Brighter Communities Worldwide’s Partnership Framework has a number of core principles on which it bases its partnerships:

• A shared vision of development – Brighter Communities Worldwide and its partners believe that all citizens should have equal access to resources, services and power, with particular priority being given to the needs of the poorest, most marginalised and most vulnerable people.
• Participation – Brighter Communities Worldwide’s partnerships are based on the participatory approach to development and are based on self-identified needs.
• An agreed overall strategy – partners agree this for the particular intervention that is being implemented.
• Mutual accountability and trust – Brighter Communities Worldwide is accountable to its partners and in turn they are accountable to Brighter Communities Worldwide. There is full transparency in reporting and accountability to the donors and to the beneficiaries as the primary focus of the partnership. Accountability processes and tools are agreed in the beginning of a partnership and included in the Partnership Agreements. Honesty is required of all partners and of Brighter Communities Worldwide.
• A mutual commitment to long-term change – Brighter Communities Worldwide and its partners recognise that development is a long-term process, and significant positive change in terms of development outcomes for all involved can take years to achieve.
• Realistic expectations – Brighter Communities Worldwide’s expectations of a partnership are realistic and set at a level that reflects the current capacity of Brighter Communities Worldwide and the partner.
• Clear roles and responsibilities – Brighter Communities Worldwide’s Partnership Agreements have clearly set out roles and responsibilities which are agreed by all partners. Brighter Communities Worldwide Partnership Agreements can include Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) and Contract Agreements.
• Flexible and adaptable to change – Brighter Communities Worldwide recognises that the context in which it and its partner works can change significantly and often quite suddenly due to unforeseen circumstances. Allowances are made in Brighter Communities Worldwide’s Partnership Agreements to take such changes into account.
• Organisational & Cultural Differences – Brighter Communities Worldwide acknowledges that partners can have different ways of work or organisation, but have sufficient common ground in terms of vision, values and strategy to allow them to work together with respect to the cultures involved.
• Delivering positive change – Brighter Communities Worldwide believes that the ultimate aim of a partnership is to deliver real and lasting benefits with the intended beneficiaries of the work undertaken by the partnership.
• Equality and shared responsibilities – all of Brighter Communities Worldwide’s partnerships are built on a shared contribution to bringing about change, and ensure the sustainability of the outcomes. Partner contributions may be in the form of labour, goods in kind, financial resources or expertise with mutual accountabilities. Regardless of the value of the contributions, all partners are treated equally.
• Learning – Brighter Communities Worldwide believes that we can all learn from working in partnership with each other. This learning can in turn be used to improve global understanding and build friendships and relationships between countries and people.
• Process and products – in some partnerships, the focus is on the process of learning, sharing and building relationships rather than concrete outputs. Brighter Communities Worldwide values the processes involved as much as physical products.

Download our full Partnership Policy here »

Brighter Communities Worldwide is fully committed to safeguarding the rights and well-being of children and vulnerable adults within the work of our organisation by putting measures in place to protect them from harm.

We have a policy on Child Safeguarding and a policy on Protecting Vulnerable Adults which applies to Brighter Communities Worldwide in Ireland and in Kenya. The aims of these policies are:

Safeguarding Children

• To provide guidelines, based on international best practice, to be followed which will protect children from harm. This includes children who are disabled, from minority ethnic/faith groups and regardless of gender, sexuality or culture.
• To raise awareness of the need to safeguard children and how to do that among Brighter Communities Worldwide staff, volunteers and the partners we work with in Kenya.
• To set out response guidelines in the event of a disclosure of abuse from a child or an allegation of abuse against Brighter Communities Worldwide staff or volunteers.

Safeguarding vulnerable adults

• To define what is meant by the term ‘vulnerable adult’ and to define the types of abuse they may be susceptible to.
• To provide guidelines to be followed which will protect vulnerable adults. This includes adults who are disabled, from minority ethnic/faith groups and regardless of gender, sexuality or culture.
• To provide guidelines on how to respond to any incidences or allegations of abuse to vulnerable adults.

Dochas Safeguarding Code

Brighter Communities Worldwide are signatories to the Dochas Safeguarding Code – we are committed to leading a culture of safeguarding in the Irish humanitarian and development sector.

Dóchas Charter

Brighter Communities Worldwide are signatories to the Dóchas Charter which outlines what it means to be a member of Dóchas and the principles that define the relationships between Dóchas, the member organisations and the wider world.

The leaders of Ireland’s International development and humanitarian NGOs are committed to creating a world where justice, equality, solidarity and respect for human rights are the norm. This includes ensuring that those who work in and with our organisations, and communities and children with whom we work, are kept safe from all forms of violence, abuse and exploitation. We will do this through robust and effective approaches to safeguarding which, in turn, enable organisations to deliver programmes and activities of the highest standard.

Download our safeguarding policies here

Child Safeguarding Policy »
Protecting Vulnerable Adults Policy »
Download the Dochas Safeguarding Code here
Download the Dochas Charter here

Introduction

Our Values

Three core values underpin everything we do as an organisation, every decision we make and also helps communicate the way we work and how we do things. 

1. Integrity – We are an organisation built on integrity and good governance with a track record for success.

Through our work we aim to ensure that:

• We follow best practice in how we govern the organisation.
• We require the same commitment from our partners, donors, stakeholders, volunteers, staff and supporters.
• We support and encourage transparency, openness and accountability with all our partners.

2. Passion – We work passionately in all that we do to realise our vision across communities.

Through our work we aim to ensure that:

• The people we work with live healthier lives and are supported and empowered to create better futures for themselves.
• The need to protect and advocate for Human Rights is implicit in our approach to community development.
• We advocate for people who don’t have a voice and ensure that in our communications we show respect for their dignity, belief in the equality of all people and promote fairness, solidarity and justice.
• We ensure that our stories and communications are put across with passion and honesty and in keeping with the Dochas Code of Conduct on Images and Messages.

3. Togetherness – We work together with all our stakeholders; all programmes are based on community needs as identified by themselves.

Through our work we aim to ensure that:

• We actively include all members of the community in the work that we do without discrimination.
• We work with the community to support them in identifying and prioritising their needs and all of our plans are based on those needs.
• We give people the tools to build on what they already have and build on the traditional way of doing things to improve lives for everyone.
• We work in structured partnership with local people, officials, NGO’s and governments.
• Our staff and volunteers work as a team to deliver our programmes objectives. 

Download our Equality and Diversity statement here »