A recent assessment revealed that humanitarian organizations lack policies and procedures that protect their staff and beneficiaries from harm during the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
According to the assessment results conducted by Siyaj Organization for Child Protection in cooperation with Tamkeen Youth Foundation, aimed at identifying the needs of civil society organizations working in the humanitarian sector in Marib Governorate for “Safeguarding” policies and procedures within the work environment, 93.3% of local humanitarian organizations do not have safeguarding policies and procedures to prevent harm during the provision of humanitarian aid, whether caused by humanitarian workers or beneficiaries. This includes preventing sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment (SEAH), as well as responding to survivors.
The assessment further showed that 84.4% of leaders, employees, and volunteers in these organizations had never received any prior training or awareness on such policies, while 75.6% of institutions lacked mechanisms for receiving reports and investigating violations committed either by staff members or aid beneficiaries.
While 95.6% of respondents confirmed the importance of having and implementing safeguarding policies and procedures, only 6.7% of organizations had conducted safeguarding risk analyses. Additionally, 100% of respondents from participating organizations confirmed their institutions’ need to develop safeguarding policies and procedures.
The assessment concluded that these findings expose humanitarian workers, beneficiaries, and local institutions to risks of SEAH violations and their serious consequences, particularly among vulnerable groups such as women, girls, and children. In a conservative environment such as this, the absence of such policies and adequate awareness deprives a large number of girls of opportunities to participate in humanitarian work, further increasing their suffering, especially as many women and girls have become family breadwinners due to the loss of providers caused by armed conflicts.
A total of 45 senior leaders and executive management representatives from local organizations in Marib Governorate participated in the assessment survey, including 31% women. The assessment is the result of a partnership between Siyaj Organization and the Resource & Support Hub for Safeguarding in the Middle East and North Africa (RSH), within the framework of the institutional capacity-building program for local and national organizations specialized in protecting and promoting the rights of children and women to strengthen preventive and comprehensive child protection.
