International Safeguarding
Conference announces new webinar series
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| A safer Church, webinar series |
The International Safeguarding Conference (ISC) announces a
new webinar series entitled ‘A safer Church’, which will focus on how
safeguarding professionals are reaching out to members of the community,
especially victims.
By Vatican News
In a new series of webinars beginning on 29 May, the
International Safeguarding Conference (ISC) will be encouraging “the Catholic
Church and other faith-based organisations” to “continue with safeguarding
programmes, despite the expected Covid-19 recession”.
ICS annually brings together Church representatives,
professionals and scientific specialists to share knowledge and good practices
on the subject of child protection.
A safer Church
In a press statement released on 26 May, ISC writes that the
upcoming webinar is “the first in a series of webinars” entitled “A Safer
Church”, which aim to enable safeguarding professionals to share good practice
in safeguarding, both in the current pandemic circumstances “and in ‘normal’
times”.
In each webinar, ISC will partner with various safeguarding
experts for a live discussion and a question and answer session.
Economic hardship
The statement continues, saying that due to the “severe
economic hardship” brought by the coronavirus, there has been concern regarding
“potential cuts to safeguarding programmes”.
Among those raising concern is Fr Hans Zollner, a member of
the ISC Steering Committee, who says “Covid-19 presents challenges across the
board for all organisations, including the Church. Church leaders have invested
many resources in safeguarding programmes. As organisations are under pressure,
the temptation may rise to make cuts across the board. But we cannot afford to
treat our investment in child safety as though it was any other social or
educational activity.”
The press statement then notes that “media reports indicate
a rise in violence against children and an increase in domestic violence in
recent weeks”. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has warned that the health
crisis caused by Covid-19 is quickly becoming a child rights crisis, and
safeguarding professionals have expressed concerns that home is not safe for
everyone.
“The first webinar, which will take place on Friday 29 May
at 3pm CEST, will focus on how the Church is meeting its safeguarding
responsibilities during the pandemic and will give particular attention to the
way victims are experiencing this challenging time”, the statement notes.
According to Tina Campbell, another member of the ISC
Steering Committee, “This series of webinars will create a platform for
safeguarding professionals across the globe to benefit and learn from one
another’s expertise and experience. Encouraging dialogue and discourse will
help ensure safeguarding remains on top of the Church’s agenda.”
Professionals interested in joining can register at
bit.ly/RegisterISC1.
About ISC
The ISC Steering Committee offers training and formation to
people working in the area of safeguarding children and vulnerable adults.
ISC’s aim is to keep safeguarding on top of the agenda of organisations and to
ensure that every organisation aims to achieve excellence in its service
delivery to children and vulnerable adults around the world.
The Members of the Steering Committee are: Dr Alessandra
Campo - Network Coordinator, Centre for Child Protection (PUG); Mr Andrew
Azzopardi - Coordinator of the Vatican Safeguarding Taskforce and Head of
Safeguarding Commission, Maltese Ecclesiastical Province; Fr Hans Zollner SJ -
President, Centre for Child Protection (PUG) and Member of the Pontifical
Commission for the Protection of Minors; Mr Simon Davies - Director of
Professional Standards, Society of Jesus (Jesuits) Australia; Ms Tina Campbell
- National Safeguarding Coordinator, Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Scotland.
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