📔Values

Be Considerate

• There are different levels of digital literacy and language/localization in a global community.

• Help each volunteer find roles that work for them and help them learn.

• Be mindful of people's time.

• Be respectful toward all time zones.

• We agree to make this an environment where it is safe to ask for help.

Be Respectful

• Consider the ethics of data sharing/ownership.

• Practice and contribute under the principle of "do no harm".

• Recognize that we have potential to do harm and commit to constantly reassessing this risk.

• Understand and work with the community and audience as to what "harm" means to them.

• Be polite, friendly and patient in all forms of communication and value each other's ideas,styles and viewpoints.

• Be careful in the words that you choose.

Be Inclusive

• Being inclusive means being kind and community focused.

• Go out of your way and across cultures to include people and help new perspectives to be heard.

• Avoid slang or idioms that might not translate across cultures, or be deliberate in explaining them to share our diverse cultures and languages.

• Speak plainly and avoid acronyms and jargon that not everyone may have an understanding of.

• Be an ally to others when you see a need.

• Accomodate many cultural practises, attitude and beliefs.

Be Collaborative

• When we disagree, we consult others.

• When we are unsure, we ask for help.

• Give feedback. Good feedback is kind, respectful, clear, and constructive, and focused on goals and values rather than personal preferences.

• We take care of ourselves and each other so we can make great contributions and be around for the long haul.

• Hand off your work considerately by turning over remaining tasks to the coordinator, team lead or another contributor.

• Ensure and create thorough documentation to protect resilience.

Be Transparent

• Maintain transparency of process and code.

• Share your process, best practices, and lessons learned so others have opportunities to share with you, and to help build community.

• The community is committed to a radically participatory ethic. Everyone is invited to work. Everyone is invited to play. No prerequisites exist to participate in the community. Inclusiveness in make-up, action, and participation.

  • (Prerequisites do have to be set. Depending on how a VTC is organized, their leadership may be assuming legal liability for actions of members. Those assuming risk have to be in a position to control their risk by setting rules.)

• Seek to overcome barriers that stand between us and the reality of those around us, as well as participation in society.

Be Mindful of People's Privacy

• Be mindful of security and privacy considerations. Do not share sensitive data (see the ICRC Professional Standards on Protection Work).
• Follow verification and security guidelines for mapping – do not publish dangerous speech, personal names, and personal identifying information (guidelines to be determined).

• Ushahidi adheres to and is compliant with GDPR. You can find out more about our GDPR compliance in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

Committing to Self-Improvement

None of us are perfect: all of us from time to time will fail to live up to our very high standards. What matters isn’t having a perfect track record, but owning up to your mistakes and committing to a clear and persistent effort to improve.If you are approached as having (consciously or otherwise) acted in a way that might make your teammates feel unwelcome, listen with an open mind and avoid becoming defensive. Remember that if someone offers you feedback, it likely took a great deal of courage for them to do so. The best way to respect that courage is to acknowledge your mistake, apologize, and move on — with a renewed commitment to do better.