International Network for Development

aims and ethos

Aims and Ethos

Back in the 1990s when Pam MacKenzie started working among the tribal communities of India, it was very difficult to find educational resources appropriate to such marginalised groups.  Thus, INfD was set up to provide a focal point to support the development of such resources and to encourage the implementation of good educational practices.

Although education is at the heart of the work of INfD, it was felt that to work in education alone, particularly in situations of poverty, was not enough and so in 2001, the aims of INfD were widened to include activities in the relief of poverty.

For many years now, INfD has been involved at local, national and international levels, working together with governments, international government agencies (UNESCO, UNICEF, UNDP and ECOSOC), non-governmental organisations (NGOs),  civil society organisations (CSOs) and academic institutions in the UK as well as in other countries.

Thus INfD aims to:

• support local communities, partners, NGOs, government agencies and others to create and strengthen effective education and development programmes;
• support the development of innovative 'centres of excellence' where resources, research and training are made available to marginalised communities and those that support them, in regions across the world;
• encourage the use of existing networks of expertise and enable the development of new resources;
• participate in the development of effective educational and social policies and practices for local communities, with government and non-governmental agencies.

The Core Values of INfD include the following:

• work towards the development of policies and practices with a commitment to justice and wholeness in human health, well-being and welfare;
• work in partnership and co-operation with local bodies, serving local communities, respecting the value and dignity of each person, empowering them to make decisions about their own futures;
• work in co-operation with local, national and international organisations, academic institutions and governments in order to bring about the relief of poverty and create a more just and equitable society;
• encourage responsive, flexible, dynamic, and accountable relationships.

ACTIVITIES

INfD provides training and resources in formal and non-formal education in:

• the principles and practices of education
• multilingual education: mother tongue and second language teaching
• curriculum development

  Writing stories in mother tongue at a workshop in Chhattisgarh

• literature development
• teaching methods

INfD also: 

• provides support for cross-cultural development training programmes
• provides a forum for the interchange of ideas with local, national and international agencies
• research in education and development