To report a concern: email safeguarding@amarafeeds.org. It reaches our safeguarding lead the same day and you may report anonymously. If a child is in immediate danger, contact local emergency services first.
What we commit to
We don't work with children directly — we make grants to organizations that do. That doesn't reduce our responsibility; it changes where it sits. Our job is to make sure every organization we fund has a policy at least as strong as this one, and to stop funding those that don't.
Images and stories
We do not publish photographs of children anywhere on this website. Where images exist at all — in partner records, or in reporting to a funder who requires them — these rules govern them.
- Informed consent from the child and a guardian before any image or story is used, explained in the child's own language.
- First names only. No school names, no home locations, no detail that could identify a child.
- No images of children in distress, undressed, or visibly malnourished. Hunger photography raises money and costs the child their dignity; we don't trade one for the other.
- Consent can be withdrawn at any time, without a reason, and we remove the material within seven days.
Around food specifically
- No child is made to identify as a recipient in front of classmates. Meals are served to everyone in the school, not only to the children we've flagged as needy.
- Take-home rations go to the household, not to the child, so no kid carries a marked sack home.
- Malnutrition screening happens privately, and results go to a guardian rather than being announced.
Partner requirements
Before a first grant, every partner must have a written child protection policy, a named safeguarding focal point, background checks for all staff in contact with children — including kitchen staff — and a complaints route a child can actually use. These are re-verified annually, not once.
What we don't do
- One-to-one child sponsorship, which singles children out and builds dependence on a stranger.
- Overseas volunteer trips, including short-term mission and teaching trips.
- Orphanage funding. The evidence on institutional care is clear, and we fund family- and community-based alternatives instead.
- Sharing identifiable children's images with corporate partners for advertising.
When something goes wrong
Concerns are logged within twenty-four hours, assessed by the safeguarding lead, and reported to the board and — where required — to the relevant statutory authority in the country concerned. Grants are suspended while an allegation is investigated. The number of concerns raised and how each was resolved is published in the annual review, including the ones that reflect badly on us.
Policy details
Adopted March 2019, last reviewed February 2026, next review February 2027. Owner: Safeguarding Lead. Approved by the board of directors.