OPAD Zambia

The values held by OPAD are the following;

1.Participation: We encourage the use of participatory methodologies that generate and sustain ownership of decisions and actions.

2.Teamwork: For OPAD to achieve its common goals, all members need to act co-operatively and collectively in a free, fair and supportive environment.

3. Fairness: People should be treated justly. One has the right to be treated fairly, impartially and equitably. One has the obligation to treat others fairly and justly. All have the right to the necessities of life- especially those in deep need and the helpless. Justice includes equal, impartial and unbiased treatment. Fairness tolerates diversity and accepts differences in people and their ideas.

4. Social Responsibility: Advocating social responsibility and environmental sustainability in the areas where OPAD operates

5. Dignity of Human Life: The lives of people are to be respected. Human beings, by the fact of their existence, have value and dignity. Nobody may act in ways that directly intend to harm or kill an innocent person. Human beings have a right to live; we all have an obligation to respect that right to life. Human life is to be preserved and treated as sacred.

6.Autonomy: All persons are intrinsically valuable and have the right to self-determination. We should act in ways that demonstrate each person’s worth, dignity and right to free choice. We have a right to act in ways that assert our own worth and legitimate needs. We should not use others as ‘things’ or only as a means to an end. Each person has an equal right to basic human liberty, compatible with others’ rights to the same liberty.

7. Honesty: The truth should be told to those who have a right to know it. Honesty is also known as integrity, truth-telling and honour. One should speak and act so as to reflect the reality of the situation. Speaking and acting should mirror the way things really are. There are times when others have the right to hear the truth from us; there are times when they do not [eg when confidentiality is important to respect the rights of others].

8. Loyalty: Promises, contracts and commitments should be honoured. Loyalty includes fidelity, promise-keeping, keeping the public trust, good citizenship, excellence in quality of work, reliability, commitment, and honouring just laws, rules and policies.

9. Humaneness: Our actions ought to accomplish good, and we should avoid doing evil. We should do good to others and ourselves. We should have concern for the well-being of others; usually we show this concern in the form of compassion, giving, kindness, serving and caring.

10. The Common Good: Actions should accomplish the “greatest good for the greatest number” of people. One should act and speak in ways that benefit the welfare of the largest number of people, while protecting the rights of individuals.
(adapted from ICAI and Kent Hogson)