Child Safety

OM is committed to the nurturing, protection and safekeeping of all, especially children and young people, irrespective of age, gender or culture. We recognise that it is the responsibility of each member of OM to prevent the physical, sexual and emotional abuse of children and young people.

OM is committed to supporting, resourcing and training those who work with children and young people, and to providing supervision for our workers.

As part of our commitment to children and young people, OM has designated Child Protection Officers to investigate child protection needs and to develop and oversee the implementation of OM’s child protection policies, procedures and training in line with current legal requirements and good practice.

OM is committed to supporting victims of abuse and their families. We want to support and cooperate with the legal authorities and other agencies in the countries in which we work. We are aware that victims of abuse will have particular needs as a result, which need to be met sensitively and appropriately.

To safeguard the protection of children and young people and our workers, OM has and seeks to effectively implement guidelines, policies and procedures for good practice and the protection of minors in the following areas:

• The appointment and selection of staff and workers, including self-disclosure forms, reference requirements, etc.;
• The training and orientation we give our workers in child protection;
• Our conduct towards and supervision of young people during our events and programmes;
• Referring, reporting and recording of specific incidents and concerns related to young people and to our staff’s involvement with young people;
• Maintaining a healthy and safe environment for children and young people on our programmes.

Copies of policy and procedure guidelines are available by contacting your local OM office.