Safeguarding Policy

UNITED FOR GLOBAL MENTAL HEALTH SAFEGUARDING POLICY

Effective date: July 2025

Statement of Policy

This policy sets out the expectations for the Charity’s work around the world, responsibilities and the procedures that should be followed to ensure safeguarding standards are maintained across the whole of United for Global Mental Health’s work. The policy applies to all trustees, employees, workers (both temporary and permanent), contractors, secondees, volunteers, campaigners and partners working for or on behalf of United for Global Mental Health (UnitedGMH) and applies in all countries in which it operates. For ease of reference all employees, workers, contractors, campaigners will be referred to as ‘Staff’ in this policy.

Objectives

United for Global Mental Health (UnitedGMH) is committed to ensuring a safe environment for all, free from abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence. United for Global Mental Health’s safeguarding policy sets out the organisation’s commitment to safeguarding children and vulnerable/protected adults. It defines the responsibilities and processes to ensure risks are minimised, and where appropriate, dealt with in a robust manner, and forms part of our terms and conditions of employment and services agreement.

We are committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually. The purpose of this policy is:

to protect children and young people who interact with UnitedGMH from harm. We do this through four key strategic areas:
- Safe Processes
- Safe Practices
- Safe People
- Safe Partnerships
to provide staff and volunteers, as well as children and young people and their families, with the overarching principles that guide our approach to safeguarding.

Safeguarding can be defined as enabling children and young people ‘to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect’. UnitedGMH believes that a child/young person should never experience abuse of any kind. We have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people in order to keep them safe. We are committed to practice in a way that protects them.

We recognise that:

The welfare of a child is paramount, as established in The Children Act 1989.
All children, regardless of age, disability, sex, gender, racial heritage, religious belief, sexual orientation or identity have a right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse.
Some children are additionally vulnerable because of the impact of previous experiences, their level of dependency, communication needs or additional needs.
Working in partnership with children, young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young peoples’ welfare. In order to ensure young people are adequately protected,

UnitedGMH will:

Value, listening to and respecting children/young people
Adopt safeguarding best practice through our policies, procedures and code of conduct for staff and volunteers
Develop and implement an effective online safety policy and related procedures
Provide effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision, support, training and quality assurance measures so that all staff and volunteers know about and follow our policies, procedures and behaviour codes confidently and competently
Recruit and select staff and volunteers safely, ensuring all necessary checks are made
Record, store and use information professionally and securely, in line with data protection legislation and guidance
Employ Designated Safeguarding Leads (DSL) who attend relevant training at least once every two years.
Ensure all new staff receive basic safeguarding training during their induction period
Ensure all staff have read and understand the Safeguarding Policy and are aware of the indicators of child abuse and how to respond to a concern or possible disclosures of abuse by a child/young person.
Provide access to The UnitedGMH Policy to all young people, their families and support via the UnitedGMH website.
Review this Safeguarding Policy on an annual basis, carried out by the Safeguarding Forum, comprised of all DSLs and signed off by the Board of Trustees

The legislative framework supporting this policy includes: the Mental Capacity Act 2005, Human Rights Act 1998, Children Act 2004;

Failure to adhere to this policy by employees may be managed in a number of ways, depending on the nature and consequence of any incident, such as:

Police investigation
Disciplinary action
Serious incident reporting to The Charity Commission

Roles & Responsibilities

All Staff & Volunteers

Every individual working with United for Global Mental Health, irrespective of their role, has a part to play in the safeguarding of vulnerable children and adults and must ensure that they read and understand our Safeguarding Policy and procedures.

Trustees

United for Global Mental Health trustees approve the Safeguarding policy and have a duty of care to their charity, which includes taking the necessary steps to safeguard those at risk from abuse, managing risk and protecting the reputation of the charity.

Directors

Directors have a responsibility to ensure that safeguarding is included, where appropriate, in the strategic plans, risk assessments, and communications.

Managers

Managers are responsible for ensuring that they, and the staff that they supervise, are aware of United for Global Mental Health’s safeguarding policy and procedures.

Designated Safeguarding Leads

Sarah Kline, sarah@unitedgmh.org – CEO

James Sale, james@unitedgmh.org – Deputy CEO

Designated Safeguarding Trustee

Peter Badimak Yaro – peter.yaro@basicneedsghana.org

Graham Thornicroft – graham.thornicroft@kcl.ac.uk

Safeguarding Forum

Consists of the DSL and Trustees

Definitions of abuse

Abuse can take many forms, including but not limited to:

Physical abuse
Emotional abuse
Sexual abuse
Neglect

A full list with definitions of abuse can be found in appendix A at the end of this document.

Recruitment

4.1. Building safe environments within organisations relies on the appointment of suitably qualified and skilled staff with the appropriate values, attitudes and approach to safeguarding.

4.2. United for Global Mental Health will make all reasonable efforts, through its recruitment procedures, to ensure that all members of staff, both full-time and part-time, paid and/or unpaid, whose role involves specific activity with vulnerable/protected groups are suitable for the position in line with this Safeguarding Policy and legislation requirements.

4.3. In addition to existing recruitment procedures and practices, for all staff of United for Global Mental Health, this will also include:

○ Assessment of the role for the type and frequency of potential contact with children and/or vulnerable/protected adults and/or access to sensitive data pertaining to these groups.

○ Applicants will be required to undertake a Basic Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check, or the equivalent from their country of residence in addition, employment & background checks will be requested to provide a view on the candidate’s suitability to be working with these groups. Failure to undergo DBS checks, or where appropriate the equivalent checks in the jurisdiction of residence, may result in the offer of employment being retracted.

4.4. Consultants whose work is judged to involve significant and/or frequent contact with vulnerable groups and data concerning them shall be required to read and sign this policy as part of their contract with United for Global Mental Health. The expectation is that they will also adhere to the Code of Conduct, which can be found in Appendix B. This Code of Conduct is binding for all representatives working for or on behalf of United for Global Mental Health.

4.5. Consultants whose role is not judged to have significant and/or frequent contact with vulnerable groups and/or data concerning them but who may on occasion have cause to come into contact with them or their data, the expectation is that they will adhere to the Code of Conduct, which can be found in Appendix B. This Code of Conduct is binding for all representatives working for or on behalf of United for Global Mental Health.

Training

5.1. All staff members working for or on behalf of United for Global Mental Health will need to ensure they fully understand this policy. For country campaigning partners, this policy is outlined in their partnership agreement.

5.2. On commencement of working for or on behalf of United Global Mental Health, all staff members will be provided with and will sign a copy of this policy and the associated procedures as part of their induction so they understand the duty to report any suspected or actual breaches of this policy.

5.3. Staff with responsibility for line management and contact people for the referral of incidents or concerns under this policy will receive additional information and briefing on what to do when an incident or a concern is reported to them.

5.4. A periodic refresher on this policy will be given to all staff members working for or on behalf of the United for Global Mental Health, as appropriate to their role, and at least once every year. This will cover any changes to the Safeguarding Policy and provide a recap of the reporting procedures.

5.5. Contact numbers of relevant referral agencies in the countries where United for Global Mental Health staff frequently travel are provided in the appendix of this document for staff to reference when travelling overseas on United for Global Mental Health business.

Code of conduct

All staff members working for or on behalf of United for Global Mental Health are required to sign and comply with this policy and the linked Code of Conduct that provides a behavioural protocol for working with children and vulnerable/protected adults. Failure to follow this policy and code may result in disciplinary action or other sanction being taken.

Responding to safeguarding concerns and incidents

7.1. All representatives working for or on behalf of United for Global Mental Health must report concerns, suspicions, allegations or incidents of potential or actual abuse of children and vulnerable/protected adults if they encounter them.

7.2. To report a safeguarding incident or concern, the process detailed below should be followed:

7.3. If you believe the child or vulnerable/protected adult to be in immediate danger :

Immediately contact the appropriate authorities within the country the project is based, liaise with the executive team if guidance is needed.
Report concerns or incidents to the safeguarding lead by email: sarah@unitedgmh.org, phone or in person as soon as possible after learning of the incident or concern (in any case within 24 hours of learning of the incident). If the safeguarding lead isn´t available, e.g during work related travel, you must inform the most senior member of staff.
Complete an Incident Report Form and send it to the Executive team within 24 hours of the incident or concern.
Serious incidents such as incidents that have resulted in or risk significant harm to beneficiaries and other people who come into contact with the charity through its work must be reported to the Charity Commission using the ‘Report a serious incident’ online form. Guidance on the types of incidents to report can be found here.

Inability to complete the form should not be a barrier to reporting a concern or incident. If someone is unable to provide written information, the person reporting the incident/concern will be asked to provide an oral report which will be noted down on their behalf, the original copy of which they will then be given the opportunity to sign.

If a vulnerable adult or child tells you about abuse, it is important that you do the following:

Treat what they tell you seriously.
Reassure the person they have done the right thing by telling you.
Do not question the person or put words in their mouth.
Do not promise to keep what they have said a secret.
Tell the person you will have to pass on what they have said.
Do not speak to anyone implicated in the abuse.
Immediately report the information to your line manager or senior member of staff
Record what the person has said, in their own words as far as possible, sign, date it and give it to your line manager or senior member of staff. If possible request the person reporting the incident to you sign the paperwork as well.

Sharing safeguarding procedures with staff and communities in country

United for Global Mental Health will make all reasonable efforts to ensure that communities in which we work are aware of their right to be safe from abuse and exploitation in the organisation’s programmes. We will publicise our reporting procedures with the country partners we work with so that staff, partners, beneficiaries and families clearly understand this Safeguarding Policy and how to report any concerns. Reports will be dealt with in a sensitive manner in accordance with this Policy.

Country specific safeguarding information

9.1. It is recognised that laws and practice concerning child abuse vary between countries.

9.2. Likewise, provision of services, laws and practice concerning the protection and care available to vulnerable/protected adults varies between countries

9.3. UnitedGMH will also work to the highest level of protection even if they are in excess of those mandated by local legislation

Working with contractors/consultants

10.1. Where United for Global Mental Health is contracting activity to another organisation/person, it is important that this organisation/person is aware of and understands this policy and code of conduct.

10.2. All United for Global Mental Health contracts with organisations and persons to discharge United for Global Mental Health activity will include a copy of this Safeguarding Policy, and adequate provisions.

10.3. Partner organisations will be expected to have robust and appropriate safeguarding policies and procedures in place, and this will be assessed through due diligence processes. Where gaps are identified, United for Global Mental Health will work with the partner organisations to address them.

Data protection and security

United for Global Mental Health will comply with the General Data Protection Regulation on data protection and storage of sensitive data.

Communication guidelines

12.1. The nature of our work means we may need to take, hold and pass on information about, and images of children and other community members, both electronically and in hard copies. United for Global Mental Health is responsible for ensuring that data and images are appropriate and are safely held.

12.2. We will only use images or personal information of children and vulnerable/protected adults in our marketing or programme work in a way that will safeguard their dignity and protect their rights. We will always seek appropriate permission from appropriate authorities to use images in the ‘public’ domain. We will use whatever safeguards we can not to supply information that could enable children or vulnerable/protected adults to be identified and located. This includes not using the child’s or vulnerable/protected adult’s real name or community names within the photos, and not using full names along with community names even without images.

Updating Safeguarding Policy

This Safeguarding Policy should be reviewed annually by the management team and the board of trustees of United for Global Mental Health.

Appendix A: Definitions of abuse

These are not exhaustive, and it is worth noting that all the forms of abuse listed below are rarely found in isolation.

Abuse: a form of maltreatment of a child or vulnerable person. Somebody may abuse or neglect a child or vulnerable person by inflicting harm or by failing to act to prevent harm. Children and vulnerable people may be abused in a family or in an institutional or community setting by those known to them or, more rarely, by others (e.g. via the internet). They may be abused by an adult or adults or by a child or children.

Physical abuse: a form of abuse which may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating or otherwise causing physical harm to a child or vulnerable person.

Emotional abuse: the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child or vulnerable person such as to cause severe and adverse effects on the individual’s emotional development. It may involve conveying to a child or vulnerable person that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person. It may include not giving the child or vulnerable person opportunities to express their views, deliberately silencing them or ‘making fun’ of what they say or how they communicate. It may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children or vulnerable people. These may include interactions that are beyond a child or or vulnerable person’s developmental capability as well as overprotection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the child or vulnerable person participating in normal social interaction. It may involve seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another. It may involve serious bullying (including cyberbullying), causing children or vulnerable people frequently to feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of children or vulnerable persons. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child or vulnerable person, although it may occur alone.

Sexual abuse: involves forcing or enticing a child, young or vulnerable person to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving a high level of violence, whether or not the child or vulnerable person is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including assault by penetration (for example rape or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts such as masturbation, kissing, rubbing and touching outside of clothing. They may also include non-contact activities, such as involving children or vulnerable people in looking at, or in the production of, sexual images, watching sexual activities, encouraging children or vulnerable people to behave in sexually inappropriate ways, or grooming a child or vulnerable person in preparation for abuse (including via the internet). Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males. Women can also commit acts of sexual abuse, as can other children or vulnerable person.

Neglect: the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development. Neglect may involve a parent or carer failing to: provide adequate food, clothing and shelter (including exclusion from home or abandonment); protect a child from physical and emotional harm or danger; ensure adequate supervision (including the use of inadequate care-givers); or ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment. It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child or vulnerable person’s basic emotional needs.

Radicalisation: the process by which a person comes to support terrorism and extremist ideologies associated with terrorist groups.

Human Trafficking: the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM): is a procedure where the female genital organs are injured or changed and there is no medical reason for this. It is frequently a very traumatic and violent act for the victim and can cause harm in many ways. The practice can cause severe pain and there may be immediate and/or long-term health consequences, including mental health problems, difficulties in childbirth, causing danger to the child and mother; and/or death. The age at which FGM is carried out varies enormously according to the community. The procedure may be carried out shortly after birth, during childhood or adolescence, just before marriage or during a woman’s first pregnancy.

Forced marriage: is a marriage in which one or both spouses do not consent to the marriage but are coerced into it. Duress can include physical, psychological, financial, sexual and emotional pressure. In the cases of some vulnerable adults who lack the capacity to consent, coercion is not required for a marriage to be forced.

Modern Slavery: Trafficking or modern slavery is defined by the United Nations Palermo Protocol (UN 2003) in three phases: recruitment or acquisition of a man, woman or child means, i.e. through the use of force, deception, or coercion purpose, i.e. for the purpose of exploitation or forced labour.

Child Sexual Exploitation: Child sexual exploitation is a form of child sexual abuse. It occurs where an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, manipulate or deceive a child or young person under the age of 18 into sexual activity (a) in exchange for something the victim needs or wants, and/or (b) for the financial advantage or increased status of the perpetrator or facilitator. The victim may have been sexually exploited even if the sexual activity appears consensual. Child sexual exploitation does not always involve physical contact; it can also occur through the use of technology.

Other definitions:

Child: refers to any person under the age of 18.

Safeguarding: Safeguarding is the action that is taken to promote the welfare of children and vulnerable adults in order to protect them from harm.

Safeguarding Concern or Incident: a concern, allegation or fact about inappropriate behaviour or any breach or threatened breach of the terms of this or any other organisational policy which may put a child at risk of harm, injury or death.

Vulnerable/Protected Adult: an adult who: has needs for care and support (whether or not the local authority is meeting any of those needs) and; is experiencing, or at risk of, abuse or neglect; and; as a result of those care and support needs is unable to protect themselves from either the risk of, or the experience of abuse or neglect.

Vulnerable Groups: Children or Vulnerable/Protected Adults.