Values- Ethics as Development Professional

In the current times discussion on AI and ethics seem to be getting some attention. Few years back as a social sector professional we also had closed door discussions on ethics as development sector professional. Now many of these ethics are coded interms of organisational policies e.g conflict of interest, values are articulated as organisational values some beautiful terms which could also be flavour of the season e.g being inclusive.

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However what does value mean- In economic terms it’s the price that you pay for a product or service - that is the value of that product and service.

I learnt about my personal and professional values with this very simple understanding - What is the price/ cost that I am ready to incur for what I consider are my values. It is important to have some conception of our personal and professional values since in long term the patters that emerge in journey could be determined by what our values were - what did we sign up for, what did we/ I not accept as a professional and what did I negotiate. Our values are also determined by our early experiences of life – we begin to value certain way of being. The position that we occupy in social structure, family also determines what we value. As a person from certain caste, class, religion, gender, region the experiences that we gain are at the core of creating our values. I found myself valuing more that was available less e.g autonomy, empathy, truth ?(my understanding of truth also emerged from a sense of fairness which recently got challenged as I read Sen’s seminal work Idea of Justice)

This may sound nostalgic – I remember my MSW days where my go to phrase was being a better human and being truthful, again I did not have the Postmodernist view of truth until a decade back when I pursued doctoral studies. And now for me knowing the truth from different perspectives is a value that I have started cherishing.

Also emanating from a human-rights perspective that every person even the one accused has the right to share their truth.

What kind of price do we as professionals pay for our values? The first could be being Judged by others

We could possibly see ourselves as being included or excluded from particular groups

We ourselves could begin to judge ourselves as we see our patterns – this could also be a huge space for transformation

The list can go on- do add to this in list if and when you comment

The social/ development sector itself is going through a churning and the values of the sector are changing – social organisations valuing being invisible to getting focused on branding, development processes unfolding with the stakeholders and a deep focus on reflection and learning – now completion of activities and LFA whatever it takes to twist-turn-go upside down but ensure the activity is done, Also a time when investments were made to nurture the field staff in a holistic way, now investments are largely made from a project lens and delivery of activities.

As a development sector professional the I do find my professional and personal values getting challenged with the changes in the sector. I truly wonder what the churning could bring out- which values would hold the test of time and the transition and which would become negotiable and no longer be the values that I would cherish.