Rise in safeguarding standards and reporting, says the charity

Annual accounts filed by Save the Children revals it sacked 41 people last year for bullying and abuse.

Six staff were suspended pending investigations.

It comes as the charity said safeguarding breaches had increased by 63% with the organisation saying it had tightened its reporting procedures.

The charity said this was “a positive sign that reporters place trust in our systems by sharing their concerns”, and that it allowed Save the Children International to investigate allegations in detail and improve its safeguarding systems.

More than 16,000 are employed by Save the Children Interntional.

Some 631 child safeguarding concerns were raised last year, of which more than half were “substantial policy breaches” and a third related to “sexual exploitation and abuse or physical abuse”.

Among SCI staff, 347 colleagues reported safeguarding concerns compared with 151 in 2020. Nearly half of last year’s concerns related to bullying, harassment or intimidation.

Some 197 concerns have now been closed, of which 68 were substantiated. 

On gender equality, the charity reported a mean gender pay gap of 11.7% for 2021, down from 19% a year earlier. Some 55% of the charity's leaders are now women.

The annual report showed a total income of $1.3bn (£1.1bn), up 15% from the previous year.

Income increased by $169m (£142m) in the year ending 31 December 2021. 

The charity said it reached 38 million children through its work and that of its partner organisations amid what it described as a “rapidly changing and hugely challenging” year.

The report states: “Expenditure increased due to many significant projects commencing across all our regions both in humanitarian response work and our continuing development work, showing that even with the enduring impact of Covid-19 changing how we operate, we continued to spend on our essential programmes, advocacy and campaigning for children.”