Our Childcare Policies
At African Impact, we firmly believe it is our responsibility to safeguard children’s well-being across Africa. We’ve developed a strict set of guidelines, including our stance on orphanage volunteering and our Child Protection Policy, which outlines how we hold ourselves accountable to this responsibility in clear language.
Child Protection Policy
Developed with the African Impact Foundation and non-profit organization, Keeping Children Safe, our Child Protection Policy is a comprehensive document that describes the firm policies all African Impact staff, volunteers, and partners must adhere to when working with children. Within this document are strict requirements that volunteers must follow before, during and after their projects, including completing a criminal records check, sustaining safe interactions with children, and abstaining from violating children’s privacy through pictures, videos and other media.
Our stance on orphanage volunteering
In addition to our Child Protection Policy, African Impact has developed a firm stance on orphanage volunteering. Orphanages are a deeply nuanced issue in Africa, with many of these institutions devastatingly exploiting children for economic gain. As a volunteer organization, we do not work with orphanages and have no affiliation with this type of institution.
However, there are still 52 million orphaned children in Africa who are not receiving the education, support or permanent families they need. At African Impact, our mission is to positively improve children’s lives in local communities in positive, secure and long-term ways. Understanding this issue’s complexities, we continue to work with orphaned children in reputable child and foster care settings, ONLY if these institutions’ long-term aim is to place children in safe and permanent family settings.
This description of our stance on orphanage volunteering is brief and barely scratches the surface of our response to this complex issue. You can learn more about our position on Orphanage Volunteering by clicking here.
Being a responsible traveler
When researching credible and responsible volunteer organizations, it’s essential to clearly understand how they put the local community’s safety and needs first. If you are considering volunteering with children, please take the time to learn about what policies the organization has put in place to protect local children and communities’ privacy and safety.
Responsible volunteering is at the heart of what we do and something we do not take lightly. If you have any questions regarding our stance on Responsible Volunteering or our Childcare Policies, please contact us. We would love to discuss any questions you may have!