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 Development
Learning Association
“Partnership
for Sustainable Development”
Development
Learning Association (DLA) has as its primary purpose the strengthening of a group of organizations of
civil society whose projects promote the advancement of civilization.
Aided by the collective experience of its members, DLA endeavors to help these organizations meet their financial and human resource
needs, to open channels for the exchange of information,
and to make it possible for them to learn from one another.
The following are elements of the framework which guides DLA’s
actions: Material and spiritual civilization must advance hand
in hand. Well-being and happiness cannot be relegated to the next
life. Spirituality must be built into action in such a way that
it gives rise to tangible material progress. Yet, material pursuits
alone cannot bring true prosperity. The higher aspirations of humanity
must be given due importance. The present inequality between men
and women has to be overcome. In all fields of human endeavor,
women should be allowed to assume a position of equality with men.
Moreover, in the pursuit of progress, the polarization between
the North and the South, between the developed nations and the
so-called developing nations, has to disappear, and a new partnership
between them forged.
Development Learning Association gives priority support to organizations
and projects that:
adopt an approach to development that goes beyond the improvement of physical
conditions and seeks the advancement of both material
and spiritual civilization
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facilitate the active participation of the populations they serve in the transformation
of their lives, not reducing people to the mere recipients
of goods and services
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| invest in people and have the development of human resources as a primary concern
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| focus on the development of institutional capacity in the populations they serve
as a means of strengthening the fabric of society
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seek to advance the status of women
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place at the center of their endeavors the generation and application of knowledge,
thereby enabling participants to trace their own
paths of development
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recognize the fundamental unity of humankind and uphold the principle of justice
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| manage their affairs with rectitude of conduct and are highly aware of the moral
and ethical implications of their actions
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DLA’s
European office is located in Luxembourg. It can be contacted
at the following address: 23, rue Cunigonde, L-8221 Mamer, Luxembourg,
Tel: 352 (26) 313805/6, Email: dlalux@pt.lu |
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Membership
The
current members of DLA are located in countries around the globe. Below is a brief description of each.
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 The
Badi Foundation: Established in 1990 and based in Macau, the Badi Foundation is dedicated to
the development of human resources. It recognizes that global
prosperity depends on the realization of each individual's
potential to contribute to the advance of his or her family
and community and to the well-being of humankind. The Foundation
presently oversees three programs: the School of the Nations
in Macau, which combines excellent scientific training with
sound moral development of children and youth; a technical
assistance program for primary and secondary schools in China
which addresses matters of curriculum development and moral
education; and the Social Enterprise Program, which helps
groups to initiate social service projects that can grow
into socially responsible private organizations. In addition
to its main office in Macau, the Foundation maintains a modest
representative office in Beijing. Additional information
about the School of the Nations can be found at http://www.schoolofthenations.com/evolution.htm |
 Fundación
para la Aplicación y Enseñanza de las Ciencias (FUNDAEC): For nearly thirty years, FUNDAEC has been working in the field of development. Initially, it focused its efforts
on a region of Colombia situated in the Departments of
Valle and Cauca. At present, its research and action programs
are conducted throughout the greater part of Colombia and
in several other countries of Central and South America.
Its most notable accomplishment has been the creation of
the structure and processes of the University for Integral
Development, within which the programs of various organizations
of civil society—all sharing a common philosophical perspective—are carried out. Conceived as a social space, the University for Integral Development
organizes its actions in a series of learning processes
which, continually advanced through the projects of its
participating institutions, aim at transforming practices
that define the social, economic, political and cultural
life of a region so as to improve the welfare of its inhabitants.
More information about FUNDAEC is available at its Web
site www.fundaec.org. |
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The
Ruhi Foundation: The Ruhi Foundation was established as a non-governmental organization in Colombia
in 1992, although its efforts have been evolving in that
country for close to thirty years. Its purpose is to promote
the spiritual, social and cultural progress of the people
of Colombia, especially through education. The success
of its efforts can been seen in the establishment of nearly
one hundred kindergarten and primary-level schools, whose
enrollments reach into the thousands, and in the multiplication
of ecological camps, in which hundreds of young people
have participated. These camps, together with its literacy
program "Conquering the Word", are the result of years of experience in working with junior youth. The Foundation
has also created a special program to support some of FUNDAEC's university students seeking a degree in rural education. One significant component
of the program is an internship which allows the students
to put into practice what they are learning in their university
studies. Young people from all over Latin America, especially
its indigenous areas, are currently enrolled in the program,
many of them receiving tuition scholarships from the Ruhi
Foundation. |
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Universidad Núr: Located
in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, Universidad Núr was founded in 1982.
Its primary purpose is to foster an educational process conducive
to the integral development of the potentialities latent within
the human reality—a development which is essential for the
effective promotion of an ever-advancing
civilization. In addition to its formal academic degree programs
for graduate and undergraduate students in such areas as accounting,
communications, agricultural economics, education, computer science
and commercial engineering, Núr offers a number of other programs
including: the Public Administration and Governability Training
Program, which is being carried out with funding from the state
government of Santa Cruz and aims at strengthening administrative
capacities at different government levels; the Health Systems
Management Program, which has reached some 250 health professionals
in Bolivia and has been replicated in Brazil and Africa; and
a program for the strengthening of non-governmental organizations
which emphasizes the importance of developing the capacities
of moral leadership in the institutions of civil society. One
of the most widespread of Núr's programs is the Rural Teaching
Training Program, which is the
outcome its ongoing concern to respond to needs of rural development.
More information about Núr is available at its Web site http://www.nur.edu/. |
 William
Mmutle Masetlha Foundation: Created in 1995, the
William Mmutle Masetlha Foundation is a non-profit charitable
organization dedicated to the advancement of the Zambian
people. The Foundation oversees the development of the William
Mmutle Masetlha Institute (established in October 1983) and
the Banani International School (established in January 1993).
The programs of the former combine spiritual education with
practical training in areas such as literacy and primary
health care. The latter is a residential school for girls
offering primary and secondary education, with an emphasis
on science and agriculture. The Foundation considers the
education of the girl-child an indispensable line of action,
one that must be vigorously pursued in Africa if the material
and spiritual progress of that continent is to be accelerated.
The Foundation's facilities are located on 200 hectares in
the rural area some 70 km north of Lusaka. With the exception
of the Banani School, however, the programs of the Foundation
are largely carried out in the surrounding towns and villages
through trained facilitators.
Its ongoing work among the local population has created in
the Foundation an acute awareness of the educational needs
of rural youth, and with this in mind, it is now supporting
the efforts of FUNDAEC to
develop the Capstone Program for Zambia, whose twofold purpose
is to prepare
youth in the rural areas for secondary education or vocational
training and to assist them in passing through the difficult
transition from childhood to adolescence and in becoming
productive participants in community life. Additional information
about the Banani School can be found at http://www.banani.sch.zm/
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