Safeguarding Policy

Safeguarding includes preventing, reporting, and responding to harm or abuse of children and adults living where World Vision has programming presence, caused by World Vision employees and affiliates.

All children and adult community members who live in the areas where World Vision conducts programmes and projects.

We consider the children, families and community members we work with our partners. Therefore, it is imperative to ensure that they are protected from any form of violence or abuse. As such, we take careful measures to safeguard them. Our Safeguarding Policy guides us in this process.

Every person who shares in the work of World Vision – including employees, volunteers, contractors, and supporters – also shares in the responsibility to take every precaution to protect the children and families we serve.

Training/capacity building on safeguarding for employees and affiliates
Safeguarding screening during recruitment (employees, volunteers and affiliates) and before visits to the communities
Behaviour and Communications Protocols to guide behaviours and communication
Informed consent is practised for all activities (including content gathering)
Safe programming especially for children
Community Feedback and Response Mechanism for children and community members to communicate feedback, suggestions, complaints and report safeguarding incidents to World Vision

Reporting of Harm

World Vision has zero tolerance for any violence or abuse against children and other people in the communites we serve. Although all employees and affiliates are obligated to report, World Vision holds that reporting is everyone’s responsibility. We consider any of the below as safeguarding incidents:

Any abuse or harm happening to a child in the community World Vision works in
Any breach of our Safeguarding Policy causing children or adults living where World Vision has a programming presence to be in direct risk of potential harm
Any allegations (including rumours) or actual incidents of harm or abuse to children or adults living where World Vision has a programming presence, caused by a World Vision employee or affiliate

If you happen to witness any of the above or have a safeguarding concern relating to our employees, affiliates or the communities we serve, we encourage you to report it to [email protected]

Responding to Reports

World Vision ensures that all reports are investigated in ways that are consistent with local law, respecting privacy, confidentiality, and culture whenever possible. Our responses have oversight by and accountability to our World Vision International safeguarding experts.

How to Protect Your Sponsored Child

World Vision Malaysia upholds children’s rights to survival, development, protection and participation as set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), Article 19.

Every person who shares in the work of World Vision Malaysia – including supporters like you – also shares in the responsibility to take every precaution to protect the children and families we serve.

Why Should You Protect Your Child?

We consider the children we work with our partners. It is our imperative to ensure that children and their families are protected from harm and abuse, and we take careful measures to safeguard their privacy from being invaded. With this in mind, we advise all of our child sponsors to adhere to our Safeguarding Policy.

We are not just concerned with protecting the privacy and safety of children and their families, but of child sponsors as well. By following our Safeguarding Policy, sponsors will also be protecting their own private information from being used to affect them and their sponsored children.

Child Security

Children have the right to be completely protected from the fear or any potential abuse resulting from inappropriate contact by a sponsor or other persons.

As such, World Vision discourages direct, unmonitored communication with your sponsored child or family without our knowledge. This includes telephone calls, emails, social media communication or unplanned visits to see your sponsored child.

Your privacy and security are equally important to us, and sponsored children and families are discouraged from contacting you without World Vision’s knowledge as well. This is to protect you from being solicited to meet needs beyond your commitment as a sponsor. Please report to World Vision immediately if you receive such contact.

Child Privacy

We take potential misuse of child photographs on the web very seriously. Children and their families must be assured that World Vision is protecting the integrity of the information that they've given to us, including photographs. Privacy also demands that children, their families and communities be shielded from any potential inappropriate contact from sponsors or other persons.

Please protect your sponsored child’s privacy by taking steps to prevent others from downloading, copying, or replicating photos and videos you share on digital media. One step you can take is to watermark your photos before sharing them online.

Child Dignity

The lives of children, their families, and members of their community should be represented with accuracy and dignity. We consider the children we work with our partners, working with us to help bring holistic transformation to communities living in poverty while transforming their hearts and donors alike. We seek the full, informed consent of parents, guardians, and/or community leaders for a child's participation in our Child Sponsorship Programme.

Please ensure that photos and videos shared by you are appropriate and your sponsored child is adequately clothed and portrayed with dignity.

Sharing Information Online

As you browse our website, you will notice that we only release limited information about the children. We do not give family names, village names, or other information that will reveal the exact location of sponsored children (i.e. no tagging of exact locations; this includes disabling or removing geo-tags). Sharing such personal information can threaten their privacy and safety, and we require that you do the same if you are sharing your sponsorship story online.

Things you CAN share

Child's first name, gender, age
Country and Area Programme (AP) name
Child's hobbies, chores, school grade level
Child's general health status (excluding sensitive details)
Parents' first names and occupation

Things you CANNOT share

Child's surname and sponsorship ID number
Surnames of child's parents
Child's address or school name and address
Child's community/village name
Child's height and weight, specific medical conditions or disabilities
Child's religion

However, in restricted countries (i.e. China (Liping AP only), Lebanon and Myanmar), please refrain from sharing your sponsored child’s photos and videos online for child protection reasons.