Effective safeguarding is fundamental to Fern’s work. Disrespectful behaviour undermines our credibility and integrity. We are therefore committed to demonstrating accountability in every aspect of our work and to creating and maintaining a safe and ethical working environment for our staff and partners as well as to ensuring exemplary professional behaviour towards the people we work with and for. Fern staff are expected to comply with ethical guidelines outlined in our House Rules including against embezzlement, corruption and fraud.
Our organisation strives to maintain a working atmosphere which prevents all forms of harassment, exploitation and abuse, including sexual, emotional and physical. The organisation and our staff are committed to dealing justly with any misconduct against Fern staff, partner staff or third parties.
We expect the conduct of our staff and partners to be consistent with our values and standards. This means treating all people with dignity and respect and challenging any form of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, exploitation or abuse. Harassment, exploitation, abuse and corruptions constitute acts of gross misconduct, and will therefore be grounds for termination of employment or partnership.
With regards to defining sexual misconduct, Fern as an organisation and all its staff and partners are committed to applying the following core safeguarding commitments during on duty and off duty hours:
Staff are expected to create and maintain an environment which prevents sexual exploitation and abuse and promotes the implementation of these commitments. Whenever Fern staff or partners develop concerns regarding any of the above commitments, they must report such concerns via established reporting mechanisms.
If you feel that Fern or our partners are not delivering on these commitments, or you are concerned about any aspect of Fern’s work, you can report these to our dedicated safeguarding email address: complaints@fern.org. Our safeguarding leads will treat your disclosure with strict confidentiality and ensure appropriate follow-up actions.
In accordance with Stichting Fern’s cooperation agreement with Norad, QZA-21/0187: ‘Using European policies to protect rights & reduce global deforestation’, Stichting Fern makes public a description of its efforts to combat financial irregularities in its operations of the previous year, as well as any closed cases of financial irregularities that the grant recipient has been involved in during the previous year.
We regularly update our campaigns to take on board newly published, peer-reviewed literature and practical experience.
We are a co-managed organisation that prioritises finding ways for affected people to be heard. We build and deliver shared campaigns with forest peoples, non-governmental organisations, movements, workers, citizens and others.
We believe our strength stems from our ability to question established thinking. We support no political parties, governments or commercial enterprises, and have a funding strategy to ensure our work can be developed and continue regardless of any pressure from funders or the public.
We undertake a wide range of activities from technical research to campaigning activism, and propose solutions that challenge the status quo.
