Organization
AIDA conducts its efforts according to four basic principles:
1. Encourage Transnational Collaboration - In many cases, environmental crises can’t be boxed into individual nations. Pesticide spraying in Colombia threatens forests in Ecuador; polluted waters from Bolivia damage fragile wetlands in Brazil; overfishing by boats registered in Panama causes global disruptions in marine ecosystems; and consumer excess in the United States strains environmental resources throughout the hemisphere. AIDA doesn’t let political boundaries dictate the scope of our efforts. We do what it takes to win, no matter how many borders we have to cross along the way.
2. Protect human rights - Environmental health and human rights are two sides of the same coin. Without the services provided by functioning ecosystems – clean water, breathable air, and productive soil – human communities cannot thrive. When human rights are violated, democracy fails. When significant disparities in economic capacity and political influence are involved, AIDA protects poor communities struggling against powerful corporate or state interests.
3. Cultivate the power of international law - Many international treaties make lofty promises that lead to little action. Commitments on paper are meaningless without real-world incentives and mechanisms for enforcement. AIDA designs international strategies that lead to measurable results – we hold governments accountable and build the capacity of key players in positions to make a difference.
4. Encourage citizen enforcement and public participation - Lasting change comes from the ground up. AIDA works to empower the communities and organizations that we represent. Sometimes, governments cannot be relied upon to protect basic environmental and human rights. When the authorities don’t deliver, AIDA helps nonprofit organizations enforce the law.
Read more about this topic: Interamerican Association For Environmental Defense
Famous quotes containing the word organization:
“The methods by which a trade union can alone act, are necessarily destructive; its organization is necessarily tyrannical.”
—Henry George (1839–1897)
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—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)
“Democracy means the organization of society for the benefit and at the expense of everybody indiscriminately and not for the benefit of a privileged class.”
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