MISSION
Together for freedom, shared prosperity and safety
The decades of peace in Europe that followed the end of the Second World War led us to believe that freedom, once it was achieved, would last forever. Reality, however, has proven that freedom is fragile. Moments of peace are shorter than we could hope for, and borders—even when recognised by the international community—may still be challenged. Safety is crucial for personal independence and for the freedom to choose one’s own development path. We thus join our partners, most importantly among the Eastern Partnership countries, i.e. Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, in their efforts for freedom, shared prosperity and safety. We focus on building civil society and bringing about democratic transformations. We inspire change in education systems. We nurture local democracy. We support a free and independent media and human rights organisations.
Our actions are not only meant to foster freedom, but also to instil a sense of safety and bring welfare to our partners and ourselves. Through the spirit of collaboration we establish good relations between partners, and bolster safety and freedom.
Our actions build on our history — we share the Polish experience with our partners regarding the systemic and economic transformation. Our presence on site enables us to identify local needs and ambitions and allows us to jointly plan those activities that best facilitate the achievement of the goals of our shared prosperity.
Along with our partners, we bring about change at both the central and local levels. We reach remote towns and villages to inspire and stimulate local, grass-roots development processes. Our activities are systemic. We use programmes and projects to improve the legal environment, streamline the structure of institutions, and to change awareness among our partners. The outcomes of our joint initiatives are visible, sustainable, and serve our partners long after our activities are concluded.
OUR VALUES
Solidarity
We feel solidarity with the citizens of the countries with whom we collaborate. We always seek values that bring us together. We feel co-responsible for activities that arise from common convictions and aspirations. We see solidarity as an investment. By investing in our partners, we invest in the freedom, prosperity and safety of Poland. In extraordinary crisis situations, whenever people are faced with immense tragedy, we strive to act swiftly and sufficiently in order to organise support for those most in need and to help people in their plight. Furthermore, when implementing scheduled activities, we do not leave our partners stranded, but instead work out solutions that suit them best.
Responsibility
We share Polish experiences without imposing any solutions. Together with our partners we diagnose problems and look for the best options. We are diligent and thorough when assessing local conditions, and we are frank in communicating the chances of successfully implementing our projects. We are committed to what we do because we care about the outcomes of our efforts. We assume responsibility for joint actions. We provide our partners with all the knowledge, experience, and tools that are necessary for them to undertake similar initiatives independently in the future, and to work in a way that is both efficient and satisfying.
Respect
We work in different countries and follow local laws, traditions, norms, and standards of conduct. We respect local religions and customs. We are mindful of the diversity of places in which we work, and we approach them with an open mind and due regard.
Empathy
We recognise cultural differences between ourselves and our partners, the complexities of historical circumstances, differences in traditions and mentalities. We empathise with national traumas. We strive to comprehend the phenomena of our partners’ collective experiences and to use this knowledge to plan initiatives that will shape their reality. We choose a step-by-step approach, as we know that every change takes time. We stand with the people and for the people. That is why we do not use a single generalised solution. We instead tailor our actions to local conditions and the needs of our partners.
