Building Organisational Capability To Safeguard Against Sexual Exploitation And Abuse And Sexual Harassment

Building organisational capability to safeguard against sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment is a new flagship programme under the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's (FCDO) safeguarding portfolio.

It will provide up to £20m over 5 years across multiple countries, with the aim of building organisational capability in the international aid sector and strengthening safeguards against sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment (SEAH). Key priorities are (i) to supporting organisations in the sector to reach international SEAH safeguarding standards through a direct capability-building programme with a focus on less-resourced organisations and (ii) to invest in pioneering capability-building initiatives to drive up prevention and response practices and standards through a dedicated capability fund.

This programme will seek to address capability and evidence gaps through the following target long-term outcomes:

• Improved and sustainable capacity and capability to effectively hardwire safeguarding SEAH within organisations, contributing to a shift in organisational culture and strengthened accountability.
• Widespread, rooted endorsement of SEAH safeguarding (at both international and local scale) beyond ‘donor compliance’, with networks across the sector engaging in more inclusive dialogue, strengthening shared learning on what works to prevent and response to SEAH in different contexts.
• Contextualised and accessible evidence and learning on what works on building organisational capability and to prevent and respond to SEAH in the sector, which contributes to a strengthened regional and global knowledge and evidence base.

This will be delivered through two components:

• Component 1: Build the safeguarding capability of organisations across the international aid sector
• Component 2: Supporting best-practice capability-building initiatives that aim to improve prevention and response practices and standards

It is expected that component 1 will be delivered by one lead supplier who will sub-contract, whilst component 2 will be delivered through funding multiple initiatives via a combination of lead supplier overseeing partners/ sole suppliers directly managed by the FCDO. The programme will start in 2024.