I am an Asian NGO Leader, I rose to the challenges of the times. I heed to the call and spirit of my generation for a just, free, empowered, sustainable, developed and happy rural Asia. I draw inspiration and courage from the community of rural people I serve and from the support of my family, comrades, colleagues, mentors and friends.

I am a lead catalyst of social change. I initiate processes that empower people thru collective action. I am able to animate, inspire, challenge, influence, mobilize and draw people together to define what they want and move forward towards a shared goal.

I practice Musyawarah thus allowing the dialogue of life to flow and be transformed into understanding and productive cooperation through consensus.

I put value to relationships. I respect and get enriched by the diversity of idea and cultures of the people I worked with. I maintain an open yet critical mind in the spirit of pluralism. I listen well and empathizes with people. I nurture and promote the fellowship and solidarity within my organization and the broader formations of civil society where I belong.

I am inclusive. I work for processes and mechanism that provide recognition and equal opportunity to people regardless of gender, age, color, beliefs, ethnicity and religion. I endeavor not to create divides between people rather create venues to welcome each one as a member of the human family.

I am an innovator. I am an eager learner thus I go beyond my comfort zone and tries new ways of doing things. I am not limited by current limitations and conditions. I explore new strategies and approaches. I invests on developing expertise. I maintain direct contact with communities to ensure relevance of programs and strategies.

I am an advocate. I able to gather and synthesize information in a simple and useful form and able to communicate it effectively to different stakeholders. I join activities which provide me information and collective analysis of issues with the end in mid of coming with better alternatives and policy reforms.

I am creative. I make use of traditional culture e.g. dances, songs, poetry, local products as means to communicate idea and build solidarity

I am a mentor. I allow new leaders to emerge. I create learning opportunities for people to rise to leadership. I provide enabling environment for young activists and development workers to accomplish their tasks. I provide a “gentle breeze push” to motivate them to take on greater leadership roles.

I am a bearer of hope. I manifest and exude inner strength, passion, clarity of vision and positive outlook which captures the imagination of people and inspires them to move towards a common direction.

I am persevering in the face of difficulties. I endure with joy and consumed by passion to accomplish the task at hand and to pursue the struggle towards the vision for social change.

I am a reflective practitioner. I nurture the habit of maintaining quite moments for reflection which allows me to learn from my experiences and enables me to recognize mistakes and make amends. My mistakes humbles me and allow me to be forgiving to myself and to others too.

I lead with integrity. I maintain high moral standards by not compromising my principles and the principles of the civil society I represent. I am just and fair in my undertaking . I do my best to do what I preach.

I lead a simple and healthy lifestyle. I manages my time efficiently to balance my work and family concerns. I keep myself physically fit through exercise, healthy diet, and creative breaks. I avoid wasteful and extravagant lifestyles.

Rationale for the Code of Conduct of Asian NGO Leaders
As members of the community of NGO leaders in Asia, we recognize the importance of articulating and making known to the broader public the ethical principles that guide the work of social development workers.

Ethical dilemmas occur when values are in conflict. The Asian NGO Leaders Code of Ethics states the qualities and values to which we are committed, and embodies the ethical responsibilities of an NGO leader in this changing environment.

We significantly work for the formation of social infrastructures at all levels particularly thru building alternative community-based models and cohesive networks, coalitions and social movements actively engaged in advocacy for policy reforms as our contribution towards the vision for just, free, empowered sustainable and happy rural Asia. As such we are committed to participatory and empowering processes. We have a special obligation to ensure the quality participation particularly of the grassroots to democratic governance as well as to access and control over resources necessary for sustainable development.

The principles expressed in terms of qualities of an NGO leaders used in this Code are expressed in broad statements to guide NGO leaders in assessing one’s conduct and hopefully aid in ethical decision making. These statements provide a view of an Asian NGO leader; they cannot and do not dictate conduct to cover particular situations.