our principles

Our work is guided by the following principles

1: Sustainability- We are driven to seek equality between social and economic development in a globalizing world with a respect for the environment and cultural traditions as the only way to enact genuine improvement in well-being

2: Social Justice- We uphold the rights of marginalized communities to participate equally in global development, without prejudice to their social, economic, educational, cultural, spiritual, and personal well-being. We work to counter all forms of deprivation resulting from marginalization.

3: Respect-  We respect the sovereignty and rights of individuals within the communities that we work with to choose their own paths, accepting or rejecting options presented by Yanapuma. We affirm their unique world-view based on their personal experiences and cultural perspectives and seek always to understand these views as the basis for offering our support.

4: Freedom- Yanapuma assumes the right to work in any community to which we are invited to work by the community itself, free of pressures of a political, religious or cultural nature.

5: Transparency-  Yanapuma works to maintain transparency in all its financial operations and to maintain clear channels of communication both with donors and the communities and projects in which we are working.

6: Professionalism- We work to achieve professionalism in all areas of our work both internally on a day- to- day basis and long term with the communities we work with and our partners.

Yanapuma Foundation
Our work is founded on the belief that the processes of globalization are inevitable. Without help indigenous cultures and communities most often end up losing control of or destroying their resource base. They lose their traditional cultural values and relationships to their environment. Thus they are drawn into a system in which they are ill-equipped to compete and are destined to remain at the bottom of the economic ladder, with under-developed infrastructure, and poor prospects for future generations. We believe that such communities have the right to maintain control of their resources and to live dignified and sustainable lives. With the right help they can develop suitable strategies and work towards a fulfilling future. But their responses need to be coordinated across all axes in order to achieve truly sustainable lives. Thus we believe it is important to support sustainable practices on multiple levels in order to present viable and holistic options.

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