In all our work, we favour a:
Human Rights-based Approach. Besides the promotion of social and economic rights:
- No
discrimination, not only in gender terms,
but on any grounds or against any collective: the
disabled, the
displaced, the sick, the elderly, young males... The
project should
contribute to the integration of all those implicated
and the removal
of barriers
and stigma.
- Promotion of Civil
Rights and
Citizenship: Participation, justice,
information...
Holistic approach. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, along with special attention paid to key aspects that surround each project: the economic base and potential, the access to energy and the environmental improvement potential.
Focus on the provision of service rather than infrastructure provision, avoiding situations where infrastructure ends up being the focus of all attention.
Participatory, Empowerment, Governance approach, avoiding imposition, seeking consensus and striving to improve managing and decision making capacities.
Smooth and progressive implementation, allowing sufficient time for everybody to remain on board during the entire process.
On the technical side:
Once that all the social aspects of a project have been meticulously worked through with great difficulty and uncertainty, it is dissapointing to see it fail on the technical design due to a lack of professional skills or because they were not given importance:
- Professional design with detailed calculations. The correct, professional and detailed calculation of a project guarantees that the infraestructures do function, the foundations on which to base the desired social changes and the improvement of living conditions.
- Minimalism and
functionality
based design. Only what is really necessary is
included to
minimize the load on the environment and the
communities.
- Innovation
only when
appropiate
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