The UK’s approach to safeguarding in the humanitarian sector
A review examining the UK’s approach to safeguarding in the humanitarian sector finds the government needs to do more to learn from people affected by humanitarian crises.
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We conducted a full review of the UK’s approach to safeguarding in the humanitarian sector and made five recommendations. We have completed our follow-up process and rated the government’s response to our recommendations as ‘adequate’. Find out more on the ‘Further scrutiny‘ tab.
Summary
Safeguarding at-risk adults and children from physical and emotional abuse, exploitation and neglect across a multiplicity of industries and social sectors has become a matter of acute concern to policy makers and the public. In recent years, within the aid sector, the UK government’s attention has focused on safeguarding against sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment.
This review focuses on the humanitarian aid sector and examines the extent to which the UK government’s safeguarding efforts have been effective in preventing and responding to sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) of affected populations, perpetrated by aid workers operating in humanitarian aid contexts. The review considers how well the UK government has identified and addressed evidence gaps about best practice for protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA) and how well it has developed a coherent response to the issue.
Sustainable Development Goals
The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals relevant to this review are:
