Rationale for the Adult Safeguarding Charter.
Respecting Human Rights.
Introduction
Adult safeguarding is the promotion and protection of the right to live in safety. It is about people and organisations working together to prevent and stop both the risks and experiences of abuse, neglect and exploitation.
Safeguarding Ireland is an independent organisation, registered with both the Companies Registration Office and the Charities Regulatory Authority. Its main objective is to promote safeguarding of adults who may be vulnerable, protect them from all forms of abuse by persons, organisations and institutions and develop a national plan for promoting their welfare. This is achieved by promoting inter-sectoral collaboration, developing public and professional awareness and education, and undertaking research to inform policy, practice and legislation in the Republic of Ireland.
As part of its commitment to respecting and promoting the human rights of all people in Ireland, Safeguarding Ireland has developed this Adult Safeguarding Charter that outlines its partner organisations’ commitment to adult safeguarding..
This voluntary Charter sets out how organisations, across a wide range of sectors, promote a culture that seeks to uphold the rights and freedoms of all people who engage with their organisations, regardless of age, race and ethnicity, religion or none, sexual orientation, gender, socioeconomic group, disability, or status of residency.
This Charter aims to promote a raised awareness of Adult Safeguarding and progressive realisation of the human rights of all people by all of its signatories.
The Charter will act as a visible manifestation of each organisation’s statement of intent to adult safeguarding and can be displayed by the organisation in its premises and on its website. The Charter is available in an accessible format and organisations can download the standard version or accessible version, or both.
The Adult Safeguarding Charter
The Adult Safeguarding Charter is voluntary and while it indicates a range of commitments to a series of principles and actions, it is Safeguarding Ireland’s intention that the Charter will evolve over time as Government policy and legislation evolves in the areas of human rights and adult safeguarding. For this reason, Safeguarding Ireland will review the nature, principles and requirements underpinning this Charter annually. The Charter fully recognises the differences in organisations and the sectors that they operate in and is in no way prescriptive or seeks to restrict development and innovation in the way it promotes Human Rights and adult safeguarding.
Checklist
In signing up to this Charter, Organisations should self-assess against the following principles/actions:
- The organisation has a culture that explicitly promotes the human rights and freedoms of all people who engage with its services; that this is reflected in its own values, corporate and business plans.
- The organisation periodically assesses its own compliance with, and commitment to, relevant legislation and relevant conventions. This Charter is voluntary and does not replace, nor should be regarded as replacing, any organisation’s statutory or legal obligations.
- The organisation recognises, at all levels, what safeguarding is and has in place policies and procedures relevant to the promotion of rights and, more specifically, adult safeguarding.
- The organisation seeks to support staff in the implementation of the Charter through training or other means; including when and how to report a safeguarding concern. Organisations should ensure that those delivering training are competent to do so and may wish to involve service users or people with lived experience in developing and delivering training.
Register and Review
Safeguarding Ireland will develop and maintain a register of signatory organisations and will publish the register here. The Charter and register will be subject to review.
Note: This charter does not infer any oversight or assurance of the legal or governance responsibilities as they relate to adult or child safeguarding of the signing organisation by Safeguarding Ireland. It should be noted that all signing organisations retain full responsibility to comply with relevant legislation and codes of practice as they relate to safeguarding.
