·Every human being has the right to nourishment, accommodation, medical care, clothing and education. The resources of the earth should be used in a just and appropriate way to meet those needs, while at the same time maintaining the fragile natural balance on the planet.
· Every human being regardless of race, creed, gender, color or social status is a dignified member of the human family and should be treated with understanding and respect. No one is insignificant, and each deserves special attention and recognition.
· It is only by showing respect for women, and ensuring their integration and active participation in the development process, that a harmonious growth of the family, community and society as a whole can be achieved. Women should be actively encouraged to enter the decision-making process, and all programs should turn special attention to gender issues and needs.
· Development is a balanced and integrated process that maintains an equilibrium between industry and the environment, urban and rural growth, human needs and available resources. Development should lessen the gap between rich and poor and provide opportunities for all. It should involve the communities it affects in every one of its stages, and it should seek to create transparency, accountability and community ownership.
· Appropriate development begins within the social and cultural framework of each community, and seeks to enable underprivileged communities to gain a greater degree of independence to determine their own future. Such community-based appropriate development is key to developing solutions to the current ecological and social crisis in the world.AMURT-Haiti seeks to establish a balanced social and economic model of development upon the tenets of PROUT, the Progressive Utilization Theory. Propounded by one of the most advanced thinkers and philosophers of the XX century, P.R. Sarkar, this alternative social model challenges the conventional paradigms established by the rigid mechanistic structures of thought. Instead PROUT puts an emphasis on the balance between the physical, mental, and spiritual needs of each individual and the society as a whole. Combining the wisdom of universal spirituality and the struggle for self-reliance and autonomy, PROUT offers a progressive alternative in the current crisis and dearth of progressive solutions. Its basic tenets have increasingly provided guidance and structure to AMURT-Haiti’s community accompaniment and self-sufficiency philosophy.
