People-Centered

Standards of conduct

  • We see our efforts as a means for people and communities to solve their problems by themselves. We encourage and enable the development of self-reliance and advance the right of people to fully participate in decisions that affect their lives.
  • We shall act in solidarity with the goals of the communities that we work with and the priorities that our community partners identify for themselves.
  • We shall involve all the men, women, young people and children of our target communities to the greatest possible extent, making them responsible for the conception, implementation and evaluation of projects and programs.
  • We shall respect indigenous knowledge, the dignity and identity of individuals and their culture, faith and values. But we will not support traditional practices that may harm an individual or the community.
  • The design of our programs will take into account the needs of the people and the well being of the environment and the country.
  • Our programs will be planned, designed, implemented, monitored and evaluated with egalitarian practice and the participation of the people concerned.
  • We shall abide by the principle to allocate resources efficiently and effectively within our organization and our target communities.
  • We shall respect and adhere to internationally recognized human rights

Fairness and Equity

  • We shall exercise and promote fairness, impartiality and equity in all of our activities and in our dealings with interested parties, community partners and the general public.

Moral and Ethical Integrity

  • We shall be truthful in all our activities and refrain from practices that undermine the moral and ethical integrity of our organizations.
  • We shall utilize all the resources and privileges available to our organizations in order to meet our mission and strategic objectives.
  • We shall accept funds and donations only from sources whose aims are consistent with our mission, objectives and capacity and which do not undermine our independence and identity.

Transparency and Accountability

  • We shall be transparent and accountable in our dealings with the Government and community partners, the public, donors and other interested parties. We shall use all available opportunities to inform the public about our work and about the origin and use of our resources.
  • We shall maintain and make available to all concerned bodies, periodic audit, financial and activity reports.
  • We shall conform to the constitution, laws, rules and regulations of the Government of Ethiopia and, where necessary, lobby for change.
  • We shall devise and develop sound financial policies and systems in order to manage our accounts.
  • We shall be truthful and honest in all matters related to the raising, using and accounting of funds.
  • We shall maintain an annual financial audit performed by an independent auditing firm and make the same public. All financial statements shall be available upon request by relevant and interested parties.
  • We shall maintain a sound financial and accounting system that ensures the use of resources in accordance with intended purposes.

Good Governance

  • We shall have a written constitution of memorandum of association that clearly defines our mission, our objectives and our organizational structure.
  • We shall develop a written policy that affirms our commitment to equal opportunities in: our employment practices; the promotion of staff; and board composition
  • All of our organizational transactions shall be free of conflicts of personal and professional interest.
  • The services of the governing body shall be given freely and voluntarily other than reimbursements for essential costs incurred during service.
  • Our activities and practices shall promote the interests of our target populations and the sector at large.
  • Although we shall always respect community values and traditions, we shall strive to maintain our autonomy and to resist conditionalities that may compromise our missions and principles.

Communication and Collaboration

  • We shall foster an atmosphere of collaboration and co-operation in our partnerships and supportive relationship to the best advantage of our organizations and target populations.
  • We shall promote harmony, collaboration, and team spirit within and outside the sector.
  • We shall share and exchange information, experiences and resource pertinent to our mission with the view to promoting, learning and, common understanding within and outside the sector.
  • We shall seek to advance gender balance and equity and endeavor to ensure the equal participation of women in all our development initiatives.
  • We shall fully integrate gender sensitization in to our human resource development and promote non-discriminatory working practices and relationships.
  • We will strive to increase (where they are currently under-represented) the number of women in senior decision-making positions at headquarters and in the fields, in boards, and in advisory groups.
  • Our policies and procedures will be designed to promote gender equity in recruitment, hiring, training, professional development advancement.
  • We shall exercise a responsible and responsive approach to the care of the environment and to the proper management of the eco-system in all our activities

 Sustainability

  • All our programs will be designed in full consultation with community and other interested parties. Projects that will be taken over by target communities or by government bodies shall be designed and facilitated to enhance sustainability.
  • We shall work towards the self-reliance of our communities and/or our community partners.

Impact

  • We shall develop and promote clear and measurable impact indicators for our programs/ projects in order to gauge their relevance and effectiveness.
  • We shall formalize various monitoring and evaluation tools to gauge our performance in relation to our objectives and the short and long term goals of our activities.
  • We shall make accessible to the public the findings of any assessments or evaluations of our activities.
  • We shall institute proper mechanisms for the internal and external evaluations of our programs.

Gender Equity

Independence

 Environmental Consciousness

Standards of Conduct

 

Copyright ©  2000 KARNA Incorporation  All Rights Reserved

 

 best viewed at 800 x 600