A network of community developers
In pursuing our vision and mission, we aim to build a network of independent NGOs. An alliance of community workers that empowers more communities to develop in balance with their natural environment.
We join forces with the aim to: 1) exchange knowledge and methodology on community work regarding the vision and mission of Humaniforest; 2) jointly approach and collaborate potential funding partners in order to be able, as small organisations, to continu and focus on our grassroots work.
Members
Our alliance consists of a strong network of partners:
Cameroon
Center for Economic Development
Farming and Animal Husbandry Project
Other countries
Currently we are building up our network of African NGOs. More organisations and countries will follow soon. Want to join as well? Please feel free to contact us.
Principles
The Humaniforest Alliance is based upon important principles:
- We believe that knowledge is widely available in our society. This means local stakeholders know best what is needed in their communities and how to get there. Therefore we work bottom-up within communities.
- We believe that positive change requires trust and takes time: so project implementation, financing and organizing should take the time needed to realize that change.
- We believe governance is key to a sustainable impact of our work: technology can be brought in but governance needs to be embedded locally.
- We believe trust comes with close interaction. We visit and stay with our communities for a reasonable time, as we need to know and understand the community before project starts and continue to keep in touch after projects are done. Whether or not we run other projects, we are still there.
- We believe in collaboration as partners bring other competencies and perspective to the table.
- We believe in decision making based on extensive deliberation, exchange of views and mutual agreement.
- We believe in both common sense and pragmatism with an experienced and dedicated team. Community development projects tend to follow their own path with many unforeseen circumstances that require adequate and timely interventions.
Supportive: peer-to-peer learning and evaluation
Our approach, methods and cases are constantly reviewed within our network of members, communities and partners.
- community/region assessment, partner selection and local network building (the network of the partners)
- training and knowledge exchange (our method, road map, local context, etc. ) and coaching on the job (to our partners while implementing the method in local projects and adjusting formats, training programs, etc. to local circumstances, etc.)
- peer-to-peer learning groups (e.g. of partners in several countries that implement our model, we bring them together once a year, news letters with information about other projects, etc.)
- monitoring (of the projects, thereby supporting our local partners and using monitoring information to adjust methodologies if necessary.