ULB-Cooperation is the NGO of the Université libre de Bruxelles, (ULB). Its development actions take place in Burkina Faso, Senegal, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Belgium. The NGO is involved in four areas: health and healthcare systems, territories and resources, entrepreneurship and management, and education and critical citizenship. We aim to improve people’s living conditions on a social, environmental, and financial level.
Our vision, mission, and values
Our vision
ULB-Cooperation is a positive agent of change, which contributes to the development of:
- A strong civil society
- Functional public services
- A responsible private sector working towards sustainable development
- Societies in which fundamental human rights are recognized
- Fair international relations
Our mission
Alongside other agents of change, the ULB-Cooperation:
Co-creation of spaces that enable change
These spaces enable stakeholders to work towards change by considering and enhancing multiple dimensions:
- Freedom and Justice: promoting the right to make a positive change, self-determination, and freedom of expression for everyone.
- Culture and collective memory: rediscovering, respecting, and highlighting cultural aspects
- Dialogue: encouraging active listening, open-mindedness, and democracy
- Skills: boosting technical, scientific, pedagogical, and intercultural skills
- Synergy: acting in concert on different matters, at suitable times and appropriate levels
- Resources: providing material and financial resources, improving infrastructure, and working environments
- A qualitative approach: developing rigor, critical thinking, and self-assessment
Encouraging and contributing to research, innovation, and creativity
The NGO, the University and their partners inspire each other to support:
- Critical thinking on development policies and development cooperation
- The critical analysis of their own interventions
- The co-implementation of action research applied to or based on the experiences and needs of stakeholders and beneficiaries
- The development and dissemination of new technologies as well as scientific and operational methodologies
- Scientific monitoring (regularly monitoring the scientific and technological environment)
Promoting knowledge exchanges among agents of change
These knowledge exchanges aim to:
- Foster knowledge adaptation and sharing
- Capitalize on experiences
- Develop skills
- Develop good practice centres
VALUES
ULB-Cooperation is a professional NGO that remains true to its values and commitments.
ULB-Cooperation is committed to helping build a society in which life is enjoyable, where fairness, emancipation, solidarity and responsibility prevail and where every citizen is treated equally, without gender discrimination.
ULB-Cooperation is also involved in building public spaces centered around freedom and development, that are respectful of philosophical convictions and religious beliefs.
ULB-Cooperation is an agent of development and of North-South cooperation that develops a systemic and multidisciplinary approach in which individuals and their environment are taken into account. It is committed to making positive and sustainable changes.
ULB-Cooperation develops actions in collaboration with beneficiaries and partners, with excellence in mind by applying high standards in terms of integrity, transparency, and ethics. These actions meet people’s most urgent needs by providing appropriate, sustainable and innovative responses, which are respectful of individuals, cultures, and the environment.
Through its vision and actions, ULB-Cooperation embraces the principles of free enquiry, which promotes independent reasoning, critical thinking and the rejection of all dogmas or arguments from authority about knowledge.
Ethics and integrity
ULB-Cooperation gives absolute priority to respecting the values it defends. To this end, ULB-Cooperation has adopted a Charter and a Code of Conduct that set out the values it defends, as well as the behavior and practices expected and the behavior to be avoided by anyone working for, engaging or representing ULB-Cooperation in any way whatsoever.
In order to ensure the smooth running of its activities, the sound management of its resources and the well-being of its employees, partners and beneficiaries, ULB-Cooperation has set up steering, administrative, control and information mechanisms. These mechanisms contain specific measures to prevent, detect and manage events that could affect the quality of the actions, the integrity of the operations, but also and above all the physical and psychological integrity of all those involved or affected by the actions. The management committee and the office coordinators are responsible for informing the members and staff of the organization of the key principles of internal control and respect for integrity. To this end, information and training measures are taken to make members and staff at headquarters and in the field aware of the importance, specifics and modalities of fraud and integrity management.
Reporting procedures
Any partner or beneficiary who is a victim or witness of violence or disrespect for his or her physical or moral integrity, or who is a victim or witness to acts of fraud or corruption committed by a member of ULB-Cooperation’s staff, is strongly encouraged to make sure that these facts are made known to ULB-Cooperation’s hierarchy so that they can be dealt with. Several communication channels can be activated depending on the seriousness of the facts and the people concerned. They are described in a document given to the partners. A contact form is available on this site, and an e-mail can also be sent to info@ulb-cooperation.org.