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Child safeguarding policy

How Meskot Education keeps children safe in its programs, what we expect of everyone who works with us, and how to raise a concern.

Last updated: October 2026

In brief

  • Every child has the right to be safe. Meskot does not tolerate abuse or exploitation of children in any form.
  • The policy applies to everyone who works with Meskot: board, staff, teachers, volunteers, consultants, partners and visitors.
  • No adult is ever alone with a child in a Meskot program, and children are photographed only with consent.
  • Any concern is reported the same day. If a child is in immediate danger, call the police first.

Our commitment

Meskot Education works directly with children, through learning corners in schools and communities, school-supply distributions and the people who visit our programs. We have a duty to make sure that taking part in our programs never puts a child at risk.

Every child has the same right to protection from harm, whatever their age, sex, disability, language, religion, ethnicity or background. Meskot does not tolerate the abuse or exploitation of children by anyone connected with our work, and we act on every concern.

Who this policy covers

This policy applies to everyone who represents Meskot or takes part in its programs:

  • board members, staff and consultants;
  • teachers who prepare Meskot's lessons or lead its learning sessions;
  • volunteers, including volunteers at Offline Learning Corners;
  • partners, host schools and suppliers, in the work they do with Meskot;
  • visitors, donors, photographers and journalists who meet children through Meskot.

A child is anyone under the age of 18, whatever the age of majority where they live.

What we mean by harm

  • Physical abuse: hitting, beating or any other physical punishment, or any act that hurts a child's body.
  • Emotional abuse: humiliating, threatening, shouting at or frightening a child, or treating a child as worth less than others.
  • Sexual abuse and exploitation: any sexual activity with a child, any sexual talk, touching or images, and any offer of money, food, gifts or favors in return for sex.
  • Neglect: failing to give a child the care and protection that a program has promised, or ignoring a child who needs help.
  • Exploitation: using a child for labour, for money or for anyone's advantage, including in fundraising.
  • Online harm: any of the above through phones, messages, social media or images.

Our principles

  • The child's safety and best interests come first, in every decision.
  • Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility, not only the safeguarding lead's.
  • We listen to children, take what they say seriously and involve them in decisions about them.
  • We share information about a concern only with those who need it to protect the child.
  • We treat everyone fairly, including a person a concern is about.
  • We follow the laws of Ethiopia and the United States, and work with the authorities responsible for protecting children.

Safe recruitment

Before anyone works with children in a Meskot program, as staff, teacher, consultant or volunteer, Meskot:

  • meets them, and asks about their experience with children and how they would handle a safeguarding situation;
  • takes up at least two references, one of them from someone who has seen them work with children where possible;
  • asks for a police clearance certificate where one can be obtained;
  • asks them to read this policy and sign the code of conduct below;
  • gives them an introduction to safeguarding, and to how to raise a concern, before their first session.

Meskot does not engage anyone who refuses these steps, or about whom there is a credible concern of harm to children.

Code of conduct

Everyone covered by this policy agrees to the following.

I will

  • treat every child with respect and kindness, and without favoritism;
  • make sure another adult is always present, and that I can be seen, whenever I am with children;
  • use only positive, non-violent ways of guiding children's behaviour;
  • respect children's privacy and dignity, including when they use the toilet or are unwell;
  • report any concern about a child's safety the same day, as this policy sets out.

I will never

  • hit, smack or physically punish a child, or threaten to;
  • humiliate, insult or frighten a child;
  • spend time alone with a child out of sight of others, or take a child to my home;
  • touch a child in a way that is inappropriate or that the child does not want;
  • have any sexual contact or relationship with a child, or speak to a child in a sexual way;
  • give a child money or gifts privately, or ask a child for anything in return for help;
  • contact a child privately by phone, message or social media;
  • take, share or keep photographs of children except as this policy allows;
  • ask a child to work for me or do my personal errands;
  • come to a session under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Safe programs

  • Two adults: in every Offline Learning Corner session, a teacher and a second adult, usually a volunteer, are present. No adult is ever alone with the children.
  • Open spaces: sessions take place in rooms that others can see into or enter, inside the host school or community site, at set times.
  • Records: attendance is taken at every session, so we know which children were there and that all of them left safely.
  • Families: parents and caregivers are told when sessions run, who leads them and whom to contact with a question or concern.
  • Distributions: Back2School and other distributions are run with the school's staff, in open spaces, with enough adults to keep children safe in a crowd.
  • Travel: Meskot does not transport children unless their parent or caregiver has agreed and two adults are present.
  • Equipment and premises: equipment such as televisions and cables is set up and packed away safely, and any hazard is reported the same day.

Photographs, video and stories

Photographs and stories help people understand Meskot's work, but they must never put a child at risk or take away their dignity.

  • We photograph or film children only with the consent of their parent or caregiver, given through the host school or community, and children may always say no.
  • A child's portrait, or a story about one child, needs the parent's or caregiver's specific consent.
  • Images show children dressed and with dignity. We never use images that show a child in distress, or that could identify where a child lives.
  • We do not publish a child's full name with their photograph, or any detail that would let someone find them.
  • Only people authorized by Meskot take photographs for Meskot. Images are stored securely and used only for Meskot's work.
  • We remove any image of a child when the child, their parent or their caregiver asks us to.

Online and digital safety

Meskot's lessons are designed for learning and contain nothing unsuitable for children. In Offline Learning Corners, children watch lessons from USB drives chosen by Meskot, not from the open internet.

Adults covered by this policy do not contact children privately online, do not connect with them on social media, and keep any communication with a child in the open and connected to the program.

Safeguarding focal points

This policy names roles, not people, because the people in them change. At any time, three roles are filled:

  • The safeguarding lead receives every concern, decides on the response, keeps the records and reports to the board.
  • The deputy safeguarding lead stands in when the lead is away, and receives any concern about the lead.
  • A local focal point at each program, such as each Offline Learning Corner, is the person children, families, teachers and volunteers on site can go to. They pass every concern to the lead the same day.

How they are chosen

  1. The Managing Director proposes candidates from Meskot's staff, board or trusted volunteers, after asking the people they would serve.
  2. Candidates go through the same checks as anyone working with children: an interview, references and police clearance where it can be obtained.
  3. The board appoints the lead and the deputy. Wherever possible, one of them is a woman, so that girls and mothers can always report to a woman.
  4. The local focal point at each program is appointed with the host school or community, and is someone children and families there know and trust.
  5. Each new focal point is introduced to the role and to this policy before taking it up.
  6. Children, families, teachers, volunteers and the host are told who their local focal point is, and how to reach the lead, at the start of each program and whenever a focal point changes.

The board reviews the appointments every year, and appoints a replacement as soon as anyone steps down, so the roles are never left empty.

How to raise a concern

If a child is in immediate danger, contact the police or medical services first. Then tell Meskot.

Anyone, inside or outside Meskot, can raise a concern about a child's safety in a Meskot program. Report it the same day, and no later than 24 hours, in any of these ways:

  • in person, to the program's local focal point;
  • by email to info@meskot.org, with "Safeguarding" in the subject, which goes to the safeguarding lead;
  • by phone to +251 901 122 151.

If your concern is about one of the focal points, report it to another focal point or to the chair of Meskot's board. You can raise a concern in Tigrinya, Amharic or English.

If a child tells you about harm

  • Stay calm, listen and let the child speak in their own words.
  • Tell them they were right to tell you, and that you will ask people who can help.
  • Don't promise to keep it a secret, and don't ask leading questions or investigate yourself.
  • Write down what the child said, in their words, with the date and time, and report it the same day.
  • Don't confront the person the concern is about.

How we respond

  • The safeguarding lead records the concern, makes sure the child is safe and decides on the next steps, the same day where possible.
  • Where the law requires it, or a child may be at risk, we refer the concern to the police and to the local authorities responsible for children's protection, and cooperate with them.
  • We help the child and their family find support, such as medical care or counseling, where it is available.
  • A person a concern is about may be asked to step away from all work with children while it is looked into. Anyone found to have harmed a child is removed from Meskot's work, and we report them to the authorities.
  • We tell the host school and partners what they need to know to keep children safe, and no more.
  • Records of concerns are kept confidential and secure, and are shared only with those who need them.

No one who raises a concern in good faith will be punished or disadvantaged for doing so, even if it turns out to be unfounded.

Partners and host schools

Schools and communities that host Meskot programs, and organizations Meskot works with, are asked to share these standards in the work they do with us, to tell us of any concern involving a Meskot program, and to work with us when one arises. Meskot shares this policy with every host before a program begins.

Responsibilities and review

  • The board approves this policy, is told of every serious concern and how it was handled, and reviews the policy every year.
  • The Managing Director makes sure the policy is followed across Meskot's work.
  • The safeguarding focal points receive and handle concerns, keep records and make sure everyone covered has been introduced to the policy.
  • Program coordinators make sure the two-adult rule, attendance records and consent for images are kept in every session.

The board approves this policy and any change to it, and reviews it every year, or sooner after a serious concern or a change in Meskot's programs. The date of the latest version is shown at the top of this page.

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