Ministry Framework Revised Summary

The Ministry Framework

Summary - Nov 2010

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Ministry Framework Revised – summary

Nov 2010

Introduction

The Ministry Framework articulates a common ministry Goal for all lines of ministry, with shared Principles, Approaches,Aspirations and Outcomes.

World Vision’s work is Christian, child-focused and community-based. We seek to tackle the causes of poverty and promote empowerment through our work in relief, development, advocacy and fund raising.

Box 1: Definition of poverty

Poverty, and chronic povertyin particular, may be understood as the experience of vulnerability, lack of critical services, social and political exclusion, physical insecurity, unjust systems, disempowering institutions, and inability to sustain livelihoods. Amongst other causes, increasing exposure to hazards, hunger and malnutrition, lack of hope or voice to influence change, and breakdown of community relations manifests these. Women and children are disproportionately affected by poverty. Poverty is often intergenerational, and this cycle must be broken for sustainable positive change to occur.[1]

We seek to contribute to the movement of children, families, individuals and communities from the surmountable condition of poverty and powerlessness to ‘life in all its fullness’. This occurs through a holistic transformational change that can and must happen at a number of different levels.

Box 2. Levels of transformational change

Child-Focus in the Ministry Framework

The Ministry Framework places children as the focus of its work. We prioritise children, especially the poorest and most vulnerable, and empower them together with their families and communities to improve their well-being. Our Ministry Framework is not centered on children alone: rather, children are addressed within their contexts and together with their families and communities.

Our Ministry Framework reflects an ecological approach to children’s well-being. Children’s well-being is dependent on their relationships with others and the social, political, spiritual, physical and environmental context that they live in. Our contributions should support the strengthening of these relationships and the different contexts that affect children’s lives. This is what differentiates our child focus from ‘child-centered’ Approaches: our work touches the family, community, civil society and national and global instructions and systems, to support them to contribute to child well-being. Children’s well-being refers to positive relationships, healthy individual development involving physical and psyco-social health, cognitive, social and spiritual dimensions, and a context that provides safety, social justice, and participation in civil society.

World Vision partnership strategy and policy documents mandate our work to reach especially the most vulnerable. Certain groups of children are more vulnerable: they are more vulnerable to ending up in a crisis situation than others, and need more focused attention to ensure the realisation of their rights and well-being. Factors of vulnerability include: extreme deprivation, serious rights violations, vulnerability to disaster and abusive or exploitative relationships. The more vulnerability factors children experiences, or the longer children experiences a given factor, the more vulnerable they become, at some point becoming the most vulnerable.

Figure 1: Children in Context

Elements of the Ministry Framework

Ministry Principles

The outer circle of the Ministry Framework contains the ministry Principles, which reflect our commitment to the human rights of children, the responsibilities of adult duty bearers and the way we undertake our work.

All Principles should be viewed as equal and all should be used in our work:

Best interests of the child

Guided by Christ’s view of harm to children as one of the worst possible sins (Mark 9:42), we seek to ensure fulfilment of human rights, and implementation of humanitarian policies, legislation and protocols that ensure their rights. Chief among these is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

The ‘best interests of the child’ is a fundamental principle of the human rights of children. It reflects our principle that all decisions must be guided by the best interest of the child,that we seek to ‘do no harm’in all of our work and that well-being of children is at the core of our work.

Non-discrimination

Following our understanding that all are created equal in God’s sight and the belief in universal human rights, our ministry makes no distinctions on the basis of factors such as gender, race, creed or nationality, and respects all cultures and customs. Ministry priorities are calculated on the basis of need alone.

Obligations and fulfilment of rights

Our concept of rights acknowledges that they are indivisible (using all rights equally in our work) and inter-dependent (linked together and mutually reinforcing each other) and that they fulfil God’s desire for children.

States are the principal duty bearers for the fulfilment of rights, and also have a key role in the redistribution of wealth, resources and opportunities.

Responsibility for, and duties to children are both individual and organisational. We are accountable simultaneously to those we seek to assist and to those from whom we accept resources. We support families and communities to work together with churches, governments, the private sector and civil society organisations to improve the well-being of children and progressively realise their rights.

Child protection

The CRC and its optional protocols demand special protection from all forms of abuse, exploitation, violence, torture and armed conflict - within families, schools, institutions and the justice system. Together with our partners, we promote community-based programming that raises awareness of children’s rights and development, toward prevention of exploitation, neglect and abuse; protection of children in abusive or exploitative situations; and restoration of children who have survived or been removed or escape from such situations, thus increasing the care and protection of children provided by families and communities.

Survival and development

Survival and development reflects God’s gift of life as well as His care and provision for every one of his children. We work with partners, governments and donors to assure adequate services and support to ensure basic survival and development of children and their communities, in timely and appropriate ways.

Participation

Participation includes partners, stakeholders, peers, communities and children who participate in shaping, guiding and monitoring our work. WV will respect the opinions of children, taking into consideration their evolving capacities, to ensure they actively participate in all aspects of policy and programme.

Partnering

We will contribute to children’s rights and well-being Outcomes through varied strategic alliances, interagency linkages and networks at different levels, as well as through partnerships with specific agencies and community-based organisations, especially churches. Key principles of partnering include equality, transparency, a result-oriented approach, responsibility and complementarily.

Mutual transformation

Supporters, staff and the public tackle poverty and injustice through prayer and action, as well as through changed values and lifestyles. As we seek to facilitate transformation of the lives of children, families, communities, partners and donors, so we also transform our own lives to respond to God’s love as expressed in Jesus Christ, and to obtain fullness of life. We invite our donors, staff, community members and other supporters to pray, give, live, act and advocate in ways that can positively change their own lives, families, communities, and societies, as well as the lives of the most vulnerable children, to enable all to discover their true identity.

Learning and reflection

We are committed to learning from our stakeholder communities and our own ministry through a process of guided reflection. We will build upon better practice and mitigate negative learning, so that we improve the effectiveness and impact of our ministry. We will proactively share our learning with others and contribute to the improvement of global change.

Incarnational living and ministry

The most important key to our relationship with God is incarnational living, which implies humility and grace, recognition of the equality of all human beings, identification with the poor and vulnerable, and recognition of their right to life with dignity. This is the responsibility for which, as individuals, we answer to God, seeking God’s transformation of our lives as we affirm God’ power to transform others and every aspect of life.

Ministry Approaches

The Ministry FrameworkApproaches determine the way World Vision operationalises the ministry Principles and contributes to the child well-being Aspirations, Outcomes and Goal. The Aspirations, Outcomes and Goal do not stand alone and must be achieved through Approaches that reflect our integrated focus, principle level choices and foundational documents.[2] The Approaches are mutually reinforcing and draw from learning from methodologies that are asset-based, rights-based, participative and relational.

Global, regional and national strategies should reflect these overall Approaches, and then further define the strategies and programme designs with sensitivity to different contexts.

Promoting just systems and structures

We will partner with civil society to advocate for governments to fulfil their responsibilities to respect the rights of children and communities, and will collaborate with them in implementing these responsibilities. We will support governments, regional and multi-lateral institutions and the private sector, together with civil society and the church, to implement policies and practices that enable pro-poor economic growth and social policy. We will partner with others to ensure safety nets are created for individual children, families and vulnerable communities, while addressing structural causes of poverty at local, national and global levels. In promoting justice we recognise thatstates may need to introduce changes to the structures and systems that inform policy making, so that children are given greater priority and visibility andstates may also need to establish mechanisms through which they can be held accountable for the commitments they have made.

We believe participation in the market economy is the primary strategy through which the social and economic rights of communities will be improved. Barriers to market participation need to be removed, while recognising that regulation is required so that they do not exploit vulnerable groups, or place essential services beyond their reach. Systems need to be built or enhanced to promote more equitable access to resources. People living in poverty require access to information, infrastructure, technology and know-how.

Enabling caring and transformed relationships

We are committed to demonstrating values and lifestyle choices that reflect Christ’s concern for the poor and powerless. We respect the dignity and value of persons that were created in the image of God, and aim to restore identities and relationships marred by repeated disasters, stigma or abuse. We promote transformation in behaviour and access to information that results in improved well-being. As families and communities enjoy equitable, just and peaceful relationships, children are enabled to realise their identity and potential as children of God.

Assuring resilient and secure households and communities

We will work together with our partners at global, national, local, and community levels to reduce risk and vulnerability to disasters, as well as to strengthen resilience to enable communities to offset risks, prepare against shocks, and decrease the vulnerabilities and injustices faced by children and adults. We base our disaster management and risk reduction approach on humanitarian principles and the concept of ‘building back better.’ Our Approaches include early warning, preparedness, mitigation, response, recovery and transition.

Emphasising the needs of the most vulnerable children, we seek to take an integrated approach to our work by ensuring that all elements of the livelihoods capitals (financial, physical, human, natural, technological, spiritual, political and social) are being used, protected and increased, whether by ourselves, stakeholders or partners. We aim for a healthy environment which contributes to children’s physical, spiritual and social wellbeing, reduces natural disasters and protects livelihoods for future generations.

Empowering children and interdependent communities

We enable, equip and empower children and communities to be agents of their own transformational change and to discover their true identity. We aim to strengthen civil society through partnership and capacity building that empower children, partners, their families and communities to claim their rights, demand an end to injustice and inequality, and create a society in which all people have the opportunity and the assets to reach their full potential.

Families and communities are empowered with the capacity to influence and shape their situation through participation in coalitions and networks at local, national, regional and global levels, based on mutual respect and transparency and ethical/moral responsibility,promoting a culture of participation and peace.

Ministry Aspirations and Outcomes

Our Aspirations for children’s well-being are that girls and boys:

·Enjoy good health

·Are educated for life

·Experience love of God and their neighbours

·Are cared for, protected and participating

Guided by these four Aspirations and our Principles and Approaches, we contribute to child well-being Outcomes. While our active contribution to specific well-being Outcomes varies from context to context, our definition remains holistic and recognizes that the Outcomes reinforce each other to enable an integrated, holistic approach to ministry.

Goal / Sustained well-being of children within families and communities, especially the most vulnerable
Aspirations / Girls & Boys:
Enjoy good health / Are educated
for life / Experience love of God and
their neighbours / Are cared for, protected and participating
Outcomes / Children are well nourished / Children read, write, and use numeracy skills / Children enjoy positive relationships with peers, family, and community members / Children cared for in a loving, safe, family and community environment with safe places to play
Children protected from infection,
disease, and injury / Children make good judgments, can protect themselves, manage emotions, and communicate ideas / Children grow in their awareness and experience of God’s love in an environment that recognises their freedom / Parents or caregivers provide well for their children
Children and their caregivers access essential health services / Adolescents ready for economic opportunity / Children value and care for others and their environment / Children celebrated
and registered at birth
Children access and complete basic education / Children have hope and vision for the future / Children are respected participants in decisions that affect their lives
Foundational
Principles / Children are citizens and their rights and dignity are upheld (including girls and boys of all religions and ethnicities, any HIV status, and those with disabilities)

Ministry Goal

The ministry Principles, Approaches, Aspirations and Outcomes provide an enabling environment which is appropriate and integrated to contribute to the ministry Goal of

Sustained well-being of children within families and communities,

especially the most vulnerable

In the Goalstatement, it is understood that there are multiple typologies of communities: WV’s ministry will engage with all types of communities and not only the traditional ‘rural’ community context. Even marginalised children who are not livingin traditional family or community structures usually form some sort of community. This Goal clarifies that we do not target children as individuals alone, and our intent is that children live in families and communities that are caring, protective and nurturing.

This Goal, in turn, moves us closer to our vision, of ‘life in all its fullness’ for girls and boys.

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Ministry Framework Revised – summary

Nov 2010

[1]See Poverty and Development in a Changing World. A background research paper developed as part of the MF process.

[2]In the Ministry Framework, the Approaches, Aspirations and Outcomes are a maturing of the ministry objectives contained within previous versions. Taken together, the Approaches, Aspirations and Outcomes now replace the ministry objectives.