Our Statement of Values

The culture of an organization includes those values that determine how the organization works and behaves. The following list of values describe behaviors we consider important for all staff who represent and work for JDA. We recognize they are ideals, but we intend to be accountable for their expression in JDA. It is with these values we desire to influence the selection of our programs and the selection and development of our staff.

EQUALITY
We value and respect each person without making unjust distinctions based on status, wealth, caste, religion, relationship, gender or ethnicity.

SPECIAL CONCERN FOR THE POOR & DISADVANTAGED
We give special priority to the poor, the vulnerable and the oppressed, and seek to change those social structures and attitudes, which disadvantage them.

LOVE & SERVICE
We seek to identify with people in their needs and aspirations, sharing with compassion our time and capabilities, doing whatever is necessary without considering any tasks too menial or belittling.

FORGIVENESS
We will be willing to acknowledge resentments, to forgive and seek reconciliation. We will seek to deal with conflict openly and positively.

INTEGRITY
We seek to be truthful. We require honesty in handling goods and money and responsibility in fulfilling our duties and bringing to completion our tasks.

PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE
We desire to excel in our work, to improve our competence and to be models of efficient and humane methods of work. We expect to achieve demonstrable results.

ACCOUNTABILITY & TEACHABILITY
We are eager to be held accountable concerning our resources and efforts. It is our desire to learn from others, to correct one another and to seek correction in order to be the most effective in our work.

PARTICIPATION
We are committed to enabling people to share in the processes of decision-making that affect them, thereby empowering them to be more effective in improving their lives. In these interactions, we all give e and we all receive, we all teach and we all learn.

TRAINING
We are committed to the daily task of training others, to passing on our skills and demonstrating our values to individuals and to the nation as a whole.

CULTURAL SENSITIVITY
We seek to live and work in ways that are culturally sensitive and appropriate in a nation that has such a rich diversity of custom and tradition.

ENVIRONMENT
We value the conservation and enhancement of the environment, recognizing that all humans, animals and plants exist in an intricate dependency upon each other and upon all that sustains them.

IDENTIFICATION WITH CENTRAL ASIA
We identify ourselves with the nations of Central Asia and its people: respecting their distinctiveness, sharing in their struggle for improvement, appreciating their achievements, and committing ourselves to promote their good.

HUMILITY
We seek to learn before we teach, recognizing that the diverse people of Central Asia have lived in their hills, valleys, mountains and plains for hundreds of years and have acquired skills, knowledge and customs that the outsider must understand and appreciate in order to serve with them.