteers and all caregivers to make informed decision and confident responses to specific child protection issues.

From the perspective the international community, A child is defined as any person below the age 18 (the Children’s Act 2011; CRC 1989)

Policy Statement

ACCI is committed to the following:

· We uphold the principle of the best interest of the child in all our dealings with children and their issues;

· All children, whatever their age, culture, ability, gender, language, racial origin, religious belief, sex should be able to participate in all activities in a manner appropriate to his/her age and safe manner;

· Taking all reasonable steps to protect children from harm, discrimination and degrading treatment and to respect their rights, wishes and feelings;

· All suspicious and allegations of poor practice or abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately;

· All staff, including employees, volunteers, who work for the organization will be recruited based on their ability to manage assigned responsibility and will be provided with guidance and training in applicable practices and child protection procedures;

· Working in partnership with parents and children is essential for the protection of children.

Monitor and Review the Policy and Procedures

The implementation of procedures should be regularly reviewed. The welfare officer should regularly report progress, challenges, achievements, gaps and areas where changes are required for the management committee.

The policy should be reviewed every two years or whenever there is a major change in the organization or new development that is not covered in the policy.

2. PROMOTING BEST PRACTICE

2.1 To provide children with the best possible experience and opportunities, everyone must operate within the framework of a code of conduct for caretakers, including service providers and others entrusted with children.

It is not always easy to distinguish poor practice from abuse. It is therefore not the responsibility of employees or participants, such as service providers or caretakers not to make judgment about whether or not abuse has taken place. It is however their responsibility to identify poor practices and possible abuse and act because it is always their responsibilities to be concerned about the welfare of the child.

This section will help you identify what is meant by good practice and poor practice.

Good Practice

All personnel should adhere to the following principles and actions:

· Always work in an open environment (e.g. avoiding private or unobserved situations and encouraging open communication with no secrets.)

· Treat all children and young people equal and with respect and dignity;

· Always put the welfare of the child as a priority concern first.

· Maintain a safe and appropriate distance from the child (e.g., as it is not appropriate for a caretaker or a staff to have intimate relationship with a child or to share a room with them);

· Avoid unnecessary contact with children or young people. Where any form of manual/ physical support is required, it should be provided openly and with consent of the child. Physical can be appropriate so long it is neither intrusive nor disturbing and the child’s consent has been obtained;

2.3 Poor Practice

· The following regarded as poor practice and should be avoided by all caregivers and personnel in general:

· Unnecessarily spending excessive amounts of time with children alone away from others;

· Taking children alone in a car on journeys, however short;

· Taking children to your home where they will be alone with your or strangers;

· Sharing a room with a child;

· Engaging in rough, physical or sexually provocative games, including horseplay;

· Don’t engage in inappropriate touching of any form;

· Allowing children to use inappropriate language unchallenged;

· Making sexually suggestive comments to children, even in fun;

· Reducing a child to tears as a form of control;

· Allowing allegations made by children to go unchallenged, unrecorded or not acted upon;

· Doing things of a personal nature that the children cannot do for themselves.

When a case arises where it is impractical/impossible to avoid certain situation e.g. transporting a child on a car, the tasks should be carried out with the full understanding and consent of the parent/ caregiver and child involved.

3. Defining Child Abuse

3.1 Child abuses is defined as any form of physical, emotional or sexual mistreatment or lack of care that leads to injury or harm. It commonly occurs within a relationship of trust or responsibility and is an abuse of power or a breach of trust. Abuse can happen in a child regardless of their age, gender, race or ability.

There are four main types of abuse: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and neglect. The abuser may be a family members; someone the child encounters in residential care, a care giver or someone family members’ trusts in the community. Any individual may be responsible for abuse of a child by failing to prevent another person from abusing the child. An individual may be involved in the abuse of a child if he or she creates the condition of facilitate the abuse of the child.

Children with disabilities may be at risk of abuse through various factors such as stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination, isolation and powerlessness to protect themselves or adequately communicate that abuse.

Types of abuse

Physical abuse: Where adults physically hurt or injure a child e.g. hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning, biting, scalding, suffocating and drowning. Giving children alcohol or inappropriate drugs would also constitute child abuse.

This category of abuse can also include when a parent/ caregiver reports non-existent symptoms or illness deliberately causes ill health in a child they are looking after. This is called Munchausen’s syndrome by proxy.

In a sports situation, physical abuse may occur when the nature and intensity of training disregard the capacity of the child’s immature and growing body.

Emotional abuse: the persistent emotional ill treatment of a child, likely to cause severe and lasting adverse effect on the child’s development. It may involve telling a child they are useless, unloved and inadequate or valued in terms of only meeting the needs of another person. It may feature expectations of a child that are not appropriate to their age or development. It may cause a child to be frightened or in danger by being constantly shouted at, threatened or taunted which may make the child frightened or withdrawn.

Ill treatment of a child, whatever form it takes, will always feature a degree of emotional abuse.

Emotional abuse in sport may occur when the child is constantly criticized, given negative feedback, expected to perform at levels that are above their capacity. Other forms of emotional abuse could take the form of name calling and bullying.

Bullying may come from another child or an adult. Bullying is defined as deliberate hurtful behavior, usually repeated over a period of time, where it is difficult for those bullied to defend themselves. There are three main types of bullying.

It may be physical (e.g. hitting, kicking, slapping) verbal (e.g. racist or homophobic remarks, name calling, graffiti, threats, and abusive text messages), emotional (e.g. tormenting, ridiculing, humiliating, ignoring, isolating from the group) or sexual (e.g. unwanted physical contact or abusive comments).

In sport bullying may arise when a parent or coach pushes the child too hard to succeed, or a rival athlete or official uses of bullying behavior.

Neglect occurs when an adult fails to meet the child’s physical/ or psychosocial needs to an extent that is likely to result in serious impairment of the child’s health or development. For example, failing to provide adequate food, shelter and clothing, failing to protect from physical harm or danger, or failing to ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment.

Refusal to give love, affection and attention can be a form of neglect. Neglect in sport could occur when a coach does not keep the child safe, or exposing them to undue cold/heat or unnecessary risk or injury.

Sexual Abuse occurs when adults (male and female) use children to meet their own sexual needs. This could include full sexual intercourse, masturbation, oral sex, anal intercourse and fondling. Showing children pornography or talking to them in a sexually explicit manner are also forms of sexual abuse.

In sport, activities which might involve physical contact which children could potentially create situations where sexual abuse may go unnoticed. Also, the power of the coach over child athletes, if misused, may lead to abusive situations developing.

Indicators of abuse

Even for those experienced in working with child abuse, it is not always easy to recognize a situation where abuse may occur or has already taken place. Most people are not experts in such recognition, but indicators that a child is being abused may include one or more of the following:

· Unexplained or suspicious injuries such as bruising, cuts or burns, particularly if situated on a part of the body not normally prone to such injuries;

· Any injury for which an explanation seems inconsistent;

· The child describes what appears to be an abusive act involving them;

· Another child or adult expresses concern about the welfare of a child;

· Unexplained changes in a child’s behavior e.g. becoming very upset, quiet, withdrawn or displaying sudden outburst of temper;

· Inappropriate sexual awareness;

· Engaging in sexually explicit behavior;

· Distrust of adults particularly those whom a close relationship would normally be expected;

· Difficulty in making friends;

· Being prevented from socializing with others;

· Displaying variations in eating patterns including over eating or loss of appetite;

· Losing weight for no apparent reason; becoming increasingly dirty or unkempt.

NOTE: EMPLOYEES AND VOLUNTEERS OF ACTION FOR CHILDREN IN CRISIS INTERNATIONAL (ACCI) ARE ADVISED TO FIRMLY ADHERE TO THE ABOVE POLICY AS ANYONE GOING CONTRARY WILL BE TREATED AS STIPULATED UNDER EXISTING LAWS OF LIBERIA.

Address: Yellow-Building, Moses Blah Road, Soul Clinic, Paynesville, Liberia