Vision, Mission and and Values
Vision
In all societies grandmothers are valued and actively contribute to building healthy families and communities.
Mission
Grandmother Project’s mission is to improve the health and well-being of women, children and families in countries in the Global South by empowering communities to drive their own development by building on their own experience, resources and cultural realities.
To carry out our mission, we work on two levels:
- With Communities: we work directly with both rural and urban communities to develop, document and evaluate innovative approaches to social change
- With Development Organizations: we build the capacity of other organizations to implement programs using our Change through Culture approach
Values
- Equality irrespective of gender, age or ethnicity
- Social justice in all initiatives
- Respect for positive cultural values, roles and traditions
- Participation of communities in addressing all issues
- Community empowerment to bring about change
- Sustainable impacts
Change through Culture
Change through Culture approach
Grandmother Project works with both rural and urban communities to improve the lives of women and children, especially of girls, using an innovative Change through Culture approach. This approach builds on community knowledge and experience and empowers communities to promote positive change for the benefit of all. Key pillars of Change through Culture are:
- Building on cultural roles, values and traditions
- Recognizing the wisdom and authority of elders and involving them in all programs, especially the grandmothers
- Strengthening communication between generations
- Empowering communityleaders and groups to promote the well being
- Creating consensus for change through dialogue
Grandmother Project’s experience using a Change through Culture approach motivates both community members and development workers to work together to preserve positive aspects of existing cultural values and traditions and to change harmful ones.
Grandmother Project (GMP) was officially registered in the U.S. in 2005 as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. In 2011 it was recognized in Senegal as an international non-profit organization.
