Move to protect children in sport

Comprising 40 organisations, the pilot is aimed at ensuring the standards are useful and fit for their purpose.

Liz Twyford from UNICEF UK described the standards as a set of actions that all organisations working in sport should have in place to ensure children are safe from harm and should be used as a benchmark of good practice to work towards, rather than an end in themselves.

International safeguarding children in sport standards
At present there are eleven draft standards. These are to:

• Write a policy on keeping children safe
• Use procedures, personnel and systems that support safeguarding
• Assess and minimise risks to children
• Produce guidelines on behaviour towards children
• Ensure equity – ALL children being safeguarded
• Communicate the ‘keep children safe’ message
• Provide education and training for keeping children safe
• Engage with advice and support
• Work with partners to meet the standards
• Involve children in development, review and implementation
• Monitor and evaluate compliance and effectiveness of safeguarding measures

The International Safeguarding Children in Sport Working Group was initiated and guided by UNICEF; with strong involvement from UK Sport, Child Protection in Sport Unit (NSPCC), Keeping Children Safe, Commonwealth Secretariat, Swiss Academy for Development, Right to Play, Comic Relief, Beyond Sport and Women Win.

The group worked with more than 30 organisations to draft the set of international standards during the 2012 Beyond Sport Summit in London; many of these are participants in the pilot.

Already involved in the process are governments, funders, donors, international federations, national bodies and organisations delivering sport programmes from across the globe.

To oversee the process, the International Safeguarding Children in Sport Working Group has recruited expert researchers in safeguarding.

sportanddev's role
sportanddev is the information and communications hub for the sport and development community; as a result were approached to host and assist facilitating the project.

Connected to the working group and the S&D community, sportanddev will filter findings, lessons and practice through the various sections of the Platform.