Collective philosophy
- Details
- Category: Code of Ethics
B4H supports flexible visions of an alternative society based on values of cooperation, equality and pluralism which are defined collectively by poor people from below.
Principle 1:
B4H is committed to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as adopted and proclaimed by the United Nations. Universal Human rights apply to all human beings, particularly children, regardless of race, sex, creed or religious orientation, etc. As a children's organization, B4H is particularly invested in these rights and other rights as they relate to children.
Principle 2:
B4H is committed to the South African tradition of Ubuntu defined as the concept that human beings are interdependent and that their humanity is reliant on their relationships of cooperation with one another.
Principle 3:
We believe that poverty is an oppressive human relation and is therefore a violation of human rights.
Principle 4:
B4H recognizes and respects peoples' and communities' right to an autonomous social and political environment where each person is valued.
• Community committees, democratic people's assemblies and progressive social movements are an expression of this right.
• Communities have the right to speak for themselves
• All people, regardless of education level, socioeconomic status or other social construct, hold valuable opinions, skills and experiences. Their input should be valued as such.
Principle 5:
People have the right to equality in all social forms including political and economic equality. B4H must therefore support:
• Equal pay
• Egalitarian organizational structures
• Institutional arrangements that support autonomous organization from the bottom-up.
Principle 6:
B4H supports communities' efforts to demand and establish their individual and collective rights including those delineated above.
Principle 7:
B4H supports communities and their concerns regarding environmental racism and environmentally sustainable development.
• Communities in poverty tend to be at the same time the smallest contributors to
and those most affected by environmental destruction.
• Community projects should promote sustainable life-styles.
Principle 8:
• B4H believes that education does not happen exclusively in school.
• Education includes formal, social, cultural, life-skills based and spiritual guidance.
