Safeguarding refers to protecting the people who are intended to benefit from our work and the people who work in our sector from harm, especially from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEAH). SEAH violates the rights and well-being of survivors/victims, and it represents a grave breach of Unitaid’s values. Unitaid has zero tolerance for any form of SEAH and inaction against SEAH in the projects that it funds. Unitaid also has zero tolerance for retaliation against anyone who makes a report of SEAH or any witness in relation to cases of SEAH.
Unitaid is committed to working with all our partners, including grantees and other recipients of Unitaid funding, to improve safeguarding standards and practices across the global public health response. Unitaid, our grantees and other third-party organizations receiving Unitaid funds indirectly all have a safeguarding duty of care toward our workforces and to the people we are helping in our projects. Individuals within organizations also have the responsibility not to engage in SEAH, to speak out against SEAH and to act swiftly to report any safeguarding concerns.
Recipients of Unitaid funding have a responsibility to take all reasonable measures to prevent SEAH and to respond quickly and appropriately if they become aware of any possible incidents of SEAH. Organizations’ response and support mechanisms are expected to be survivor/victim-centered, meaning they take into account the rights, needs and wishes of survivors/victims.
Unitaid requires that all organizations meet a number of minimum standards relating to preventing and responding to SEAH. These standards include:
Unitaid considers the above as part of our capacity assessments of grantees and we regularly assess risks relating to safeguarding in a project as part of project risk management. We also monitor compliance with applicable Unitaid guidance and policies through our grantee reporting requirements.
Unitaid’s Guidelines on the Prevention, Reporting and Management of Wrongdoing provides guidance with respect to a range of misconduct and dishonest behaviour falling within the definition of wrongdoing, including SEAH. The supplemental annex, Safeguarding, provides additional information concerning Unitaid’s expectations and requirements on safeguarding. Both documents may be found below in English and French (coming soon).
Individuals pay an important role in the prevention and response to SEAH. Please alert us immediately if you believe that wrongdoing has occurred or is occurring within a Unitaid-funded project. A permanent hotline, the Integrity Hotline, has been established to make it easier for you to come forward and report your concerns. If you prefer, you may make a report anonymously.
Your help in identifying and reporting any incident of SEAH is very important to us and is vital to ensuring that we respond quickly and appropriately to SEAH.
Please use the following link for more information about reporting: Report fraud or abuse
Please use this link to access the Integrity Hotline: Integrity Hotline
