Safeguarding and Reporting Misconduct
CorpsAfrica is committed to creating safe, respectful environments for the communities, children, and young people we serve, and for our Volunteers, staff, and partners. We take concerns about safety, misconduct, and unethical behavior seriously and are committed to responding appropriately when concerns are raised.
Our Global Safeguarding and Accountability Policy establishes zero tolerance for sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment, and child abuse. We also have measures in place to prevent harm, identify risks, and respond when concerns arise. These standards apply to all CorpsAfrica staff, Volunteers, consultants, contractors, partners, and Board Members, at all times. Anyone, including community members, can raise a concern.
What You Can Report
We encourage you to speak up if you experience, witness, suspect, or become aware of conduct that may put someone at risk or violate CorpsAfrica’s standards.
Concerns may include:
- Sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment
- Child abuse, neglect, or exploitation
- Harassment, bullying, discrimination, or other inappropriate behavior
- Fraud, theft, corruption, or misuse of CorpsAfrica resources
- Unethical conduct or other violations of CorpsAfrica policies
- Any situation that raises concerns about the safety or well-being of a Volunteer, staff member, community member, child, or young person
You do not need to be certain that misconduct has occurred before raising a concern, and you should not investigate the matter yourself. If something does not seem right, you can report it.
How to Report a Concern
Concerns can be reported confidentially to CorpsAfrica through My Compliance Report, an independent reporting service. You may choose to report anonymously. After submitting, you will receive unique code that lets you check the status of your report and respond to follow-up questions without sharing your identity.
Report Safeguarding Concerns
If you have a safeguarding concern, please submit a confidential report through our safeguarding reporting channel.
If you prefer to use email, you can write to safeguarding@corpsafrica.org for safeguarding concerns (monitored by our COO and Regional Directors) or to fwa@corpsafrica.org for concerns about fraud, waste, or misuse of resources (monitored by our CFO and CEO).
Volunteers and staff may also raise concerns with their Country Director, who serves as the Safeguarding Focal Point for their country. If your concern involves a Country Director, Regional Director, or other senior leader, please use My Compliance Report, which is hosted independently.
If someone is in immediate danger, please contact local emergency services or authorities where it is safe and appropriate to do so. You may also report the situation to CorpsAfrica so that appropriate steps can be taken to help protect the person at risk.
What Happens After You Report
When CorpsAfrica receives a report, it is reviewed by designated staff responsible for safeguarding and ethics concerns. We will acknowledge every report within 72 hours and keep you informed of next steps where we are able to.
The response will depend on the nature and severity of the concern. It may include taking immediate steps to protect someone’s safety, gathering additional information, offering support services, conducting an investigation, or referring the matter to appropriate authorities or services. Where a child may have been the victim of a crime, CorpsAfrica will refer the matter to the appropriate authorities.
Our approach is centered on the person who may have experienced harm. Throughout the process, we work to protect those who may be at risk and respect the dignity, privacy, safety, and well-being of everyone involved. We respect their choices about how to proceed, including if they do not wish to make a formal report, and can help connect them with medical, psychosocial, and legal support.
Protecting Confidentiality
We understand that raising a concern can be difficult. Reports will be handled as confidentially as possible, with information shared only with those who need it to assess and respond to the concern. In limited circumstances, we may need to share information without consent, such as when the law requires it (including referring crimes against children to the authorities) or when it is necessary to protect someone from serious harm. Emails to our reporting inboxes are confidential, but not always anonymous. If you prefer not to share your identity, you can report anonymously through My Compliance Report.
Your Right to Speak Up
CorpsAfrica does not tolerate retaliation against anyone who raises a concern in good faith or participates in an investigation. No one should face punishment, intimidation, harassment, or other negative consequences for speaking up. Retaliation is itself a violation of our policy. If you believe you have experienced retaliation, report it through any of the channels above.
Our Commitment to Protecting People from Harm
Safeguarding is a shared responsibility across CorpsAfrica. As a learning organization, we are continually strengthening the systems we use to prevent and respond to harm, including staff and Volunteer training, screening and vetting, community and site risk assessments, clear reporting procedures, and ongoing monitoring and oversight.
We review what we learn from the concerns raised with us and use it to improve these systems as CorpsAfrica grows, so that the communities and people we work alongside are treated with dignity, respect, and care.