Social responsibility is our commitment to the values that govern our work, and it stems from our full awareness that responsibility means transparency and accountability for the choices we make to achieve our goals. To strengthen this responsibility, we have chosen four key concepts that form the basis of our work:
• Democracy:
Democracy is a system of government in which eligible citizens participate equally – either directly or indirectly through a system of representation – in proposing, developing, and originating laws. Democracy is a system that encompasses social, economic and cultural conditions which guarantee the free and equal exercise for self-determination of all citizens. Through our work, we seek to consolidate democracy not only as a culture but as a daily practice at the internal level within the organization, as well as at the community level. We also work towards making democracy a mechanism of government in Syria’s future.
• Human Rights:
Human rights are moral principles or social norms that describe certain standards of human behavior, and are generally perceived as fundamental rights that should not be compromised. They are intrinsic and inherent to any individual by virtue of being human, irrespective of identity, location, language, religion, ethnic origin or any other status. The protection of these fundamental rights is regulated as legal rights under domestic and international law.
Accordingly, CCSD adopts international conventions and covenants as an essential reference for our work. These include;
– Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
– International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
– International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
• Women’s Rights:
Women’s rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. CCSD has the utmost regard for the principle of equality and justice between men and women. The principal reference to CCSD’s work on women’s rights is the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which was adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly.
• Transparency:
Transparency is one of the most recent terms used by anti-corruption agencies around the world. The implication of transparency is that the public should be informed of the policy methodology, and how the state is managed by its heads of state, governments, ministers and all those working in state institutions in order to open up undisclosed policies, procedures and practices to public scrutiny. Transparency is defined as the mechanism of disclosure by the state of all its activities in planning and implementation, to reduce corruption and increase government accountability, efficiency and citizen participation.
The concept of transparency is a right of citizenship, and it is closely linked to fundamental human rights. Citizens have the right to obtain adequate information about transactions and procedures related to their interests. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression. This right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. The Special Rapporteur of the UN Commission on Human Rights stated that the right to request, obtain and disseminate information requires states to ensure public access to information.