Corporate report

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office progress report on safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEAH) in the International Aid Sector, 2021 to 2022

Published 5 December 2022

This was published under the 2022 to 2024 Sunak Conservative government

A summary of work led or supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) between August 2021 and August 2022 to improve global standards and performance on safeguarding against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment in the international aid sector.

Putting people first: tackling sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment in the aid sector.

1. Overview

Donors, alongside seven other groups, made commitments at the October 2018 London Safeguarding Summit intended to bring about four strategic shifts to prevent and better respond to sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEAH) in the aid sector.

The commitments continue to guide FCDO’s work on SEAH and also the approach of the UK Government as described in the 2020 UK safeguarding strategy. The Government’s May 2022 International Development Strategy reaffirmed our determination to lead internationally on safeguarding work and to improve standards, identify perpetrators and support survivors and victims of SEAH.

This report updates on progress that FCDO has made from August 2021 to August 2022 against the 22 donor commitments made at the 2018 Summit. Annex A summarises progress across all UK Government Departments who spend Official Development Assistance (ODA) in implementing the 2020 UK safeguarding strategy for the aid sector.

FCDO has either completed, or is acting on, all 22 of the donor summit commitments which are listed in Annex B. The report links actions to specific summit commitments by including the number of the relevant commitment in brackets. Our work has not been limited to these commitments, but the commitments are the focus of this report.

Despite the continued pressures on the UK’s ODA budget in 2021-2022, funding for core FCDO work on SEAH was protected and continued in line with 2020-2021 and 2019-2020 levels and the UK remained a major financial contributor to global, national, and local safeguarding initiatives.

Highlights of FCDO’s work on safeguarding against SEAH over the 12 months in question, include:

• continuing to build FCDO staff capability, including by promoting mandatory training for all staff, and integrating safeguarding clearly into the FCDO accountabilities tables for leadership staff at different levels
• funding the aid sector to build their capability on safeguarding, including: the launch of new national hubs of the Safeguarding Resource and Support Hub; a new SEAH Investigator Qualification Training Scheme (IQTS); and work to raise awareness of safeguarding risks in vulnerable communities through an Outreach and Communication Fund
• funding programmes and building alliances to provide improved support to survivors and victims and to identify perpetrators, including via the UN Trust Fund to support victims of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) and the implementation phase of Project Soteria
• continuing to catalyse change across the UK and international aid sectors, including via: chairing or co-chairing meetings of key stakeholders; coordinating inputs to a high-level dialogue with the United Nations in May 2022; financing work to improve SEAH data collection and reporting; and developing a proposal for a global framework on preventing and responding to SEAH for the aid and peacekeeping sectors to improve alignment of approaches

COVID-19 continued to impact the delivery of some work, although less than in previous years. We pushed for SEAH thinking to be fully factored into COVID-19 vaccine-roll out. Conflicts and natural disasters around the world, such as Russia’s illegal, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, created challenges by increasing the risks of SEAH. FCDO proactively worked with partners to prevent and respond to harm from SEAH connected to the humanitarian response in Ukraine and the wider region.

140 SEAH safeguarding concerns were reported to FCDO in the 12 months to 1 August 2022 showing confidence in our reporting system and that action will be taken. Though we are not able to quantify this, we strongly suspect that SEAH remains widely underreported across all international development activities and other areas of FCDO’s work.

During the year ahead, FCDO will continue to work to strengthen its own approach on safeguarding while also supporting increased capability and continued momentum on this topic across the aid sector. We will consult on the proposal for a global framework on preventing and responding to SEAH in the aid and peacekeeping sectors to drive further progress and alignment.

2. Strategic Shift 1: Ensure support for survivors, victims and whistle-blowers; enhance accountability and transparency; strengthen reporting; and tackle impunity

FCDO is committed to taking a survivor-centred approach. This means putting the victims’ or survivors’ rights, needs and wishes at the centre of our thinking, based on principles of safety, confidentiality, respect and non-discrimination. We will keep working to ensure any individual feels able to speak up and to challenge abuses of power.

Progress highlights

FCDO Programme Operating Framework continues to guide our safeguarding programme spend. This and other internal guidance makes clear that beneficiary engagement, particularly at the design stage, is an important component of programme work, including to ensure that beneficiaries are safe from harm and empowered to speak out wherever harm does occur (commitment 1). FCDO continued funding the Harmonised SEAH data collection and reporting project through the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) Alliance and the Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response. The project aims to increase transparency on SEAH and reduce under-reporting by introducing a harmonised SEAH data collection and reporting framework. It will provide comparable SEAH data that can facilitate trend analyses, enhance our understanding of the issues and inform policies, strategies and interventions and so help improve prevention and the support provided to victims and survivors (commitment 2). A Steering Committee was created in June 2022 with representatives from NGOs, donors (FCDO and USAID), the private sector and the UN. A draft framework was finalised and is being piloted by dozens of organisations for the next 12 months. This phase of the project will allow for feedback on the framework and suggestions for improvement that will inform the final product.

FCDO continued to support employment cycle initiatives (commitment 3). Project Soteria aims to prevent perpetrators of SEAH from working in the aid sector by strengthening cooperation between law enforcement agencies and aid organisations. Soteria’s implementation phase was launched publicly in February 2022. Since 2019 the FCDO supported Misconduct Disclosure Scheme (MDS) has been used in over 31,000 recruitments and helped to prevent the filling of 142 posts where there was missing or negative misconduct information. It is currently being implemented by over 150 organisations from diverse backgrounds. The reporting period for annual MDS data does not match the period for this report, but the numbers of checks made through the scheme almost tripled in 2021 compared to 2020. FCDO chaired a Criminal Records Checks in the Aid Sector Working Group to improve access to existing UK criminal records checks.

140 SEAH safeguarding concerns were reported to FCDO between 1 August 2021 and 1 August 2022 showing confidence in our reporting system. FCDO again published data on safeguarding cases in our annual report (PDF, 7.93 MB) (commitment 4) and also in the annual Cross-Sector Safeguarding Steering Group’s progress report, so encouraging others to do the same. We have provided extensive training to FCDO staff on case management. FCDO continued to chair a safeguarding investigations working group to share best practice and learning among donors. We have worked with partners to strengthen information sharing about cases while continuing to prioritise confidentiality and the safety of individuals. For further information on reports of SEAH safeguarding concerns to FCDO over the past year, please see the Cross- Sector Safeguarding Steering Group 2021-2022 progress report.

FCDO continues to implement its programme to support victims and survivors launched in 2021. We remain the largest donor to the UN Trust Fund to support victims of SEA and are helping increase the capacity of the Office of the Victims’ Rights Advocate (commitment 5). We are also supporting an independent charity Loop to develop and pilot a new, accessible digital platform to safely receive and appropriately handle reports of SEAH. We continue to convene an Independent Reference Group which includes survivors of SEAH and survivor representatives to act as a sounding board for our work and we have engaged with groups representing survivors and victims (commitment 5). The review of lessons from ombudsman schemes was completed in 2018. FCDO has supported and financed the development of a four-tiered Investigator Qualification Training Scheme to strengthen standards of SEAH investigations across the aid sector. CHS Alliance has published the course Investigation Guide (PDF, 1.9MB) and a useful FAQ (PDF, 150 KB) and the first module is live on Disaster Ready.

FCDO also worked with the CHS Alliance to develop and publish guidance on whistle-blower protections (PDF, 3.63MB) and is part of a Steering Committee for a project designed to close the accountability gap for survivors of SEAH (commitment 6).

3. Strategic Shift 2: Incentivise cultural change through strong leadership, organisational accountability and better human resource processes

The causes of SEAH are rooted in power imbalances, including inequality and discrimination resulting from gender, disability, sexual orientation, poverty, race and ethnicity, among other factors. We must tackle underlying inequalities within our organisations and the communities in which we work. At FCDO, this starts with setting the tone from the top and ensuring staff understand that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility.

Progress highlights

FCDO continues to have a nominated Safeguarding Sponsor on its Executive Committee (commitment 7) and progress on safeguarding is regularly tracked and discussed at senior level including at the Management Board (commitment 8). The past year also saw: new FCDO accountabilities tables, which clearly outline what is expected of staff in leadership positions when it comes to safeguarding against SEAH; quarterly meetings of a cross-departmental Safeguarding Delivery Board chaired by the Safeguarding Sponsor; continued work of a Tackling Sexual Harassment Implementation Group with an ambitious work plan; and regular messaging from senior management.

Other steps taken to promote equality and inclusion in FCDO (commitments 9 and 10) include: implementation of the FCDO Inclusion Framework and Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2022-2025; provision of gender pay gap statistics; continued implementation of initiatives to encourage women to be in more senior leadership roles; and being a signatory to the Business in the Community (BITC) Race at Work Charter including having a Board sponsor for race.

We continued to work with other stakeholders to drive change and accountability in multilaterals, including the UN and International Financial Institutions (commitments 11 and 12). In December 2021, the UK and 26 other Member States and the EU jointly wrote to the UN Secretary-General setting out asks of the UN system in tackling SEAH and proposing a strategic dialogue to further explore the challenges and action required by us all to accelerate progress. The UN Secretary-General welcomed the initiative, setting up a meeting hosted by the Special Coordinator for Preventing Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) in May 2022. All Member States and the EU were invited. The UK and 64 other Member States delivered a joint statement at the session. The meeting recognised the significant progress made in tackling SEAH, including that reflected in the Secretary-General’s 2022 Special Measures report (PDF, 359KB). However, as the UN Secretary-General himself stated in this report, challenges remain and more must be done, highlighting that stigma constrains reporting and accountability systems can prove difficult for survivors to access.

We continue to engage closely with MOPAN - (PDF, 114KB) (the Multilateral Organisation Performance Network Association) around the SEAH indicators in their multilateral assessments and their findings (commitment 13).

4. Strategic Shift 3: Adopt minimum standards, and ensure we and our partners meet them

FCDO works with organisations across the aid sector, including other donors, the UN, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), private sector and others, to align approaches, share lessons, and incentivise our partners to adhere to internationally agreed minimum standards on SEAH^{[footnote 1]}.

Progress highlights

The September 2020 UK Safeguarding strategy requires all organisations receiving UK ODA to have robust measures in place. FCDO chairs a group for all signatories to support the implementation of the UK Safeguarding Strategy (commitment 14).

FCDO is committed to meeting high standards. FCDO adheres to the IASC-Minimum Operating Standards - (PDF, 860KB), the IASC six Core Principles Relating to SEA, and the SEAH elements of the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) on Quality and Accountability (PDF, 1.35 MB) (commitment 14).

FCDO continued to fund HQAI (the Humanitarian Quality Assurance Initiative) the body that certifies if organisations adhere to CHS standards, including via a Facilitation Fund that supports smaller organisations to access HQAI services. FCDO also worked with CHS Alliance to support the development of new CHS e-learning on Understanding and Using the CHS PSEAH (Protection from SEAH) Index. The CHS requirements are designed to improve the quality and accountability of aid including to better prevent and respond to SEAH. The PSEAH Index is relevant to all aid sector members and is free of charge. We also worked with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and UNICEF to develop an SEA Risk Overview. This is a ‘composite index’ that brings together indicators on various factors that influence the level of SEA risk in different operating environments.

We continued to ensure that FCDO’s funding agreement documents are explicit that we expect partners to also meet these standards. We continued to drive use of harmonised SEAH language in donors’ funding agreements with the UN and saw improved information sharing about SEAH cases as a result. An Explanatory Note to support implementation of the language provisions was agreed in June 2022. FCDO strengthened its safeguarding against SEAH due diligence guidance for partners, along with internal guidance on child safeguarding, this year (commitment 15).

Safeguarding remained one of FCDO’s risk categories and embedded into FCDO’s risk approach and Programme Operating Framework (commitment 16). Organisational safeguarding risk was reviewed regularly by FCDO’s Management Board.

The UK continued to adhere to the 2019 Development Assistance Committee’s (DAC) recommendation on ending SEAH (commitment 17). We supported implementation of the related DAC Action Plan, including by co-chairing the Reference Group, participating at senior level in DAC-organised events and contributing to the November 2021 Interim Monitoring Exercise.

5. Strategic Shift 4: Strengthen organisational capacity and capability across the international aid sector, including building the capability of implementing partners to meet the minimum standards

Safeguarding remains a priority for FCDO. We want to raise safeguarding capability across the sector to ensure that our partners take all reasonable steps to tackle SEAH. We continue to improve our own policies and procedures, and will facilitate the sharing of lessons and guidance with others, including via the Resource and Support Hub which we fund.

Progress highlights

We ensured strong core oversight and management systems on SEAH in the new FCDO. We took steps to boost staff capability (commitments 18 and 20) including through a system of mandatory training for all FCDO staff; specific sessions for Heads and Deputy Heads of Missions to help drive cultural change and reinforce FCDO safeguarding standards at Post; expansion of a Safeguarding Champions Network; finalising an intermediate training package primarily aimed at advisory cadres in line with FCDO’s Shared Advisory Capability Statement (SACS) on SEAH and designed to upskill technical advisers to meet the competencies described in the SACS; delivering training to help policy and programme staff manage safeguarding risk; developing an internal safeguarding against SEAH toolkit for all staff; delivery of training sessions for country-based staff in local languages; and providing targeted support to higher priority in-country teams.

We also continued to invest staff time and programme resources to improve the capability of our delivery partners and the whole international development sector. This included the Safeguarding Resource and Support Hub (RSH) (commitment 19) with a global hub operational in English, French, Arabic and Swahili and national hubs in eight countries across Africa, MENA and South Asia available in many more local languages.

RSH trained mentors and mentoring organisations across 6 national hubs in Africa and the Middle East to build a cohort of individuals with safeguarding expertise at a national level. RSH continues to publish new resources, facilitate dialogue and learning between organisations, and conduct research. Guidance published during this 12 month period included research on safeguarding in organisations for people with disabilities in Nigeria and an associated pocket guide on safeguarding persons with disabilities; resources for less resourced civil society organisations (CSOs) on how to develop a safeguarding policy; and a new Safeguarding Essentials package. FCDO has also provided financing to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) Protection from SEA Outreach and Communications Fund, which helps NGOs to create communication materials to raise awareness of safeguarding.

Other global initiatives funded by FCDO this year include Advanced Safeguarding Leadership Training run by the Open University. After running all three modules successfully on FutureLearn where over 4500 learners enrolled, the course was made available free on OpenLearn Create ensuring it is still accessible and reaching as many people as possible.

FCDO funded British Expertise International to enhance capability building among UK private sector organisations and the UN Chief Executive’s Board to enhance system-wide coherence and coordination in addressing sexual harassment in the UN system. FCDO staff spoke at multiple learning events involving thousands of participants across a wide range of sectors.

In terms of commitments 21 and 22 (which focus on maintaining momentum) FCDO continued to engage extensively with external partners. We Co-Chaired with Canada the OECD DAC Ending SEAH Reference Group and engaged actively to support roll-out of the SEAH Action Plan and the emerging SEAH Toolkit. We chaired quarterly meetings of the Cross-Sector Safeguarding Steering Group and coordinated their latest annual report. We continued to chair the donor Safeguarding Technical Working Group.

FCDO also started work to develop a proposal for a global framework on preventing and responding to SEAH, building on discussion about a possible global framework at the UN May Strategic Dialogue. This work recognises that all organisations and individuals involved in delivering humanitarian and development assistance and peacekeeping could benefit from an agreed collective vision of how best to prevent and respond to SEAH. Creating more clarity, alignment and coherence in approaches to safeguarding against SEAH should improve both prevention and response.

6. Challenges, lessons and next steps

COVID-19 continued to pose challenges to FCDO’s safeguarding work, although less than in previous years. FCDO and partners continued to adapt when needed. We pushed for SEAH thinking to be fully factored into the COVID-19 vaccine-roll out.

Conflicts and natural disasters around the world, such as Russia’s illegal, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, have also created challenges by increasing the risks of SEAH. FCDO has proactively worked with partners since the start of the conflict to drive an effective approach to SEAH risk management in the humanitarian response in Ukraine and the wider region.

FCDO supported the deployment of safeguarding specialists to support UNHCR in Poland and the World Health Organisation working in Ukraine and neighbouring countries to strengthen safeguarding mechanisms.

To prevent perpetrators of SEAH working in Ukraine, the FCDO-funded Misconduct Disclosure Scheme coordinator deployed to Poland to raise awareness of the scheme and assess its use. Interpol personnel from Project Soteria deployed to Moldova to raise awareness of SEAH risks, gather intelligence and support organisations. We also worked with the Charity Commission for England and Wales to issue a Regulatory Alert about safeguarding risks related to the Ukraine response.

We supported the launch of the Safeguarding Resource and Support Hub for Eastern Europe to provide specialist support and advice to CSOs working in the region. We funded the translation of SEAH training materials into Ukrainian, Polish, Slovak and Hungarian. We also funded a tool run by Loop to make it easier for communities to report SEAH concerns and have supported gender-based violence programming, which includes the provision of services for survivors of SEAH.

The broader impacts of Russia’s illegal, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine have also created challenges, as inflation has created food insecurity across many countries and exacerbated inequalities and vulnerabilities to SEAH which were already increasing during the COVID-19 pandemic. FCDO provided its staff with evidence on SEAH risks in food security, and advice on risk mitigation.

Pressures on the UK’s ODA budget continued in 2021-22. Despite these pressures, funding for core FCDO work on SEAH was protected and continued broadly in line with 2020-2021 and 2019-2020 levels. The UK remained a leading contributor to global, national, and local safeguarding work.

Incidents which came to light served as a reminder that major challenges remain. We need a continued focus on safeguarding and to ensure a zero-tolerance approach which means all involved doing all they reasonably can to prevent SEAH and responding appropriately when it occurs. FCDO continued to try to lead by example and played a central role in seeking a coordinated response to high-profile cases such as in the World Health Organisation.

It also become increasingly apparent over the last year that there is scope to improve coherence in safeguarding work both in, and between, the aid and peacekeeping sectors given a complex landscape of guiding policies, procedures and commitments. As noted earlier, FCDO developed a proposal for a global framework on preventing and responding to SEAH to address these challenges and to drive more progress and alignment with safeguarding work around the world.

In terms of lessons learnt, an opportunity for the FCDO to reflect on its approach arose in the finalisation of a review of the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI). This was published in February 2022 and FCDO published its response in May 2022. FCDO discussed the review with the UK Parliament’s International Development Select Committee in June 2022 and a transcript (PDF, 273KB) can be found on Parliament’s website. We welcomed the opportunities that ICAI’s report and the discussion with the Committee provided to learn and improve.

In the year ahead we will continue to implement the UK Government’s International Development Strategy and the 2020 UK safeguarding strategy. This includes continuing to strengthen FCDO’s approach and internal capacity to deliver, while also working closely alongside others in the UK Government to ensure lessons are shared and a consistent approach is taken.

We will continue to convene key stakeholder groups to ensure momentum is maintained and lessons are shared. We will consult around the proposal of a global framework on preventing and responding to SEAH in the aid and peacekeeping sectors in order to drive further progress and alignment of approaches with safeguarding work.

Annex A: Progress with implementing the UK Strategy: Safeguarding against SEAH within the aid sector

This framework provides headline results indicators to track implementation and overall direction of travel as ODA spending departments implement the 3 pillars of the September 2020 UK Strategy. It uses a BRAG^{[footnote 2]} rating against the strategy’s high-level monitoring framework and gives examples. While individual ODA-spending departments are accountable for their own spend, and responsible for tracking detailed progress against relevant commitments made in the Strategy and for reporting, as appropriate, to their own internal and external accountability bodies, the indicators below have been selected to provide a high-level summary of progress. The page reference for each commitment from the strategy is given in the first column.

Pillar 1: Delivering Sector-wide change including support to survivors and greater accountability

Safeguarding Strategy Commitment	Results Indicator	BRAG	Progress	Example
1.1 Provide global leadership P.7	i. Continuing to convene donor Technical Working Group and the Cross Sector Safeguarding Steering Group (CSSG) quarterly and publishing annual progress reports. Continue to co-chair the DAC SEAH Reference Group.	Green	All indicators on track.	FCDO continued to convene those groups and the CSSG report is expected to be published by December.
1.2 The UK will put measures in place to make it much more difficult for perpetrators to escape justice, make it easier for organisations to have confidence in those they recruit and allow communities to have confidence in the people sent to help them P.8.	ii. Three Employment cycle programmes operational.	Amber	Work continuing with good progress on 2 and slower progress on one.	Over 150 organisations have now signed up to the Misconduct Disclosure Scheme funded by FCDO, which has prevented over 140 posts from being filled due to identified safeguarding risks. Project Soteria with Interpol is fully operational and has run workshops for law enforcement agencies and development partners in the Philippines, Nepal, Bangladesh, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Moldova. Work to design the pilot of the Aid Worker Registration Scheme has continued.
1.3 The UK has endorsed international minimum standards on SEAH and supporting organisations to verify adherence to the IASC on PSEA and/or the CHS P.8. We will work with other donors to agree alignment with these standards and ensure adherence through our respective funding agreements and due diligence assurance arrangements.	iii. All our funding agreements reflect the agreed donor language.	Amber	Work continuing with good progress made.	FCDO worked closely with donors to agree SEAH language for use in UN funding agreements. A larger number of funding agreements reflect the agreed language, but not all just yet. FCDO continues to support HQAI, as an independent auditor that certifies aid sector organisations’ adherence to the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) on Quality and Accountability, and thereby build good practice, transparency and accountability across the sector. With ambition to create a critical mass of users, HQAI offers the potential to reduce inefficiencies in the aid sector through reducing the need for multiple donor accountability processes. FCDO is currently engaging in pilots to test the potential impact of bridging donor due diligence requirements (including FCDO’s own) with the CHS audit both at national and international level and the results are expected in 2023.
1.4 Survivors and victims will be responded to with respect, confidentiality, safety and non-discrimination P.4.	iv. Departments can point to examples/evidence of procedures and anonymised cases if asked.	Green	Work continuing with good progress made.	Defra’s (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) ODA safeguarding guidance includes details on how to report and respond to allegations specifically covering confidentiality and safety for survivors and victims. It also explains that there should be a survivor-centred approach. This guidance has been developed in partnership with FCDO and fully reflects agreed cross government and international practices.
1.5 Hold ourselves to account for delivering this Strategy through transparent reporting in our Annual Reports, scrutiny from the UK’s Independent Commission on Aid Impact and relevant committees of the UK Parliament, internal management and board oversight, and periodic public reporting against the 2018 London Safeguarding Summit commitments P.13.	v. Include text on safeguarding as part of annual report to Parliament/public on ODA activities.	Amber	Work continuing with good progress made.	See recent FCDO report.

Pillar 2: Delivering organisational change within UK aid spending departments

Safeguarding Strategy Commitment	Results Indicator	BRAG	Progress	Example
2.1 We will ensure that all departments have a clear staff code of conduct in place, making it explicit what behaviour is expected of staff P.8.	vi. Codes of conduct explicitly prohibits ODA staff from paying for sex in every ODA spending department.	Amber	Work continuing with good progress made.	Ministry of Defence (MOD) has published two policies and a new strategy as part of its commitment to crack down on unacceptable sexual behaviour in the Armed Forces. Key details of the publications include: (a) Zero Tolerance to Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Policy: supports MOD’s commitment to crack down on unacceptable sexual behaviour and prohibits all sexual activity which involves the abuse of power, including buying sex whilst abroad. (b) Tackling Sexual Offending in Defence Strategy: prioritises victims and aims to reduce the prevalence and impact of sexual offending in the Armed Forces. (c) Zero Tolerance to Unacceptable Sexual Behaviour Policy: A Victim/Survivor Focused Approach: applies to all UK Armed Forces personnel and follows the publication of the Zero Tolerance to Sexual Offending and Sexual Relationships Between Instructors and Trainees policy which introduced mandatory discharge for anyone convicted of a sexual offence. This policy places greater emphasis on the support for victims, with a presumption of discharge from the Armed Forces for any person who behaved in a sexually unacceptable way.
2.2 Well-signposted reporting mechanisms for staff to raise concerns and robust procedures for handling them P.9.	vii. Whistle-blowing and reporting and complaints mechanisms are in place, proactively advertised and reporting figures show they are used.	Green	All indicators achieved.	Defra ODA Safeguarding guidance is clear on how to report and respond to concerns including next steps. For example, concerns are to be sent to a dedicated confidential mailbox and this has been communicated out to all ODA staff. Defra ODA safeguarding guidance has been updated and circulated and further training will be given to support staff. Additionally, Defra has whistle-blowing mechanisms and processes in place which are clearly sign-posted for all staff including as part of the induction process. Defra’s partners are also expected to have these mechanisms in place as part of agreements. Further sessions are planned with ODA teams and delivery partners on expectations.
2.3 All departments will have a named safeguarding lead to set the tone from the top, including regular messaging out to staff about the importance of the agenda and at least annual discussion at Board level P.8-9.	viii. Named safeguarding Champion in all departmental Senior Leadership teams ix. Annual Board discussion on Safeguarding against SEAH.	Amber	Work continuing with good progress made in some departments.	Home Office has a dedicated Safeguarding Advice and Children’s Champion (SACC) within the Public Safety Group. All Modern Slavery Fund partners are aware that this is their safeguarding contact and have regular meetings with the SACC to discuss the effectiveness of safeguarding mechanisms. The SACC is a member of the Countering Exploitation Programme Board, which includes annual discussion on safeguarding risks and mitigation. FCDO: A Director-level member of FCDO’s Executive Committee is the named safeguarding champion and the FCDO Management Board has a deep dive on safeguarding against SEAH at least once a year.
2.4 Risk Management processes prioritise prevention and response to SEAH.	x. Department level risk management framework for ODA spending includes SEAH.	Amber	Work continuing with good progress made in some departments.	Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) takes an active approach to prevention of safeguarding and ensuring appropriate and timely action to any safeguarding allegations. Safeguarding is tracked as a risk across our ODA spending portfolio, included within risk registers, and discussed at ODA programme boards.

Pillar 3: Delivering programmatic change across UK Aid programmes

Safeguarding Strategy Commitment	Results Indicator	BRAG	Progress	Example
3.1 Applying the Due Diligence Assessment: The Due Diligence Assessment of all UK Aid partners has been strengthened and their performance on safeguarding against sexual exploitation abuse and sexual harassment will continue to be assessed in six areas to ensure they meet the standards we require P.11.	xi. Due Diligence assessments of partner organisations includes thorough assessment of the UK’s six SEAH standards, and this is universally conducted for all partners prior to entering into a funding agreement.	Green	All indicators met.	In the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) all new delivery partners undergo a Delivery Partner Review via KPMG and SEAH policies and whistleblowing policies are checked in this process. If they do not meet the standard, BEIS works with the delivery partner to ensure relevant policies are implemented.
3.2 The UK will continue to mainstream safeguarding against sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment throughout our programme cycle, using tendering processes, design phases, risk assessments and risk management, regular reporting, routine monitoring and evaluations to assess the implementation of safeguarding standards at the delivery level P.11.	xii. Number of cases of SEAH reported through ODA programming is internally reported to the board at least annually and patterns and challenges are discussed, and processes refined to address concerns within the programme management cycle.	Amber	Work continuing with good progress made in some departments.	FCDO report case numbers to each Board meeting with discussion of patterns at least annually.
3.3 Provide resourcing to partners where needed to ensure that their programmes and delivery chains prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment in a victim and survivor-centred way P.12.	xiii. Departments can point to examples of requests made and approved.	Green	All indicators met.	BEIS International Climate Finance (ICF) and the Research & Innovation (R&I) teams have developed safeguarding guidance for delivery partners to help them ensure safeguarding principles are adhered to. In other cases, both BEIS’ ICF and R&I teams have actively supported delivery partners in developing their own safeguarding policies by sharing best practice from other partners with them.

Annex B: The donor commitments from the 2018 London Safeguarding Summit which this document is reporting against

Strategic Shift 1: Ensure support for survivors, victims and whistle-blowers; enhance accountability and transparency; strengthen reporting; and tackle impunity

1. Wherever possible actively include beneficiaries in the design, implementation and refinement of programmes and improved complaints and feedback mechanisms that will empower individuals to come forward with the confidence that they will be heard, that their concerns will be fairly pursued, that feedback will be provided to them as soon as possible and that their safety will be of the utmost concern.

2. Clearly communicate requirements and best practice guidance for the reporting of incidents, and work towards aligned reporting practices and the sharing of information. Considerations of confidentiality, the protection of relevant individuals, and relevant legislation will be central to this work.

3. Review, and where necessary, renew efforts within and between aid agencies and across governments and the wider international system, to avoid the hiring and recirculation of perpetrators in the aid sector, and to hold them to account, including by helping to bring them to justice, when appropriate, all in line with due process and relevant legal obligations.

4. Ensure that relevant information about allegations, confirmed cases, prevention measures and response activities, are an integral part of reporting mechanisms, which for some donors will include annual public statements. The confidentiality of information and the safety of individuals will be paramount.

5. Adopt a victim/survivor-centred approach to help victims and survivors to access tangible and practical help to recover from the effects of abuse, exploitation and harassment, for example, by supporting the work of the United Nations’ (UN) Office of the Victims’ Rights Advocate (OVRA) and the UN Victims Support Trust Fund.

6. Review best practice and lessons from ombudsman schemes to explore the potential to improve systems of complaints mechanisms, referral pathways and independent accountability.

Strategic Shift 2: Incentivise cultural change through strong leadership, organisational accountability and better human resource processes

7. Have one or more named senior-level champion(s) accountable for work on sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment, while stressing that the responsibility for safeguarding rests with all individuals in an organisation.

8. Encourage at least annual discussion at the Board or equivalent level in all organisations of sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment and how the organisation is addressing them.

9. Encourage the recruitment and career development of women at the senior management level and throughout organisations to send a clear signal about the importance of gender balance and a diverse and inclusive workforce.

10. Review, and where necessary, strengthen recruitment and referencing processes to build workplace cultures of respect and accountability, and so help prevention.

11. For members of the UN Secretary General’s Circle of Leadership and signatories to the Voluntary Compact, encourage other Member States to join this collective statement of intent, and encourage a review of progress within the next 12 months.

12. Encourage delivery of the UN Secretary-General’s 2017 Special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and abuse strategy through joint donor messaging that recognises the need for related action plans with clear deliverables and milestones from each relevant UN organisation. Encourage the International Financial Institutions to deliver on the collective and individual commitments they have made, and ensure the monitoring of implementation.

13. Those members of the donor group who participate in the Multilateral Organisation Performance Assessment Network (MOPAN) will support and advance the discussion on enhancing assessment in relation to sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment to help the improved effectiveness of multilateral organisations.

Strategic Shift 3: Adopt minimum standards, and ensure we and our partners meet them

14. Demonstrate adherence to one or both sets of international minimum standards related to preventing sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA), namely the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Minimum Operating Standards on PSEA, and/or the PSEA elements of The Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability. In the longer term, we will look to review and strengthen measures for verification of that adherence, and how the standards could also cover sexual harassment.

15. Review, and where necessary, strengthen formal funding templates and due diligence tools to reflect those standards, and include clear and specific language on sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment, including common definitions. This also includes reviewing, and, where necessary, strengthening, language for our funding partners which requires them to apply the same minimum standards in their sub granting and contracting requirements for downstream partners.

16. Review and, if necessary, revise project monitoring arrangements (e.g. frequency, scope and indicators), to ensure a stronger focus on sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment issues.

17. Support the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) to formulate a new DAC instrument that in 2019 will set standards on preventing and managing the risks of sexual exploitation and abuse in development cooperation, and drive donor accountability in meeting them.

Strategic Shift 4: Strengthen organisational capacity and capability across the international aid sector, including building the capability of implementing partners to meet the minimum standards

18. Review and if necessary, strengthen core oversight and management systems for tackling sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment, and use victim/survivor-centred responses.

19. Explore options for a Resource and Support Hub to develop and communicate the evidence base, best practices and guidance on tackling sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment, with a focus on providing support to smaller organisations.

20. Provide guidance and minimum training requirements for relevant staff on the prevention of and response to, sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment.

Next steps

21. Each of us commits to taking action on the above through our own systems, processes and stakeholders, as consistent with relevant domestic and international law, and taking into consideration relevant existing structures and operating models. It is up to each of us to decide which measures are the most urgent and how we will communicate progress to our stakeholders.

22. We will meet no later than 12 months from now to assess progress, while continuing to liaise regularly to keep up the pace of progress and share lessons on this vital issue.

1. Core Humanitarian Standard and Interagency Standing Committee (IASC) Minimum Operating Standards for PSEA. ↩

2. BLUE: Action is complete; RED: Action not on track with major issues; AMBER: Action mainly on track with some minor issues; GREEN: Action is on track ↩