mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">On World Charity Day... towards a charter that makes giving a path to dignity and sustainability

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Written by: Dr. Muhammad Mamdouh Abdullah

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Head of the NGO Development Sector at the Misr El Kheir Foundation

 

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">World Charity Day comes to remind us that giving is not just a human response to need, but rather an expression of the essence of humanity itself. When a person helps another person, he is not only providing him a service, but he is practically announcing that human dignity is interconnected, and that the security and stability of society cannot be separated from the ability of its members to live in dignity and access their basic rights..

 

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But the nature of contemporary societies and the succession of economic, climatic, health and social crises force us to reconsider the concept of charitable work itself. It is no longer sufficient for work to be based on good intentions alone, no matter how important, but rather it has become required to move to a more mature, organized and professional stage that links giving to humanity, human rights, sustainability, empowerment and development..

 

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hence the need for a “Charter for Charitable Work” that would be an ethical and professional reference for institutions, entities and individuals working in this field, and redefine charitable work as a tool to protect people and enhance their ability, not just a means of temporarily alleviating need..

 

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This vision is related to a broader question about the nature of charitable interventions and their role in confronting poverty. Do we help people get out of the cycle of poverty, or do we limit ourselves to managing its manifestations? Can some interventions, despite their noble goals, reproduce need if they remain separate from empowerment, development and sustainability? This is the question that I addressed in my book “Development Poverty and the Development of Poverty,” in an attempt to present a vision that goes beyond dealing with poverty as a mere temporary need, to looking at it as a development issue that requires addressing its causes and building human capacity to overcome them..

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This question places us before a new responsibility. Charitable work that respects the human being does not look at him as a status, a number, or a permanent recipient of help, but rather as a person with a right, dignity, ability, and ambition. Hence, the goal becomes not only to fill a temporary gap, but to help the person as much as possible to regain his ability to choose, work, and be independent..

 

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Therefore, the charitable work charter can be based on interconnected principles:

 

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Humanity first, as the governing value of every intervention, so that the goal is to alleviate suffering and enhance the human ability to live in dignity..

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Human dignity, so the need does not turn into a means of display or propaganda, and poverty does not become a justification for violating privacy or underestimating the value of the human being..

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Respect human rights, and link charitable work to the rights to food, health, education, housing, protection, and fair opportunities.

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Equity and non-discrimination in the provision of services, regardless of gender, age, place or social background.

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Respect privacy and protect beneficiaries' data, photos and stories.

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Fair targeting, so that resources are directed to those most in need according to clear and transparent criteria.

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Do no harm, so that the assistance does not create permanent dependence and does not weaken the ability of the person or society to take initiative..

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Empowerment, linking temporary support to paths for education, training, employment, or income improvement whenever possible.

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Participation, so that the beneficiary is a partner in identifying his need and formulating the solution that suits his circumstances.

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sustainability, and for every program to ask from its beginning: What will remain after the end of the funding? Did we add permanent capacity or provide a temporary service?

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Efficient use of resources, and achieving the best possible social and humanitarian return from every resource spent.

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Transparency and accountability in financing, decisions and results.

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Measuring the real impact, not just the number of packages, meals, or beneficiaries, but rather looking at what has actually changed in people's lives.

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Integration between civil society, the state, the private sector, universities and local communities.

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Continuous learning and development, reviewing programs, recognizing what did not work, and developing tools according to changing needs..

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Linking philanthropy to contemporary issues, such as climate change, unemployment, digital transformation, health, education, food security and social protection.

 

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This charter does not make charitable work less humane because of regulation, but rather the opposite is true. The more professional the work, the more capable it is of protecting people from randomness, poor targeting, waste of resources, and short-sighted interventions..

 

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Helping a family with food may be an urgent necessity, but respecting their humanity also requires searching for a way to help them improve their income. Treating a sick person may be a humanitarian duty, but sustainability requires thinking about prevention and health protection. Supporting a student who is unable to complete his education may be more effective than repeated financial assistance if education is his way out of poverty..

 

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Here charitable work is directly related to human rights. The right to dignity is no less important than the right to food, the right to participate is no less important than obtaining a service, and the right to opportunity must be part of the philosophy of giving. Therefore, the beneficiary should not be a subject of the charitable work, but rather a partner in it..

 

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The concept of success must also develop. The success of an organization is not measured only by the amount it spends, but rather by what it changes in people's lives. A decrease in the number of beneficiaries of a program may be a positive indicator if the reason is their exit from the circle of need..

 

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">On International Charity Day, we need to move from celebrating giving to developing its philosophy and tools. We need charitable work that protects humanity, respects rights, preserves dignity, promotes sustainability, and constantly learns and develops..

 

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Therefore, the call for a charter for charitable work is not just a call to organize work, but rather a call to redefine it: from providing assistance to building capacity, from responding to the need to protect rights, from temporary work to sustainable impact, and from good faith alone to good faith and good management together..

 

mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">True goodness does not merely extend a hand to a person in a moment of weakness, but rather helps him, as much as possible, to regain his ability to stand on his own.