Introduction
The Livelihood Sovereignty Alliance (LISO) is an alliance of 7 Vietnam-based civil society organizations: Towards Ethnic Women (TEW- 1994), Centre for Human Ecology Studies of Highlands (CHESH – 1999), Centre for Indigenous Knowledge Research and Development (CIRD - 2000); Social Policy Ecology Research Institute (SPERI - 2006); Culture Identity and Resource Use Management (CIRUM - 2006), Consultancy on Development (CODE - 2007), and Community Entrepreneur Development Institute (CENDI - 2015) - each of which is dedicated to working toward the livelihood sovereignty of indigenous ethnic minorities by defending their community rights to their own natural resource governance, retaining their local knowledge in practicing their traditional farming method in the Mekong region.
Purpose and Scope
The LISO Alliance Code of Good Conduct sets out the vision, values, principles, commitments, and standards of expected behaviour to guide the behaviour of all individuals employed by or acting on behalf of member organisations.
Vision
The LISO Alliance is inspired by a vision of self-determining indigenous communities living in harmony with nature, sustaining their traditional values of community solidarity and nurturing nature, based on 5 fundamental rights of Livelihood Sovereignty - 1) the right to Land (basic); 2) the right to performance one’s own religion on one’s own land (unique); 3) the right to practice one’s own knowledge in daily farming (practice); 4) the right to decide what to grow on one’s own land (holistic); and 5) the right to co-government of one’s land (strategic) - and 5 core characteristics of Ecological Viability - 1) diversity; 2) uniqueness; 3) interaction; 4) adaptability; and 5) sustainability.
Values
Nurturing Nature: We value deeply the value of the indigenous people of the nature as the mother of all creation and support modes of behaviour, particularly in daily ecological livelihood which nurturing the function of ecosystems. Self-determination: we understand the right of all communities to choose their own path of further going culturally, ecologically, socially and economically. Respect: we respect the traditional wisdom, customs, knowledge and norms of indigenous societies in nurturing nature.
Community Wellbeing: we value community wellbeing over material prosperity. Justice: we work for a just society in which all people have equal respect and the structural causes of poverty are eliminated.
Principles
Participation: we ensure that the people we serve are involved in the whole processes started from problem analysis, causes, consequences and solutions over their own problems through programmatic approaches; Solidarity: while working with isolated indigenous communities who are struggling to maintain their livelihood sovereignty and ecological farming systems, we learn how to become a member of their solidarity and egalitarian community; so that the community will open up for welcoming us to hand in hand along with them long term.
Voluntarism: we encourage a voluntary attitude toward working in the service of communities who is lacking opportunities in participation for their own decision making, putting community service in the first priority is our LISO alliance culture and norm.
Commitments
Learning how to empower the indigenous community organizational and institutional characteristic and defending their dignity and their cultural diversity; Learning how to consolidate the indigenous community wisdom, customary laws and knowledge in sustaining their own ecological diversity territory; Learning how to facilitate community-based participatory approach in our work that strengthen local confident in their decision making for self-determination. Learning how to enrich the relationships between LISO Alliance members and indigenous farmer in order to build up a better and deeper understanding between farmer and us.
Standards of behaviour
We expect standards of behaviour of all LISO Alliance member organization and employees of those organizations to accord with the above values, principle and commitments of the LISO Alliance. This includes all permanent and temporary staff, interns, consultants, volunteers, and individuals working for or on behalf of LISO Alliance member organizations. All activities undertaken by LISO Alliance member organisation and their personnel will have as their goal indigenous community ownership of their land and natural resources governed according to their own wisdom, customs, knowledge and norms. When seeking cooperation with other organization, LISO Alliance member organizations and personnel must ensure that partner organizations and their representatives understand and support LISO Alliance vision, values, principles and commitments.
The behaviours bellows are especially prohibited at work:
1. Corrupt, abuse, misuse and waste time and assets of organizations;
2. Distort the LISO Alliance’s philosophy, damage solidarity and neglect responsibility for organizations, communities and colleagues;
3. Conceal, be dishonest and irresponsible at work;
4. Offend the dignity of people in communities colleagues and partners.
5. Smoke, drink beer/alcohol and use other stimulants;
6. Buy/sell precious and rare animals and plants;
7. Use plastic products.
Individuals employed by or acting on behalf of the LISO Alliance member organisations shall be responsible, in accordance with regulations of the member organizations and current Law of Vietnam, for their breaches of the LISO Alliance Code of Good Conduct.
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