Do you know what the Orange Ribbon means?

The "Orange Ribbon Campaign" is a citizens' movement that calls for the elimination of child abuse by spreading the orange ribbon as a symbol of child abuse prevention .
Through the Orange Ribbon Campaign, we aim to spread awareness of the current state of child abuse,
raise awareness of the issue among many people, and build an abuse-free society through a citizen network.

At YouMeWe, we have a Child Safety Policy. We will also be participating in the Orange Ribbon Event at Tokyo Tower this Saturday.

1/3 of the children in the homes are happy where they are. This is the population YouMeWe is focused on but once learning this, we realized that 2/3rds of the children are also needing attention. 1/3 do not feel they have a voice. Hence we have partnered with IFCA (International Foster Care Alliance) and 1/3 want to be reunited with their families therefore we have partnered with Youkikai which has a program to not only prevent child abuse by taking test and focusing red flags but also how to retrain parents who have a chance to get their children back. We have started the project to create a Social Impact Bond to address this. It costs 100,000,000 JPY to have a child in care from 2 to 18 years old and we strive to get local government approval to allow us to raise the funds, pay back the bond holders with a return not only financially but vis a vis Social Impact return. This can save the government millions in projected costs but also helps break the three generational childhood trauma cycle. We have also partnered with TELL to have a speaker series for the staff in the homes to understand the intricacies of caring for children who are A.C.E. (Adverse Childhood Experience) survivors.

Child Safety Policy

A Child Safety Policy highlights the importance of actions taken in regards to a witnessed incident of abuse. This policy asks for details that can help the organization understand the incident: time, location, child involved, and perpetrator. All of these steps must be followed in a timely manner to ensure the safety and the voice of the child.

 児童虐待の状況に遭遇したときに、どのような対応をすればよいのかを知って行動に移すことが重要であると考え、Child Safety Policyを作成することにしました。そのため、Child Safety Policyでは基本的に、虐待がいつどこで発生したかや、虐待をされた子どもの情報など、虐待の詳細をお聞きしています。これらのすべてのステップは、事件の状況下で子供が発言権を持っているかをいち早く確認する方法としてとても大切です

 Background from Global Giving:

 Introduction The first Child Safeguarding Standards were launched over 12 years ago by a coalition of relief and development charities that later became known as Keeping Children Safe. Since then there has been a growing recognition that, as well as risks to children from staff and associates, inappropriately designed programs and poor operational management can also create the possibility of risks to children. Keeping Children Safe represents a commitment by those working in this sector to ensure that their organizations “do no harm” and that they meet the responsibilities set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to protect children from all forms of abuse, neglect, exploitation, and violence. Drawing on the knowledge and experience of experts, Keeping Children Safe developed the Keeping Children Safe Standards, which was supported by a comprehensive Toolkit for implementing the Standards. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the independent expert for the UN study on violence against children, acknowledged the importance of the Toolkit, stating that: “It offers an excellent opportunity not only for the improvement of the quality and professionalism of those working with children but most importantly, it will help to achieve a greater impact for children.” Since it was first published, hundreds of organizations and thousands of professionals worldwide have used the Toolkit. The increasing demand for the Toolkit reflects the growing recognition by organizations, which work with, impact on, or come into contact with children, that they have a responsibility to keep them safe. What is child safeguarding? Child safeguarding is the responsibility that organizations have to make sure their staff, operations, and programs do no harm to children, that is that they do not expose children to the risk of harm and abuse and that any concerns the organization has about children’s safety within the communities in which they work are reported to the appropriate authorities. “Do no harm” is a principle that has been used in the humanitarian sector but can equally be applied to the development field. It refers to organizations’ responsibility to minimize the harm they may be doing inadvertently as a result of their organizational activities.

グローバル・ギビングの背景

はじめに 最初の子どもの保護基準は、12年以上前に、後にKeeping Children Safeとして知られるようになった 自由と開発慈善の連合によって立ち上げられました。それ以来、職員や関係者による子どもへのリスクだけでなく、不適切に設計されたプログラムや不十分な運営管理によっても子どもたちにリスクが生じる可能性があることが認識されるようになってきました。Keeping Children Safe は、この分野で働く人々が、自分たちの組織が“子供に害を及ぼさない”ことを保証し、あらゆる形態の虐待、ネグレクト、搾取、暴力から子どもを守るために、児童の権利に関する条約（Convention on the Rights of the Child）を果たすことを約束しています。専門家の知識と経験をもとに、Keeping Children SafeはKeeping Children Safe Standardsを作成し、それを実施するための包括的なツールキットによってサポートされています。子どもへの暴力に関する国連調査の独立専門家であったパウロ・セルジオ・ピネイロは、このツールキットの重要性を認め、次のように述べています。"このツールキットは、子どもたちと関わる人々の質と専門性を向上させるだけでなく、最も重要なことは、子どもたちのためのより大きな影響力を達成するのに役立つ素晴らしい機会を提供します”。初めて発表されて以来、世界中の何百もの組織と何千もの専門家がツールキットを使用してきました。このツールキットの需要が高まっているのは、子どもを扱う組織、子どもに影響を与える組織、子どもと接触する組織が、子どもの安全を守る責任があるという認識が高まっていることを反映しています。児童保護とは何ですか？児童保護とは、組織のスタッフ、業務、プログラムが子どもに危害を加えないようにする責任、すなわち、子どもを危害や虐待の危険にさらさないようにする責任であり、組織が活動する地域社会における子どもの安全について懸念がある場合には、適切な団体に報告する責任です。"危害を加えないこと”は、人道的な分野で使われてきた原則ですが、開発の分野でも同様に適用できます。これは、組織の活動の結果として不用意に行う可能性のある危害を最小限に抑える組織の責任を指しています。 

CHILD SAFETY POLICY