Our Policies

The safety and dignity of our staff and the people who take part in our programmes has always been of paramount importance. News concerning abuse and sexual misconduct by NGO workers - in particular the sex scandals uncovered in Haiti during February - shook the humanitarian sector in 2018. 

Both MFA and inter-agency guidelines require NGOs to uphold standards relating to protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA) in full. War Child met this commitment in full over the course of the year.

We moved to revise our existing Code of Conduct and develop a new ‘Speak Up!’ whistleblowing policy. Strategic responses from other NGOs and guidance from the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) informed this process. These policies will be finalised in the summer of 2019.

A new Child Safeguarding Policy was also implemented during the first half of the year. Breaches of this policy inside our countries of operation can be found elsewhere in this report.

Remuneration Managing Director

In determining its remuneration policy, War Child follows guidelines set up by Goede Doelen Nederland. The scheme sets out a maximum recommended level of annual remuneration for the managing director according to an index of professional criteria. The weighing of the situation at War Child leads to a so-called BSD score of 520 points.

The actual annual salary with holiday allowance for Tjipke Bergsma was €114,198, and the pension contribution was €22,867, adding up to a total amount of €137,065 for the managing director’s remuneration and benefits in 2018. This is within the applicable limits. The amount and composition of the remuneration package are explained in the financial statements in the further notes to the annual accounts.