Reporting/notification channel

General information

Save the Children Finland (SCF) wants its operations to be sound, transparent and accountable, in compliance with all laws, regulations, international agreements, rules and principles governing its activities. To this end, we encourage all employees, volunteers, contractors, partners and all other stakeholders involved in SCF’s activities, whether children, young people or other stakeholders, to report any wrongdoing or suspected wrongdoing in SCF’s activities.

In the work community, the matter can always be resolved in the first instance between the parties involved and, if necessary, with the help of a supervisor, and this is often an effective way of resolving them.

In addition, a report of wrongdoing against SCF can be made:

  1. through the general reporting channel, which can be found on the organisation’s website.
  2. in the internal reporting channel of the work community,

Save the Children also complies with:

  • The Child Safeguarding Policy; and
  • the notification procedure under Section 29 of the Act on the Supervision of Social Welfare and Health Care.

NOTE! These reporting channels are not for normal customer feedback or feedback on a social care service, there are separate channels and processes for them.

This is Save the Children’s general reporting channel, where you can report:

a) Notifications covered by the Whistleblower Protection Act (L 1171/2022 on the protection of persons who report violations against European Union and national law) https://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/alkup/2022/20221171#Pidm45053757637056

b) other wrongdoings and unethical behaviour or suspicions thereof.

General reporting/notification channel

What to report

a) Notifications covered by the Whistleblower Protection Act (L 1171/2022 on the protection of persons who report violations against European Union and national law):

  • money laundering and terrorist financing
  • breaches in areas such as public procurement, financial services, food and product safety or consumer protection.
  • infringements in the field of road safety and environmental protection
  • fraud, corruption and other illegal activities linked to the implementation of EU expenditure or to the collection of EU revenue and funds.
  • infringements relating to the EU’s internal market, such as breaches of EU competition and state aid rules, or breaches of EU tax rules
  • infringements which threaten the public interest or seriously harm the public interest if they pose a significant risk to the well-being of society
  • breaches relating to the processing of personal data

b) other wrongdoing or unethical behaviour or suspected wrongdoing or unethical behaviour in relation to Save the Children’s activities.

Who can report

a) In accordance with the Whistleblower Protection Act, anyone who has received information about a violation at SCF in the course of their work or in connection with their work in the following positions, may report in this reporting channel:

  • in employment or in an official capacity
  • self-employed person
  • shareholder
  • a member of the board of directors or supervisory board of an entity or foundation, or its managing director
  • a volunteer, or
  • trainee

b) a person who discovers or suspects wrongdoing in SCF’s activities

When to make a notification/report

We encourage you to report suspected wrongdoing as soon as possible.

At the time of notification, the notifier must have reasonable grounds to believe that the information about the infringement is correct or that there may be grounds for suspicion. Intentionally reporting or disclosing false information is punishable by law and may also lead to disciplinary action.

Please note that this reporting channel is not for normal customer feedback or feedback on social care services – there are separate channels and processes for that.

How to make a report/notification

A notification conserning SCF must be made in writing using this general notification channel.

If a notification is received by other means, e.g. by telephone or e-mail, these notifications will be transferred to this general notification channel or the notifier will be invited to use this notification channel.

You can also make the notification anonymously. In this case, however, it must be taken into account that an anonymous notification may affect the possibility of clarifying the notification.

If this channel is not available in accordance with Section 8 of the Whistleblower Protection Act and the matter falls within the scope of the Whistleblower Protection Act, the notification must be submitted to the central notification channel of the Chancellor of Justice’s Office or to the competent authority.

You can access the SCF notification channel from this link: https://link.webropolsurveys.com/CP/9410F4482B87DC02

The technical solution for the reporting channel is Webropol Whistleblower, which is based on the Whistleblower Directive adopted by the Council of the European Union on 19 October 2019.

Process for handling notifications / reports

1.Processors

All notifications will be treated confidentially. SCF has appointed persons responsible for handling the report (processors) who will carry out their duties impartially and independently. In addition, experts may be appointed to verify the accuracy of the report.

Only processors have access to notifications through our notification channel. Each processor is bound by an obligation of confidentiality to guarantee confidentiality. During the processing of a notification, processors may request information and expertise from other persons. This will also be done in confidence.

2. Receipt of the notification /report

All reports are taken seriously. After receiving a report, the handlers decide whether the report should be dealt with through this general reporting channel, the internal reporting channel of the work community, whether it falls under the Whistleblower Protection Act, whether it is a case under the Child Protection Policy or a report under the Social Welfare and Health Care Supervision Act.

An acknowledgement of receipt will be sent to the notifier within seven (7) days of receipt of the notification.

The notifier will receive a case-specific identifier which will allow them to follow the process of their notification. This is also the case for anonymous notifications.

Reporting anonymously may affect the chances of the report being cleared. SCF will endeavour to investigate anonymous reports and, even if not required by law, to provide a receipt and a report of the handling of the notification.

3. Investigation of the notification

All admissible reports are treated confidentially. Follow-up questions will be raised by the processors through the reporting channel, if necessary. The notifier must follow up on the processing of his/her notification on his/her own initiative on the monitoring page of the notification channel.

The person responsible for processing the notification shall inform the notifier, within three (3) months of the date of transmission of the acknowledgement of receipt of the notification, of the action taken on the notification.

4.Processing of personal data and deletion of data

Personal data of the notifier and the subject of the notification may only be processed by designated persons. Notifications received shall be entered in the notification management system or otherwise registered.

Save the Children will delete the information received through the reporting channels five (5) years after the receipt of the report, unless it is necessary to keep it based on the Whistleblower Protection Act or other legislation or instructions from the authorities. Personal data that are clearly irrelevant to the processing of the notification shall be deleted without undue delay.

5. Confidentiality

Any person who, in the course of processing notifications under the Whistleblower Protection Act and other notifications, assisting the notifier in the notification procedure or providing legal advice to the notifier, has obtained information about the identity of the notifier or the subject of the notification or other information from which the identity can be inferred directly or indirectly, is obliged to keep this information confidential. Confidential information may not be disclosed unlawfully without the express consent of the person for whose protection the obligation of professional secrecy is imposed.

Notwithstanding the confidentiality obligation described above, the person responsible for processing the notification may disclose the identity of the notifier and other persons mentioned in the notification and other information directly or indirectly revealing the identity of the notifier to the designated person in order to establish the accuracy of the notification, if such disclosure is necessary to establish the accuracy of the notification. In addition, the information may be disclosed to the authorities mentioned in Section 33 of the Whistleblower Protection Act if it is necessary, for example, for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of criminal offences.

The person responsible for processing the report shall inform the notifier in advance of the disclosure of his or her identity, unless such information would jeopardise the verification of the accuracy of the report, the preliminary investigation or the judicial proceedings.

Prohibition of retaliation and prevention of reporting

a) Scope of the Whistleblower Protection Act

The employer of the notifier or any other organisation under whose management and control, for whose benefit the notifier works or with which the notifier is otherwise connected by reason of his or her work, shall not retaliate against the notifier or any other person referred to in Section 5 of the Whistleblower Protection Act for reporting or disclosing information about the breach. Prohibited is also a conduct which is aimed at preventing the notification or publication of the infringing information.

b) Other misconduct report

The notifier must not be retaliated against for making a substantiated report and must be protected from ill-treatment and other harm and must not be prevented from making a report.