From Awareness to Action: Oxfam and Partners Strengthen Safeguarding Practices in Cambodia
Ms. Natacha Kim, Oxfam’s Safeguarding Focal Point, facilitated the training.
“Safeguarding is an organizational responsibility that goes beyond individual actions, especially in humanitarian and development work where staff often hold power over vulnerable communities. Oxfam prioritizes mainstreaming safeguarding with partnered organizations, enhancing their capacities, knowledge, and policies.”
Through the INSPIRE project supported by the Laudes Foundation, Oxfam collaborated with 4 partners— the Cambodian Labour Confederation (CLC), Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union (C.CAWDU), Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (CENTRAL), and the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU)—to deliver a series of training courses on Protection from Sexual Exploitation, Abuse, and Harassment (PSEAH) and Child Safeguarding to their respective employees.
PSEAH is crucial in humanitarian and development contexts to address and prevent sexual misconduct. Since mid-2022, Oxfam has worked closely with INSPIRE’s project partners to provide transformative PSEAH training to almost all their employees. The sessions were designed to actively engage participants, encouraging them to reflect on current practices, share their existing knowledge and discuss different opinions. The participatory nature of the training helped staff internalize the importance of safeguarding, promoting a culture of safety and respect in their organizations.
Child Safeguarding, another vital component of the training, involves protocols to protect children from abuse, exploitation, neglect, and violence. Given children’s particular physical, mental and emotional vulnerabilities, abuse can severely impact their development and emotional health. Oxfam’s training emphasized not only immediate safety but also the long-term well-being and development potential of children. The provision of continuous and regular training to partner organizations ensured that child safeguarding remains a top priority, reinforcing the importance of protecting children from harm and creating safe spaces that foster healthy growth and development for children.
Through these training series, partner staff gained a nuanced understanding of safeguarding, recognizing both the impact of misconduct and the necessary preventive steps. Interactive discussions and case studies provided avenues for participants to have difficult but insightful conversations on sensitive topics and to review their own behaviors and attitudes, particularly the available resources and handling practices of their organization should there be any incidents.
Oxfam conducted a child safeguarding training to the management and staff members of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Unions (C.CAWDU).
Speaking at the training, Deputy President of CLC Ms. Chenda Heng emphasized the need for training, resources, and policies to be in place. Chenda said, “CLC is committed to improve safeguarding practices and handling. This reflects our commitment to ensure the safety of our staff members and the workers we are working with. We thank Oxfam for the partnership and support. Nevertheless, there is more work to be done, and we kindly ask for continued assistance, through the INSPIRE project, from Oxfam and the Laudes Foundation.”
Ms. Chenda Heng, Deputy President of CLC, emphasized the need for training, resources, and policies to be in place.
The same commitment is also shared by the President of C.CAWDU. In his remarks at the concluding session for C.CAWDU on PSEAH and child safeguarding, Mr. Athit Kong acknowledged the limitations of organisational resources and experiences in preventing and handling sexual misconduct and child abuse incidents and committed to improve these areas.
“PSEAH and child safeguarding are very new concepts for C.CAWDU and unions in Cambodia. We have worked with Oxfam to draft a comprehensive policy, after several training sessions, on PSEAH and Child Safeguarding. We are ready to seek approval from the Board in January 2024.”
Investing in safeguarding training is not merely a policy requirement; it is a commitment to ensuring everyone feels safe and valued. This was demonstrated by all the actors involved in the INSPIRE project: the Laudes Foundation through its financial support and attention to safeguarding, Oxfam through its engagement, coordination and technical support in providing safeguarding trainings, the project’s partners through their leadership, and their employees through active participation and exchange of ideas during training.
In Cambodia, unions and NGOs struggle to implement effective safeguarding practices due to limited resources, inadequate training, and lack of awareness. The post-conflict society’s historical context exacerbates these challenges, as many staff members come from backgrounds marked by abuse, violence and limited formal education. Safeguarding, a new concept in Cambodia’s development sector, is often neglected in project planning and budgeting, even by donors. This underscores the urgent need for capacity building, increased funding, and enhanced awareness to protect vulnerable communities and workers.
Upholding safeguarding is our shared responsibility, to ensure that the communities we serve, through our work and operations, are safe from harm and can trust us. We urge donors, funding partners and like-minded organizations to consider integrating safeguarding as a requirement into the core actions of their projects or programs. This shared commitment cannot be realized without the allocation of resources and technical support.