Our partnerships are collaborative and mutually beneficial relationships that are underpinned by the following principles:
- Our collaboration is an exchange of experience and a process of mutual learning. We provide expertise on international human rights and international mechanisms and our partners bring expertise on the domestic laws and context and knowledge of the applicant(s).
- Mutual respect and trust are fundamental to the way we work. We recognise and value the work and expertise of our partners, and acknowledge the limitations of our own knowledge and experience.
- We work flexibly, depending on need, to provide solidarity and a range of support to our partners who operate in challenging and repressive environments.
- We take a trauma-informed approach, ensuring that we understand and adapt to our partners’ needs and that we prioritise their safety and agency and that of the applicant.
- We are committed to working in an inclusive way, identifying any barriers to collaboration and adapting our approach as needed.
- We are transparent in our decision-making, and communicate our advice and reasoning clearly to our partners in order to ensure mutual accountability.
We are developing our engagement with smaller organisations at the regional and grassroots level to increase our access to marginalised and under-represented communities. At the same time, we continue to strengthen our existing partnerships to ensure that the relationship continues to be mutually beneficial and that our aims and priorities remain aligned, providing organisational, wellbeing and security support where needed. We recognise that the nature and needs of a partnership may evolve over time – we reflect regularly on our working relationships and adapt and improve our approach as required.
