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Do No Harm

How UMMA makes sure its help does not hurt the people and places it serves.

Do No Harm is the first rule of UMMA's work. Our help must be useful and fair, given without discrimination, and we expect nothing in return. Much of the work happens in fragile places and in war, where even well-meant aid can do damage, so we take the time to understand a community before we act in it.

Our Commitments

Four commitments shape every program:

  • People first. We protect the safety, dignity and rights of the people we serve and their families, and we listen to them, because they know their own lives best.
  • Peace within communities. Our work should strengthen the ties between people, and between communities and the people who govern them, never strain them.
  • Care for the land. We avoid harm to the land and water people live from, and build sustainable practice into our programs.
  • Local economies. We buy from local markets and support local work, so our help strengthens an economy rather than undercutting it.

Beyond the Emergency

Relief is the start. We also work on what causes hunger and insecurity, support the local and national services that already exist instead of replacing them, and keep the link between communities and their own institutions intact.

Fitting Each Place

We shape each program to the needs, customs and leadership of the community it serves, and change it when the situation changes.

Humanitarian Principles

We follow the four principles recognized across humanitarian work:

  • Humanity: every person has the right to live with dignity, and we work to ease suffering and protect life.
  • Impartiality: we help according to need alone, whatever a person's race, religion or politics.
  • Neutrality: in a conflict we take no side, so our help can reach everyone who needs it.
  • Independence: our decisions answer to need, never to political, economic or military interests.

Accountability

To keep the trust of the people we serve and the people who fund the work, we:

  • Publish how we work, what we spend and what our programs do, including our filed returns.
  • Check our programs as they run, ask the people they serve, and change what is not working.
  • Hold ourselves to strict standards against corruption, exploitation and abuse.