The aim of this child protection policy is to define the guidelines and the procedures of the child protection policy of Contextos at the internal level, according to its organic structure and within the scope of its activities.
For this purpose, the definition of “child” corresponds to that established by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child – “a child means every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier“.
By defining a child protection policy, Contextos commits to promote the rights of the child in all actions and projects in which it is involved.
Contextos commits to respect and guarantee the rights foreseen in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, approved by the United Nations in 1989 and ratified by Portugal on September 12, 1990, as well as those foreseen in the Portuguese Constitution and in the Law of Protection of Children and Young People in Danger, i.e., Law nr. 149/99, of September 1 and corresponding amendments.
As such, Contextos commits to:
This Child Protection Policy establishes the principles and defines the procedures that all employees of Contextos, of partner institutions, trainees and/or volunteers are obliged to comply with.
Contextos is oriented by intervention guiding principles set forth by Article 4 of the Law of Protection of Children and Young People in Danger, namely:
a) The best interest of the child – the intervention shall consider primarily the interests and rights of the child;
b) Privacy – the promotion of the rights and the protection of the child shall take place in full re- spect for the child’s intimacy, right to image and right to private life;
c) Early intervention – the intervention shall take place as soon as the situation of danger is known;
d) Minimum intervention – the intervention shall be carried out exclusively by the entities and institutions whose action is paramount to the effective promotion of the rights and the protection of the child in danger;
e) Proportionality and up-to-dateness – the intervention shall be carried out in accordance with the necessary and adequate terms, appropriate to the situation of danger in which the child is in at the moment the decision is made. The intervention can only interfere in the child’s life and in that of the corresponding family in the strictly necessary terms adopted for that purpose;
f) Parental responsibility – the intervention shall be carried out to allow parents to assume their obligations towards the child;
g) Obligation to inform – the child, the parents, the child’s legal representative or the child’s legal guardian have the right to be informed of their rights, of the reasons that determined the intervention and how the intervention is carried out;
and
h) Participation and the obligation to hear – the child – separately or accompanied by the par- ents or by a person of his/her choice –, the parents, the child’s legal representative or the child’s legal guardian have the right to be heard and to participate in the actions and in the definition of the measure of protection and promotion of the rights.
The Child Protection Policy of Contextos aims at:
a) Ensuring that all employees, trainees and volunteers are clearly informed about the Child Protection Policy of Contextos;
b) Ensuring that all employees, trainees and volunteers adopt work procedures and methodologies in line with the mission, values and principles of the Contextos;
c) Ensuring that all employees, trainees and volunteers working at Contextos adopt work procedures and methodologies that promote the empowerment of children;
d) Ensuring that Contextos respects the rights and principles established in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well national and international recommendations, instruments and guidelines produced within this scope;
e) Ensuring that Contextos complies with the protection measures set forth in Article 5 of the Council of Europe Convention against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, pursuant to Law nr. 113/2009, of September 17; and
f) Ensuring that all employees, trainees and volunteers working at Contextos have adequate training opportunities, as well as opportunities to develop competences in the context of the rights of the child.
Contextos is responsible for:
a) Respecting and promoting the rights of the child as of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child;
b) Implementing the Child Protection Policy;
c) Disseminating the Child Protection Policy of Contextos to partner institutions;
d) Ensuring that all employees, trainees and volunteers working at Contextos are acquainted with its Child Protection Policy;
e) Having updated information on data protection, confidentiality, information sharing and other matters of legal nature that may cause impact on child protection;
f) Having information specifically addressed to children on their rights;
g) Recruiting, training, supporting and supervising its employees, trainees and volunteers according to the principles of child protection and of the promotion of the rights of the child;
h) Requiring its employees and volunteers to adopt Child Protection Policy of Contextos and act accordingly with it;
i) Guaranteeing complaint procedures that are accessible to children;
j) Designating the person in charge of monitoring the implementation of the Child Protection Policy of Contextos, to whom the following responsibilities are assigned:
This Child Protection Policy establishes the principles and defines the procedures that all employees of Contextos, of partner institutions, trainees and/or volunteers are obliged to comply with.
The employees, trainees and volunteers of Contextos are responsible for adopting the adequate procedures to protect and promote the rights of the child, pursuant to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and in full compliance with the guiding principles of the Child Protection Policy of Contextos.
Pursuant to Law nr. 113/2009, of September 17, it is incumbent upon Contextos to assess the reliability of the applicant to the duties to be performed.
The partnerships with individuals or other – procured or outsourced – institutions or entities – cannot collide with the scope or with the principles of the Child Protection Policy of Contextos.
Contextos promotes the dissemination of the Child Protection Policy through its internal communication channels, with a view to duly implement it.
The employees, trainees and volunteers working at Contextos is subject to a code of conduct that promotes the respect for the rights of the child and ensures the effective implementation of the guiding principles defined in the Child Protection Policy of Contextos.
As such, the employees, trainees and volunteers working at `Contextos have the duty to:
a) Guarantee all children the rights foreseen in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child’s or his or her parent’s or legal guardian’s race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status;
b) Communicate any concerns, suspicions or situations of violation of the rights and principles enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child;
c) Disclose not personal data of children, while making mandatory that a declaration of consent and confidentiality is signed whenever collecting personal data of children is deemed necessary;
d) Cooperate not with institutions and entities that act against the best interests of the child;
e) Use or adopt not inappropriate, disrespectful or harmful language or behaviour;
and
f) Use not information or images of children without the written consent of the respective parents, legal representative or legal guardian, in case of children aged below 18. The formal consent of the child shall be also expressed in case of children aged, at least, 12 or above.
Contextos, along with the person who is responsible for the Child Protection Policy, carries out a review of the Child Protection Policy whenever relevant legal amendments occur or whenever the monitoring of its implementation recommends so.
