Safeguarding
Centering the safety and meaningful participation of adolescents and youth at WD2023
Women Deliver is committed to ensuring that WD2023 is a safe space for all participants, especially young people in all their diverse identities, including persons with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ youth, and adolescents. All WD2023 event organizers and participants can consider this page as their go-to resource for all information related to child and youth safeguarding. The contents on this page are designed to support all participants to:
- Be aware of safety and wellness measures and support available.
- Design their own WD2023 events, keeping the safety of participants in mind.
- Ensure their own safety at the Conference.
Safeguarding at WD2023:
Women Deliver maintains a zero tolerance policy for any physical, emotion, sexual, and/or online abuse (see the Child and Young Person Safeguarding Policy for further details).
If you have experienced abuse, exploitation, harm, or neglect from anyone on the WD2023 Virtual Conference platform, take action to remove yourself from harm. Then once safe, if you are comfortable, report the abuse immediately – either in-person or online:
- Online: Write to safeguarding@womendeliver.org. This email address is being monitored regularly and Women Deliver will take appropriate action in a timely manner in response to all reports.
- In person: From July 18-20 (9:00 am – 5:00 pm), visit the Safety and Mental Health Space at the Blu Lounge, a dedicated, private physical space at the Kigali Convention Centre. The Safety and Mental Health Space will be staffed with safeguarding professionals and mental health care providers who can address the needs of attendees to ensure their safety and wellbeing. For Safeguarding support on July 16-17 (9:00 am – 5:00 pm), please visit the Lemigo Hotel and look for signage to the Safety and Mental Health space.
What is considered abuse, exploitation, harm, or neglect?
- Abuse is any behavior that results in actual or potential detrimental effect or harm to a child or young person’s health, wellbeing, survival, development, or dignity. Abuse can be economic, emotional, online, physical, or sexual.
- Exploitation is any situation in which someone takes advantage of unequal power or status for profit or gain.
- Harm is any detrimental effect on someone’s physical, psychological, or emotional wellbeing.
- Neglect is a persistent failure to meet someone’s basic physical or psychological needs, resulting in actual or potential harm.
Other Wellness Resources at WD2023
Check out other WD2023 wellness programming at the Wellbeing Space, the Youth Zone, and throughout the WD2023 program. Additionally, attendees can visit the Safety and Mental Health Space to talk with trained Peer Support Volunteers who are available to be a listening ear and provide socio-emotional support for attendees feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or upset.
Key resources
Women Deliver and its partners have developed the following policies and resources regarding safety and wellness, especially the safety of young people, at WD2023:
- WD2023 Conference Code of Conduct and Registration Policies Statement
- Child and Young Person Safeguarding Policy
- Safeguarding Guide for Youth
- Digital Safeguarding Guidelines (for WD2023 virtual event organizers)
Safeguarding Working Group
As technical safeguarding partners for WD2023, the Adolescent Girls Investment Plan (AGIP) initiated a Safeguarding Working Group in December 2022 to provide best practice recommendations on online and on-site safeguarding measures for keeping young people safe during the Conference.
Chaired by Pooja Singh and Johanna Schulz (AGIP Secretariat), other Working Group members are:
- Aminata Kamara, Purposeful
- Anika Dorothy Jenne, Amplify Girls
- Chiranthi Senanayake, WD2023 Youth Planning Committee
- Elsie Masava, Plan International, Kenya
- Enow Awah Georges Stevens, WD2023 Youth Planning Committee
- Julia Fan, Women Deliver
- Josephine Oates, WAGGGS
- Margherita Dall’Occo-Vaccaro, WD2023 Youth Planning Committee
- Weema Askri, WD2023 Youth Planning Committee
The information on this page will be updated with ongoing work by Women Deliver, AGIP, and the Safeguarding Working Group.
Duty of care
Women Deliver has put in place various processes and guidance to ensure that all WD2023 participants feel safe and supported during the Conference. All information related to the safety support available during the Conference can be found on this page. As we are striving to hold the duty to care on our end, we encourage all WD023 participants to also take shared responsibility towards collective safety and well-being by staying safe, looking after each other, and reporting any concerns via the dedicated channels.