Considering safeguarding

Safeguarding is an important feature of approaches across the Strategic Partnerships for Higher Education Innovation and Reform (SPHEIR) programme, which AQHEd-SL is part of. SPHEIR recognises that everyone involved in the programme should be able to do so without risk of sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment.

To help ensure good practices are followed, the AQHEd-SL partners undertook a self-assessment exercise and participated in awareness raising activities run by the SPHEIR team.

Hannah Lewis, Project and MEL Manager, for AQHEd-SL explained:

“Through Assuring Quality Higher Education in Sierra Leone we have been given the opportunity to raise the issue of safeguarding with our partners and explore the services that are available in Sierra Leone should an incident occur. It is vital that local and international development actors alike do everything to ensure that their integrity and trusted position is not compromised. The most important lessons we have learned in this process of improving safeguarding standards, are that we need to meet people where they are at, without assuming knowledge or understanding, and we need to openly discuss areas where cultural norms and safeguarding come into conflict to find acceptable solutions.”

Read more about safeguarding across the programme in this SPHEIR blog post: Working in partnership: how the SPHEIR programme is driving forward the safeguarding agenda.