Safeguarding
Social Development Direct are market leaders in providing safeguarding technical services.
We have experience working with diverse clients, from development finance institutions and private sector companies to UN agencies and NGOs, universities, foundations and government bodies.
We are committed to helping organisations prevent and respond to exploitation, abuse, harassment and all forms of harm.
We are proud that the flagship Safeguarding Resource and Support Hub is part of our portfolio of work.

What is safeguarding?
Safeguarding is about keeping staff, contractors, partners, clients and community members safe in humanitarian, development and peace settings. It means putting in place policies and procedures across organisations to prevent and respond to staff misconduct including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment or other harms such as bullying.
Uneven power dynamics - like those seen in the development and humanitarian aid sector, and in private sector supply chains – increase the risk of harm and exploitation. The more vulnerable staff and community members are, the more likely they are to be exploited, abused, harassed, or otherwise harmed. When organisations’ safeguarding measures fall short and misconduct occurs, projects, relationships and already made gains can be jeopardised and community tensions can increase.
Our work in this area
Our dedicated team of global safeguarding professionals ensure that our clients receive the highest level of technical advice and support. We start our work from wherever our client is on their safeguarding journey. We take the time to understand the organisation so we can provide support that is contextually relevant, responds to real needs and leads to success in safeguarding. We offer an explicitly intersectional feminist approach to safeguarding – in particular on the intersections of gender, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression (SOGIE), and disability.
We can support you with:
-
Safeguarding policies, procedures, models and systems
-
Safeguarding knowledge building, including with tools, guidelines, training, and coaching on safeguarding.
-
Research and learning on what works in different contexts and for different organisations.
-
Incident case handling and investigation advice.
-
Monitoring, evaluation and learning of safeguarding efforts.
-
Safeguarding audits and self-assessment support. Click here to read more about our Safeguarding Framework for Organisations.
-
Mainstreaming safeguarding into existing or new programmes, consortia and sectors in development, humanitarian and peacekeeping settings.
Our thematic areas include:
-
Safeguarding against Sexual Exploitation Abuse and Harassment (SEAH)
-
Child safeguarding
-
Bullying and (non-sexual) harassment
-
Safeguarding in humanitarian contexts
-
Integrating safeguarding into high-risk projects
-
Digital safeguarding
-
Case handling and investigations
-
Safe research, monitoring and evaluation
We also conduct a lot of work to support organisations with their internal safeguarding policies and procedures. The outputs of these are often confidential. Here are a few examples of projects we’ve worked on recently:
-
Developed a global policy and Standard Operating Procedures on safeguarding for a bilateral donor.
-
Conducted an evaluation of a large international organisation’s safeguarding practices within human resources.
-
Conducted an audit of the safeguarding systems in place across different organisations working within a consortium in Ghana. Following the audit, we provided a range of technical tools and a series of trainings for consortia members on the core gaps identified in the audit.
-
Supported a bilateral donor’s head office to roll out safeguarding policy and procedures in country offices. We delivered a number of central guidance products including and supported three country offices with using of a diagnostic tool and develop an action plan and delivered training including on case management.
-
Provided technical advice to mainstream safeguarding into a range of large development programmes, including evaluations and climate programmes.
If you would like to hear more about our work on Safeguarding (SG), please reach out to Anna Gawn, Head of Safeguarding Portfolio, anna.gawn@sddirect.org.uk.
Supporting Companies to Develop and Manage Community-Based Grievance and Feedback Mechanisms Regarding Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment
SDDirect was contracted by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to support companies to better manage the risk of SEAH in their operations. A company self-assessment tool previously developed by SDDirect with IFC in 2021 was piloted with a small number of companies alongside the development of a toolkit for private sector companies to develop and manage community-based Grievance and Feedback Mechanisms Regarding Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (SEAH).
Child safeguarding in emergencies guidance series
This series of tip sheets that have been designed to help civil society organisations (CSOs) implement child safeguarding practices in emergency contexts. It is a three-part series helping CSOs to focus on:
What’s next for safeguarding against SEAH? – The importance of civil society organisations' engagement in shaping sustainable solutions: A Conference for CSOs
This online conference was arranged by RSH to inspire reflection, foster collaboration, and set the stage for continued advocacy in advancing the PSEAH (Protection from Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Sexual Harassment) agenda. It brought together civil society organisations (CSOs), thought leaders, sector experts and donors to shape the future of safeguarding against Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Sexual Harassment (SEAH) in the humanitarian and development sectors.
Pocket guide: Safeguarding people with disabilities in civil society organisation (CSO) programmes in Bangladesh
This pocket guide has been developed to support CSOs in Bangladesh to safeguard people with disabilities. It is a contextualised version of a global guidance note on disability-inclusive safeguarding practices.
Assessing and managing SEAH risks while working in informal camp settlements in Pakistan
This how-to note provides a comprehensive guide on assessing and managing Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Sexual Harassment (SEAH) risks in informal camp settings in Pakistan during humanitarian and emergency response. SEAH risks are often higher in informal camps than in formal ones due to the lack of structured oversight, secure infrastructure or established protections. Informal camps typically do not have organised management, leading to unregulated access to services and creating dependency on those in control, which can be exploited.
Pagination
- Page 1
- Next page
Meet the Safeguarding Team
Our work in this area
- The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC) was launched in 2012 as a 12-year commitment to reach the most marginalised girls in the world. Working across 41 projects delivered by over 30 implementing partners in 17 countries, the GEC is the largest…
- We are experts in integrating gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI) and safeguarding into climate finance, including the Voluntary Carbon Market.
- SDDirect was contracted by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to help companies manage Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (SEAH) risks. We piloted a self-assessment tool with select companies and developed a toolkit to support Community-Based Grievance and Feedback Mechanisms.
- Propcom+ aims to support the transformation of Nigeria’s rural economy by addressing environmental, social, and economic challenges in the country’s food and land-use system. Propcom+ works with a diverse range of private sector partners to achieve these objectives. Social Development Direct has…
- SDDirect has partnered with leading DFIs to deliver a series of two-day trainings on addressing gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) in the workplace. The trainings are being delivered to diverse private sector organisations across 13 country settings and in three languages (English, French…
- The “Supporting Survivors of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Sexual harassment (SEAH) programme”, also known as “S2S” has been implemented in Malawi from November 2022 to July 2024, and has supported 1,073 survivors of violence. SDDirect led the programme in partnership with three Women’s Rights…
- SDDirect are the GEDSI and MEL leads for the CLEAN Helpdesk, which provides technical assistance to support FCDO, and other government departments spending ODA, to deliver the UK’s ambition to tackle climate change and reverse biodiversity loss.
- SDDirect is the technical lead on the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) safeguarding flagship programme – RSH. SDDirect, together with partners, support smaller, local civil society organisations in developing countries who deliver international aid to strengthen their safeguarding…
- European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and CDC Group Plc jointly commissioned SDDirect to develop guidance for the private sector on addressing gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH), from 2019 to 2020.
- SDDirect provided Defra with a Social Development Advisor, supported by a senior safeguarding specialist and a gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI) specialist. This assignment supported Defra to mainstream the rights and needs of women and girls, Indigenous Peoples, and minority…