Project: Safeguarding Systems Initiative

P503 - Safeguarding Systems Initiative is a central PHC Project supporting Save the Child Diamond Foundation in Nigeria covering initially both Enugu State and Cross River State. The initiative responds to the urgent need for stronger child protection systems in schools and communities, particularly around sexual exploitation, molestation, abuse, incest, violence and early sexual exposure.

Led by Engr. Lemi Jonathan Agbor, STCDF has a grassroots track record dating back to 2011 and formal registration from 2025. The project is designed as a scalable safeguarding model, initially focused on secondary schools and frontline educators in Enugu and Cross River States, with future regional sub-projects across Nigeria and beyond.

The current position is that STCDF has mission credibility, local trust, school outreach experience and a clear safeguarding purpose, but the delivery model still needs stronger system definition.

Existing activity includes weekly rescue mission outreaches, advocacy, community mobilisation, parent awareness and survivor support.

The target position is a proactive safeguarding system implementing STCDF's proprietary "Correcting the Errors" framework alongside PHC monitoring, to address systemic silence. Utilising trained teachers, informed parents, confidential student reporting, secure case handling, survivor referral pathways and measurable follow-up.

The gap is therefore not mainly intent; it is operational structure, funding, equipment, named roles, safeguarding workflows, data protection controls, kiosk implementation design and evidence-based reporting.

The operating opportunity is to convert STCDF’s grassroots child protection work into a structured, fundable and repeatable safeguarding system with integrated the STCDF proprietary "Correcting the Errors" framework. By combining teacher training, parent/caregiver education, student awareness, anonymous Human Rights Kiosks and PHC-style monitoring, the project can become a practical model for school-based child protection.

The first opportunity is Enugu State and Cross River State, with scope to train 3,000 secondary school teachers across 17 LGAs. Once proven through pilot schools, the model can be rolled out regionally as sub-projects, allowing each location to retain local ownership while using a common safeguarding, reporting and governance structure.

The project solves the problem of systemic structural silence in child protection. Many children experiencing abuse, exploitation or unsafe exposure have no confidential route to speak, no assurance that they will be believed and no safe pathway from disclosure to protection.

Teachers often lack diagnostic tools for recognising early behavioural warning signs, while parents may not know how to detect or respond to abuse risks.

The initiative addresses this by strengthening prevention, early identification, anonymous reporting, trauma-aware response, referral and follow-up, so that child protection moves from crisis reaction to proactive safeguarding.

Investment in the Safeguarding Systems Initiative should be phased, evidence-led and tied to measurable safeguarding outputs. Initial funding should support a practical pilot: governance setup, service pathway definition, teacher training, parent education, equipment, secure records, basic staffing, transport, reporting and kiosk feasibility or deployment.

Further investment should depend on evidence from pilot delivery, including number of schools reached, teachers trained, reports received, cases triaged, referrals made and follow-ups completed. The logic is that relatively modest investment in prevention, early reporting and structured response can reduce deeper trauma, hidden abuse and costly late-stage crisis intervention.

Expected benefits include safer schools, better-informed teachers, more vigilant parents, improved student confidence to report concerns, earlier identification of abuse risks and stronger survivor support.

Schools benefit from clearer safeguarding workflows and reduced dependence on informal or delayed responses. Communities benefit from greater awareness and reduced silence around abuse. Donors and partners benefit from visible governance evidence, monthly reporting and measurable outcomes.

Longer term, the project can create a replicable model for child safeguarding across Enugu and River States, wider Nigeria and other regions where children face similar risks but lack safe reporting structures.

Detailed costs are not yet available and must be developed through discussion within STCDF. Likely resource needs include project coordination, safeguarding/case management support, outreach and training staff, admin/data/finance support, transport, airtime, internet, printing, training materials, secure records storage, laptop, phone, printer/scanner, backup power and workspace.

The Human Rights Kiosk element will require separate costing for design, equipment, installation, security, maintenance, data handling and escalation. A phased budget should be created for one month, six months and twelve months, separating pilot costs from full 17-LGA roll-out costs.

Governance support is essential because this project deals with children, sexual abuse, survivor trauma, confidential reporting and potentially dangerous allegations. Good intentions are not enough; mishandled reports, weak confidentiality, unclear escalation or poor records could create additional harm.

PHC governance support can help define Concerns, Actions, People, Events and Deliverables; create service pathways; track risks; protect sensitive data; produce funder evidence; and ensure that expansion does not outrun safeguarding capacity. Governance also helps convert a powerful humanitarian mission into a controlled, credible and fundable operating model.

The recommendation is to proceed with P503 as the central PHC Project for the Safeguarding Systems Initiative, using it to develop a controlled pilot before wider regional roll-out. The immediate next step should be a structured PHC review to confirm registration details, team roles, current equipment, funding position, safeguarding rules, service pathways, partner commitments, data handling and pilot-school readiness.

A first pilot should then be costed and packaged for grant, CSR or strategic partner support. The pilot positioning is intended to leverage our existing institutional partnerships and frameworks with the Enugu State Ministry of Education and the Post Primary Schools Management Board (PPSMB).

The project should avoid over-scaling too early and instead prove the model through documented, safe and measurable delivery.