Project: Safeguarding Systems Initiative

P503 - Safeguarding Systems Initiative is a central PHC Project supporting Save the Child Diamond Foundation (STCDF), based in Enugu State, Nigeria. The project is led by Engr. Lemi Jonathan Agbor, Director / Executive Director, and is designed to strengthen child safeguarding systems in secondary schools and surrounding communities. Its core purpose is to move child protection from reactive crisis response to proactive prevention, early detection, confidential reporting and structured follow-up. The initiative will serve as a parent project from which regional roll-out sub-projects can be created across Enugu State, wider Nigeria and potentially other countries or continents.

STCDF already has a strong mission foundation and practical grassroots experience in child protection, including weekly secondary school rescue mission outreaches, advocacy activity, community mobilisation, parent/caregiver awareness and survivor support. The organisation focuses on protecting children from early sexual exposure, exploitation, molestation, abuse and incest, while helping survivors overcome childhood trauma. The current service position is credible but still appears partly informal and founder-led. The project has clear service intent, but needs stronger definition of service pathways, case handling, reporting channels, referral partners, service indicators and the minimum monthly service package that can be delivered reliably.

The future vision is a scalable safeguarding service model that can be deployed across schools, communities and regions. The service will include teacher safeguarding training, parent PROTECTOR education, student safe-touch and online danger awareness, confidential reporting through Human Rights Kiosks, survivor referral support, advocacy networks and structured PHC monitoring. The project should become a repeatable safeguarding system, not just an awareness campaign. Each school or region should be able to adopt the core model, adapt it to local conditions and report activity through consistent PHC registers for Concerns, Actions, People, Events and Deliverables.

The first step is to define the minimum service package and convert current activities into repeatable service pathways. This should include school outreach, parent education, teacher training, anonymous reporting, triage, referral, follow-up and monthly reporting. A pilot should be selected with a small number of schools before scaling across all 17 LGAs. Each service should have simple indicators: people reached, teachers trained, reports received, cases triaged, referrals made and follow-ups completed. PHC should then create service templates, case workflow controls, safeguarding rules and sub-project structures for each regional roll-out.

The project is based in Enugu State, but the current premises and equipment position has not yet been fully confirmed. At minimum, the project has a working contact route through Engr. Lemi Jonathan Agbor, but the availability of laptops, printers, secure storage, internet access, transport, office space and backup power still needs to be documented. This is a significant operational gap because safeguarding work depends on confidentiality, reliable communication, controlled data handling and the ability to produce training materials and reports. The present equipment position should therefore be treated as unverified until a practical asset audit is completed.

The future vision is a secure and functional operating base capable of supporting confidential safeguarding coordination, school outreach preparation, training delivery, case records, reporting and partner meetings. The project should have reliable phone and internet access, laptop or desktop capability, printer/scanner, lockable records storage, backup power, secure digital storage and transport support. For the kiosk pillar, the project will also need secure reporting terminals, installation support, maintenance procedures, data protection rules and a safe channel for reports to reach authorised safeguarding personnel without local interference or retaliation risk.

The immediate path is to complete a premises and equipment audit, separating what exists, what works reliably, what is shared or borrowed, and what is missing. A basic starter kit should then be defined: phone, laptop, printer/scanner, lockable cabinet, internet router, backup power and secure digital storage. Responsibility for each asset should be assigned to a named custodian. For Human Rights Kiosks, the project should begin with a technical and safeguarding design review before procurement, ensuring that anonymity, access control, maintenance, escalation and data protection are solved before physical deployment.

The confirmed key person is Engr. Lemi Jonathan Agbor, who brings leadership, engineering, IT, education, public speaking, writing and project development experience. STCDF also has a history of grassroots action and local partnership, suggesting some community support and outreach capability. However, the active weekly team, named roles, volunteer structure, safeguarding lead, finance/admin support and specialist case-management capacity are not yet fully documented. This creates a founder-dependency risk. The project has passion and credibility, but now needs clearer role structure, accountability and trained safeguarding capacity.

The people vision is a trained, role-based safeguarding team capable of operating beyond the founder. The core team should include a project lead, safeguarding/case management lead, training and outreach coordinator, admin/data officer, finance officer, volunteer coordinator, partner liaison and technical support for reporting systems. Volunteers and school contacts should be screened, trained and supervised. Teachers should become part of the wider safeguarding capacity through structured training. The project should eventually support regional sub-project teams, each using the same safeguarding principles, PHC reporting structure and escalation discipline.

The first action is to create a people register showing active contributors, roles, skills, weekly availability and gaps. The project should appoint a safeguarding lead and define authority lines for case handling, data access, finance and outreach. Volunteer rules should be written before scaling, including screening, supervision, conduct and confidentiality. Training priorities should include safeguarding, trauma-informed response, mandatory reporting, data handling, case management, fundraising and PHC reporting. If funding becomes available, the first paid roles should be safeguarding/case management, outreach/training coordination and admin/data/finance support.

The current finance position is not yet quantified. The project narrative indicates long-term grassroots effort and local resourcefulness, but no confirmed monthly income, fixed costs, bank details, budget, reserves or funding history have yet been captured. STCDF is open to strategic partnerships, grant funding and CSR collaboration, but funder confidence will depend on clearer financial governance. The current weakness is not the mission; it is the absence of visible budget structure, costed implementation stages, spending records, financial controls and proof that funds can be tracked safely.

The finance vision is a transparent, funder-ready model that can support pilot delivery, school roll-out and regional replication. The project should have a clear 12-month budget, phased pilot costs, equipment costs, staff and volunteer support costs, training costs, transport costs, survivor support/referral provision, kiosk deployment costs and reporting costs. Donors should be able to see how money moves from funding to activity to evidence. Good governance proof should include receipts, monthly reports, budget-vs-actual summaries, asset registers, attendance records, anonymised service statistics and PHC-tracked Actions and Deliverables.

The path starts with a simple financial baseline: current income, current costs, existing assets, unpaid needs and emergency cost categories. A starter budget should then be created for one month, six months and twelve months. Costs should be split into core coordination, outreach, training, equipment, transport, survivor support, reporting and kiosk infrastructure. The project should confirm whether it has an organisation bank account and who controls records. PHC should then support grant/CSR proposals by linking each funding request to clear outputs, receipts, monthly evidence and governance controls.

The current marketing position has strong emotional substance but needs sharper structure. The project has a compelling mission around protecting children, empowering parents as PROTECTORS and ending silence around abuse. Lemi has a public professional profile and STCDF has a visible identity, but available marketing assets such as photos, videos, testimonials, case stories, partner letters, website links and donor packs have not yet been fully confirmed. The message is powerful, but it must be handled carefully because child protection content can easily become too emotional, too general or unsafe if identities and trauma details are not protected.

The future marketing vision is a credible safeguarding movement that speaks clearly to donors, schools, parents, government, CSR partners and communities without exposing children or survivors. The central message should be that SSI builds proactive school safeguarding systems, not just awareness events. Marketing should show activity, trust, reach, teacher training, parent engagement, anonymous reporting infrastructure and governance evidence. Each regional sub-project should have a consistent message, localised proof and safe monthly updates. The brand should become associated with practical protection, confidential reporting, accountable follow-up and scalable child safeguarding infrastructure.

The first step is to create a small communication pack: one-page project summary, donor message, beneficiary message, school message, partner message, safe photo policy, anonymised case-story policy and monthly impact template. The project should collect existing assets, confirm what can be published, and avoid any content that exposes children, survivors or sensitive locations. Monthly proof should focus on safe indicators: schools reached, teachers trained, parents engaged, sessions delivered, reports triaged and referrals completed. PHC can then support LinkedIn posts, grant narratives, CSR approaches and regional roll-out pages.