CHILD PROTECTION POLICY

3.1.1 Title page

Mudfish No Plastic’s Child Protection Policy (CPP) Module

At MUDFISH NO PLASTIC we aim to educate and empower children in Indonesia to understand that they have the power to make a difference and have a positive impact in our communities and our environment. It is our priority that we protect the safety of the children we teach.

3.1.2 Introduction

MUDFISH NO PLASTIC is committed to undertaking all of its activities according to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is important to us that we ensure the protection of children regardless of their nationality, religion, race, gender, sexual orientation or any other status.

Our ground policies:

Zero tolerance in cases of violence to children
Treat all children with respect and dignity
Establish a safe environment where children can learn and feel that their voices are heard
Require that all stakeholders sign a code of conduct prior to any interaction with children
Support children and take the appropriate action in incidents of violence as outlined in the CPP
Our protection policy will be executed by conducting the following activities:
- Assessing and mitigating the risks posed to children when undertaking activities by the organization
- Staff and other stakeholders will familiarize themselves with the child protection policy. They will sign and submit the code of conduct, accepting and agreeing to its terms.
- Staff and stakeholders will comply with the policy and code of conduct. Those who do not comply will be investigated and appropriate action will be taken according to applicable laws.
- Any staff person, employee candidate or other stakeholder convicted of any offence related to children will not be permitted to work for or with Mudfish No Plastic.

3.1.3 Principles, values and beliefs

MUDFISH NO PLASTIC is fully committed to safeguarding the welfare of all children in its care. It recognizes its responsibility to promote safe practices and to protect children from harm, abuse and exploitation.

Our child protection policy applies to all stakeholders; Mudfish No Plastic staff, board members, teachers, visitors and volunteers who interact with the children participating in our workshops or in any activities sponsored by Mudfish No Plastic.

The objective of our policy is to:

Make stakeholders understand their responsibility to create and maintain a child-friendly environment, where children feel safe and secure.
Prevent harm/violence against children in our care.
Institute procedures to prevent, identify, report, investigate and execute corrective action against incidents of harm/violence in any form toward children.
Recruit, train, support and supervise its staff, members and volunteers to adopt best practices to safeguard and protect children from abuse.
Require staff, members and volunteers to adopt and abide by this Child Protection Policy and these procedures.
Respond to all allegations of misconduct or abuse of children, and implementing, where appropriate, the relevant disciplinary and appeals procedures.
Regularly monitor and evaluate the implementation of this Policy and these procedures.

3.1.4 Policy scope

This Policy applies to MUDFISH NO PLASTIC, which includes any organization member (including those attached to other organisations), contractors, subcontractors, program participants (i.e. volunteers, trainers, group leaders and facilitators).

3.1.5 Definitions

Child protection is an activity or initiative designed to protect children from any form of harm, particularly harm arising from abuse, neglect or exploitation.

Physical abuse of a child is when a person purposefully injures or attempts to injure a child. This may take the form of slapping, punching, shaking, kicking, burning, shoving, grabbing or choosing not to assist a child in a situation that is causing them physical pain. Emotional abuse of a child is any non-physical action that has a negative effect on the social, intellectual or emotional development of a child.

Emotional abuse is categorized loosely as behavior directed at a child whereby a child’s self’s esteem and social competence is undermined or eroded over time. It can take the form of name-calling, threatening, belittling, ridiculing, intimidating, isolating, ignoring or other non-physical forms of hostile or rejecting treatment towards the child.

Sexual abuse of a child is when a person who is in a position of responsibility, trust or power over a child involves the child in sexual activity. This can include contact acts (such as rape or sexualized touching) or non-contact acts (such as exposure to pornography or taking sexualized photographs of the child).

Child exploitation is when a person uses a child for profit, power, status, sexual gratification, or other purpose.

Code of conduct is a policy that outlines principles and standards that all employees and third parties acting on behalf of the company must follow.

Mudfish No Plastic’s Children Protection Policy Module, 01/04/2022 – 01/04/2024

3.1.6 References to national or international laws/policies

This Policy has been developed to adhere to national standard as stated in Indonesia’s law on child protection (No.23/2002) and its revision (No.35/2014). This policy operates in conjunction with common and statute law and does not exclude or replace the rights and obligations of any individual under Indonesian common and/or statutory law. This Policy should be seen as a component of the broader ethical framework and Code of Conduct of MUDFISH NO PLASTIC.

3.2 Policy procedures

3.2.1 Recruitment procedures:

Safe recruitment and vetting processes are followed for all volunteers, employees, consultants and partners.
All employees, volunteers or partners engaged in activity with children will be required to undergo a criminal background check and will need to provide two references from previous employment as a part of the recruitment process.
All employees candidates who will be involved in activities with children will be asked as part of their employment interview:
- How would you handle children who were not listening to your instructions?
- How would you create a child-safe and friendly space for an activity for young children/older children/children with a disability?
- What boundaries are important when working with children and young people?
- How would you respond if you were concerned about the actions/behaviour of a co-worker?
All MUDFISH NO PLASTIC employees and volunteers must sign and abide by the Child Protection Code of Conduct. The code sets out the standards of practice we expect of employees and volunteers. They will also be required to sign a statutory declaration form.

3.2.2 Not employing anyone who poses an unacceptable risk to children

MUDFISH NO PLASTIC will not knowingly permit any person to be employed or engaged as a volunteer if they pose a risk to children. MUDFISH will make criminal background checks on all new MUDFISH NO PLASTIC personnel.

Reference checks with former employers / referees will be conducted. Verbal referees cannot include partners, spouse and/or other relatives.

Unacceptable Risk to Children

Harassing, abusive, demeaning, sexually provocative, or culturally insensitive behavior toward children.
Engaging children in any form of activity that is demeaning, offensive, sexually provocative, abusive or culturally inappropriate or insensitive
Engaging children in any form of sexual activity or acts
Accessing child pornography through any medium
Sleeping in close proximity to unsupervised children;
Employing children for labour
Providing preferential treatment towards individual children
Taking inappropriate images of children
Physically assaulting, punishing or touching a child in an inappropriate or culturally insensitive manner.

3.2.3 Child protection training

All MUDFISH NO PLASTIC staff will be required to have an onboarding session where they will be required to read through, understand, and sign the child protection policy, code of conduct, and statutory declaration form as a part of their induction into the organisation.

3.2.4 Child Protection Code of Conduct

Treat all children with respect
Do not use language or behaviour towards children that is inappropriate, harassing, abusive, sexually provocative, demeaning or culturally inappropriate
Do not engage children in any form of sexual intercourse or sexual activity, including paying for sexual services
Wherever possible, ensure that another adult is present when working near children
Do not invite unaccompanied children into private residences, unless they are at immediate risk of injury or in physical danger
Do not sleep close to unsupervised children unless absolutely necessary, in which case the supervisor’s permission must be obtained, and ensuring that another adult is present if possible
Never use any computers, mobile phones, video cameras, cameras or social media to exploit or harass children, or access child exploitation material through any medium
Do not use physical punishment on children
Comply with all relevant local legislation • Immediately report concerns or allegations of child exploitation, abuse and policy non-compliance in accordance with appropriate procedures
Immediately disclose all charges, convictions and other outcomes of an offence that relates to child exploitation and abuse, including those under traditional law, which occurred before or occurs during association with MUDFISH NO PLASTIC
Be aware and avoid actions or behaviours that could be perceived by others as child exploitation and abuse
When photographing or filming a child or using children’s images:
- Obtain informed consent before photographing or filming a child. This includes explaining to the child the reason for taking the image and how it will be used.
- Ensure photographs and videos present children in a dignified and respectful manner. Children should be adequately clothed and not in poses that could be seen as sexually suggestive.
- Ensure images are honest representations of the context and the facts.
- Ensure file labels, metadata or text descriptions do not reveal identifying information about a child when sending images electronically or publishing images in any form.
- Take care to ensure local traditions or restrictions for reproducing personal images are adhered to before photographing or filming a child.

STATEMENT: I have read and understood the child protection policy and code of conduct of Mudfish No Plastic. I agree and comply with all aspects of the policy and code of conduct. For any breach of the policy and code of conduct, Mudfish No Plastic can take any disciplinary action against me.

3.2.5 Incident reporting and response procedures

In the case of an incident where a worker has seen or suspects any form of child abuse or a breach of the child protection policy, they MUST report to management their concerns or accusations.

Workers MUST report any concerns or allegations of child abuse, exploitation, or any alleged breach of the policy. This includes disclosures from children, witnessing abuse, or noticing someone acting in a concerning way. To make a report workers must submit an email explaining the incident, ideally within 24 hours of the incident occurring.

The email reporting the incident should be sent to one of the contacts below:

Mora Siregar (co-director): mora@mudfishnoplastic.com
Davide Dominici (co-founder) : d.dominici.ita@gmail.com

In cases where a child has disclosed information about any abuse, exploitation or any breach of the policy occurring to them, the worker should read the following to understand how to respond:

Keep calm and give the child your full attention
Let the child take his or her time, and allow the child to use his or her own words
Reassure the child that it is the right thing to tell you
Don’t make promises you can’t keep
Let the child know what you will do next
Don’t confront the person who has allegedly harmed the child (it can put you and the child in danger)

Any suspicion or disclosure of child abuse must be immediately reported to the relevant Manager. All incidents will be reported and managed in accordance with Incident Reporting Process.

MUDFISH NO PLASTIC takes all allegations of child abuse by MUDFISH NO PLASTIC personnel, seriously;
All allegations will be thoroughly investigated

Guidelines to responding to Child Abuse Allegations:

The incident will be documented and investigated in accordance with the MUDFISH NO PLASTIC Incident Reporting and Response Procedure;
The incident will be investigated with full respect for the privacy of the accused and the alleged victim and information will be dispersed on a “need to know” basis with the primary concern being the rights and welfare of the people involved;
The accused person will be given an opportunity to express their views/opinions/version of facts;
The views of the alleged child victim will be considered in light of the documented evidence that children rarely lie about abuse; and where the incident is reasonably proven to have occurred, appropriate disciplinary measures will be taken, including, but not limited to:

Warning; and/or
Suspension; and/or
Dismissal

The disciplinary measure will depend on the nature and severity of the offence and will be at the discretion of the relevant Manager and will be fully documented and reported to MUDFISH NO PLASTIC.

3.2.6 Child protection risk assessments

To assess any risks to children in our programs, MUDFISH NO PLASTIC will require staff to fill out a child protection risk management assessment log prior to any activity. The risk assessment will involve listing the type of activity, identifying and describing any associated risks, the protocols/procedures to reduce the risk to children, and stating the person responsible for the action taken. The risk assessment will be kept under file and will be available upon request by any interested parties.

3.2.7 Child Protection Policy review

Mudfish No Plastic’s child protection policy will be reviewed once every two years.

Effective date: 01/04/2024

Review date: 01/04/2026