Small community-based organisations (CBOs) are often closest to children, young people, and communities. Yet limited systems and resources can restrict their ability to deliver safe, accountable, and sustainable programmes. Capacity-building strengthens governance, planning, and delivery, enabling CBOs to maximise impact while protecting those they serve.
By investing in safeguarding training for small CBOs, FRC supports organisations to strengthen systems and deliver ethical, effective, and care-centred programmes.
Why Safeguarding Capacity Matters
Safeguarding is fundamental when working with children and young people. Building safeguarding capacity helps CBOs to:
- Prevent harm, abuse, and exploitation
- Create safe and trusted environments
- Clarify roles, responsibilities, and reporting mechanisms
- Foster a culture of care, accountability, and zero tolerance for harm
Without strong safeguarding systems, even well-intentioned programmes can place vulnerable groups at risk.
Strong safeguarding and cyber security practices also protect staff, volunteers, and organisations. Clear policies, training, and reporting pathways reduce legal, reputational, and operational risks. Capacity-building equips local teams with the skills and confidence to lead, adapt, and innovate—ensuring solutions are locally driven, culturally appropriate, and sustainable.
From Compliance to Culture
To support long-term impact and move beyond compliance, FRC hosted two capacity-building sessions on Safeguarding and Cyber Security for small CBOs in India.
The safeguarding sessions focused on the core pillars of practice—promotion, prevention, and protection—emphasising that safeguarding is not only about preventing abuse, but about building safe, respectful organisational cultures. Participants highlighted the importance of integrating safeguarding across all organisational functions and budgeting for safeguarding within fundraising proposals.
Contextual and Inclusive Safeguarding
The sessions explored adapting safeguarding practices to local contexts, addressing multiple forms of harm including physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Participants were encouraged to focus on understanding community-specific risks rather than relying solely on predefined policies.
Discussions also addressed online harm and the changing digital landscape, stressing the need for context-sensitive recognition, response, and reporting. Emphasis was placed on responding to harm safely and with dignity.
Given that participating CBOs work with marginalised communities, accessibility and inclusion were central themes. Effective safeguarding systems were described as those that enable everyone—regardless of language or background—to report harm safely. Participants discussed safeguarding in multilingual contexts, including challenges posed by English-dominated technology platforms and the value of translating policies into local languages and visual formats.
Scaled and Dynamic Safeguarding Policies
Safeguarding policies were framed as living documents that should be dynamic, context-specific, and community-centred. Small organisations were encouraged to adopt fit-to-scale policies that cover essential safeguards, include clear reporting and response procedures, and evolve alongside organisational capacity. Including safeguarding costs in funding applications was strongly recommended.
Ethical Photography and Storytelling
A session on ethical photography examined best practices for photographing children and sharing organisational work responsibly. Discussions focused on informed consent, avoiding harmful imagery, and the ethics of sharing content online—particularly when subjects may not have digital access. Participants identified the need for further engagement on ethical storytelling and social media-related safeguarding.
These sessions reinforced that investing in safeguarding capacity is not just about compliance, but about building cultures of care, trust, and accountability that enable small CBOs to create lasting change.