CHADET works with various groups of vulnerable children including children who live and work on the streets, children on the move and those at risk of migration, children exposed to violence, abuse and exploitation; orphan children; children passing through the legal system; children overburdened by exploitative labour, children under the influence of harmful cultural and social practices. It has developed a safeguarding policy that encompass the philosophies, policies, standards, guidelines and procedures to protect children and vulnerable adults and steps to promote their wellbeing. All its workers, contractors and visitors who have a chance to work for the organization or get in contact with children under its programs are expected to observe the policy. CHADET has cascaded its protection policy to all its stakeholders, including Community Care Coalitions, teachers, police officers and community members. It has also established a system that enables children to report any form of harm in their home, on their way to and from school and inside their schools. In order to encourage children to report cases of any forms of abuse anonymously, CHADET has placed letter link boxes in the premises of primary and secondary schools and cases are referred to relevant institutions as appropriate. CHADET ensures that gender, inclusion and participation are central to its work.

CHADET has developed and implemented projects that were designed to address the exposure of children to Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (SEAH), children at risk of migration, orphans, street-connected and children in contact with the law. Children are actively participating in the design, monitoring and evaluation of its projects. Hence, it has been actively working with local communities to enhance awareness about the importance of valuing children’s ideas on matters affecting their lives and their future.

Beyond what it does for the safeguarding of children as a child-focused organisation, with the financial and technical support that it obtained from The British Council under the CSSP2 program, CHADET was able to build capacities of 44 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) located in five regions (Somali, Benishangul, SNPPR, Amhara, Gambella and Addis Ababa) to strengthen capacities of other CSOs, to develop and/or strengthen their capacities to put in place a functional safeguarding policy and procedure to ensure the safety of children and adults at risk under their programs and offer referral linkages with service providers for victims of violence. This has been made possible through the provision of a series of training programs for safeguarding focal points of the respective organisations and consultations made with senior management and responsible staffs within the organisations through imparting useful knowledge and skills around safe programming and recruitment as well as case management and investigation procedures. Moreover, mentoring and coaching services were provided to the CSOs by CHADET’s safeguarding coordinator which, in turn, enabled the CSOs to develop an organizational culture where the management, staff members, contractors and partners working for the CSOs maintain shared values and develop the right behaviour towards the safeguarding of children and adults who are participating in their programs. Some CSOs were able to establish community- based safeguarding mechanisms through assigning watchdogs to report cases of abuse and disseminating information using local languages. Most of the CSOs that have been participating in the program were able to translate their safeguarding policies into local languages and familiarize them with their stakeholders.

Having realized the complex and diverse nature of the causes of children’s vulnerabilities, which are embedded in structural systems of the country as well as international economic, social, and political orders and require a multi-faceted effort by different stakeholders, in consultation with like-minded CSOs and support from The Eastern Africa Child Rights Network (EACRN), Save the Children and Plan International, CHADET has recently initiated the establishment of a Child Rights Advocacy Network to address the fundamental problems of vulnerable children and young people in Ethiopia.