Global expertise, locally applied
In 2018, seven partners from Kenya, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, The Gambia and UK established the South2South Network. We offer training and consultancy to NGOs, government bodies and businesses in their regions. Together, these partners offer decades of practical experience on the issue of child protection, safeguarding and PSEA (Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse) with experience ranging from training frontline staff in small, local NGOs to providing support to government institutions and being an expert voice at international conferences on safeguarding.
The rich diversity of our experience and geographical location enables us to support and develop each other as well as advise others, making our collective knowledge much greater than the sum of its parts. Our unique model enables us to provide global insight at a local level, with guidance rooted in practical application rather than boardroom theory.
Safeguarding in the age of scrutiny
in 2018, the UK’s Department for International Development (now FCDO) produced new due diligence guidelines and requirements on how organisations should develop and implement their safeguarding and protection policies. The framework very clearly articulates that if you have partnerships in southern countries then your responsibilities extend to those partnerships and you must prove that they are as well equipped to protect and safeguard the people they are working with as your own teams would be. Other major global donors are issuing similar guidance and many organisations are struggling to understand how to meet those requirements.
The time is right for southern-led safeguarding consultancies, that are rooted in cultural relevance and practical experience, to take the lead on safeguarding and PSEA. Local NGOs have frequently been seen as deliverers of an agenda set by the northern organisations: be they international NGOs, philanthropic organisations, donors or corporate sustainability teams. There can be a heavy focus on using monitoring approaches drawn from financial audit frameworks, which rely on paper-based analysis. Policies are important, but observing programme activities and talking to the people involved can give a much richer understanding of how safe things are and how they need to change.