Our values

We identified our values in three different aspects:

(1) values that we promote in the Afghan society;

(a) Freedom: The guiding value of our external engagement, one we see as fundamental to both peace and development, is Freedom. If individuals and communities are not free, then peace cannot develop and thrive. Peace is impossible if freedom is not understood and realized as a paramount and foundational social and political principle. An individual deprived of control over their own life and choices, and a community that is oppressed only leads to escalation of conflict into violence and makes peace impossible. Afghanistan is a richly diverse society, and diversity (in opinions, values and perspectives) can often lead to conflict.

(b) Tolerance and Solidarity: The values of Tolerance and Solidarity are key to us as well. Learning to tolerate, and even collaborate in solidarity for the common interest and public good is a necessity for a democratic social environment and peace. Further, we see Afghanistan as able to go beyond tolerance and a level of solidarity needed for a society to exist as a cohesive collective, as long as all its people understand these values as principles for social interactions.

(c) Inclusion and Equity: We see Afghanistan as a place of Inclusion and Equity despite of, and across, its different expressions and identities.

(d) Justice and Rule of Law: We understand, however, that these values are only an unattainable idea unless there is meaningful access to fair Justice and the Rule of Law is respected and institutionalized.

(e) Social Justice: This is, we believe, a system of values that can underpin and sustain a social situation where individuals and communities can truly belong, live in peace and democracy, and strive for Social Justice so that all people in Afghanistan and the nation as such can thrive and contribute to the advancement of humanity as a whole.

(2) values that inform our approach to social interventions

For us as an organization, it is of paramount importance to build our social interventions in a way that takes others along, that constructively responds to their grievances and needs. Because of this, we focus on Collective Action and Participatory Approaches to ensure that the social change we hopefully contribute to is subject to Community Ownership of those we serve. For this to be a reality, we need to ensure that we promote Unity in Diversity so that different voices and perspectives are not only present, but heard and taken into account.

(3) values that guide our work internally within the organization and among its people.

Finally, in terms of our internal operations, of how we conduct our organizational affairs in a complex and demanding context, we sustain a Resilient Commitment to the values that we promote and that inform our approach, and our vision for Afghanistan, understanding that it is the only way to ensure our work is both Innovative and Transformative for the individuals and communities we work to serve. We commit to modeling Accountability, Integrity and Excellence in our internal operations and processes because our values come before any particular interest of our organization or people within it.