We work as a community development organization, not a short-term relief provider. Our approach rests on four principles.
We start from real need. We design our work around what people actually need, by listening to them and involving them.
Assistance is a tool; development is the goal. Direct assistance can be the right step: treatment, medicine, food support, an assistive device, or financial or in-kind support. We provide it when it removes or eases a barrier, and wherever possible we aim for it to lead to a better capability or opportunity for the person or family.
We build capability and open opportunity. We combine practical support with education, skills-building and opportunity creation, because lasting change is change that people own themselves.
We work in partnership. Working with local communities, specialist organizations and volunteers improves the quality of our work and extends its reach, while awareness-raising and technology support all of it.
How We Choose and Design Our Programs
We translate the “from barriers to capabilities” philosophy into practical criteria that we will apply to every program before adopting it. In our view, a good program:
- Starts with a clear barrier. We define precisely what is stopping a specific group from moving forward, rather than starting from an activity and looking for beneficiaries.
- Targets a specific capability. We define the capability or opportunity the program aims to build, in a form that can be observed and verified.
- Seeks change that can last. We ask what will remain after the program ends, and we favor results that people own themselves.
- Can be delivered well. We take on work we can deliver well, using our own resources or in partnership with specialist organizations.
- Fits our areas of work and is designed with the community. The program connects to one of our five areas, and the target community takes part in defining its needs and how to meet them.
An Initial Framework for Measuring Progress
This is an initial framework we will use to measure our future programs, and it will develop as implementation begins. Each program’s success will be measured by the capabilities and opportunities it produces, not only by the volume of assistance delivered. Knowing how much we gave will not be enough; we will ask what people have become able to do.
Depending on the program, indicators of progress may include improved school performance, a newly acquired skill, a job opportunity, greater independence for a person with a disability, or a family’s greater ability to meet its needs. Specific indicators will be set for each program at the design stage.
As our programs are implemented, we will document their results and share them honestly with the community and our partners, including lessons from work that does not achieve its intended results.