Safeguarding - video series

Changing the Story produced a series of short videos which address the various aspects of safeguarding in international development research. The aim of the series is to provide you with food for thought, and to help your project team reflect on safeguarding policies and procedures that are appropriate in your context.

We recommend you view the series in the order below if the concepts, terminology or mechanisms of co-developing approaches to safeguarding are new or unfamiliar to you.

• What does ‘safeguarding’ mean in the context of your project? Whom are you safeguarding? From whom? From what?
• What are the specific issues facing the communities your project is working with? Are these related to, say, power imbalances, lack of (trust in) local support services, or differences in ways we think about childhood, authority, disability or gender identity?
• How do these issues affect the people involved in your research project differently?
• Kabi recounts an incident in which she was subject to inappropriate behaviour. How would you approach this if someone connected to your project raised such a concern?

• What is the best organisational safeguarding incident investigation process that can ensure knowledge is captured and lessons are learnt from past incidents?

• What is our agreed process for how safeguarding concerns will be reported and escalated across research partnerships?

• What might an effective 'risk level rating system' look like, with a clear threshold for reporting to funders and regulatory bodies?

• What contextual factors affect the introduction of safeguarding concepts and terminology in a particular country or region?

• How do we involve all research partners at the research design and planning stage to ensure that research questions and methodologies are contextually appropriate?

Do they raise awareness of risk or the right to right to speak up, help prevent an incident, facilitate response, or inform how and to whom you might report an incident?

• Who has responsibility for acting? In what context? Who has ultimate responsibility?
• What structures could be put in place to promote a culture of openness which protects the rights of those who speak up? e.g. setting up, monitoring and responding to a comment box. What might work in your project?

UKCDR discusses confidentiality within the context of ‘transparency’. How does this relate to your project?

A project member recounts an incident.
• How would you respond? In which role are you acting? What action(s) would you expect from other people?
• Who might be the first point of contact in your project if someone wanted to raise a concern? Are they happy talking on this responsibility? Are they paid appropriately? Do they have appropriate knowledge of the procedures for escalating concerns or signposting to other sources of support?

• What potential safeguarding issues are raised in Neeru’s story?

• Are there any other safeguarding issues that might be generated by using ‘participatory’ research methods?

• How does safeguarding intersect with research methodology?

Can participatory research methods be built into your approach to safeguarding? What are the opportunities and challenges in taking this approach? What implications might this have for researchers on your project? Can a researcher also be a counsellor or designated safeguarding focal point on a project?

• How might your approach to safeguarding balance what can be catered for within your team’s scope and skillsets, and the capacity and level of trust in national support services?

• How will you know if you have achieved it? (These are ‘indicators’). At what stage(s) will this be possible to determine?

• How do do you develop an approach to safeguarding that is sensitive to the cultural context, and satisfies all stakeholders?

• How might reporting and processing a safeguarding issue create unintended harm for staff and/or research participants?

• How can we ensure that people with disability are present and empowered?

• Are there particular disabilities that may go undiagnosed in your research setting?

•What are the locally available care and support services, and the levels of trust and confidence in them?

• Who in the community can co-develop the above, and communicate your project’s approach to safeguarding?

• How might this benefit our research?

• To what extent might you effect change within a time-bound project?

• Are there any other channels that you would like created?

• What action could this instigate?

• How do you ensure that the project team is not being asked to go beyond its knowledge and/or experience with regard to safeguarding?

• What kind of local care and support services for safeguarding are available? Are other services required?

• How do we make online spaces safe without intruding on personal lives at home?

• What support or alternatives are we offering for those researchers whose access to workspace, equipment, reliable electricity supply or internet at home may be limited, so that they can continue to work but do so safely?

• In the absence of face-to-face meetings, how are we acknowledging and catering for the different time zones in which researchers work?