The founding principles of the organization are peace, multiculturalism, social responsibility, equality, mutual respect, and cooperation. The code of ethics helps those active in the organization to act according to the goals and values that they have established, especially regarding weakened populations such as the Bedouin population in the Negev. The organization's activists are motivated by feelings of responsibility towards this population.
A New Dawn in the Negev is an Arab-Jewish community development organization based in Rahat, Israel. A New Dawn believes that education, employment, and leadership are the key elements helping youth and young adults rise out of poverty to become active, engaged citizens in civil society. As a community-based organization, A New Dawn in the Negev is intrinsically attuned to the challenges and opportunities of Bedouin society from the grassroots level. The Bedouin community of Israel's Negev is a marginalized, indigenous population with low socioeconomic resources, both in relation to Israel's mainstream population and its Arab non-Bedouin counterparts. Rahat is the largest Bedouin community in Israel and its only Bedouin city. With a population of 80,000, 66% of whom are estimated to be under the age of 18 and 80% under age 30, meaningful tools for leadership development and social engagement are of paramount importance to community development.
Our mission is to bring about equal opportunity and high standards in education in Bedouin society in the Negev by planting seeds of creativity, self-development and empowerment. We wish to afford the youth of the community the prerogative of fulfilling themselves in order to assure Bedouin society a responsible and principled leadership.
Our goals are to:
- Create an equality of standards in the area of formal and informal education
- Break the social isolation of Bedouin youth
- Provide tools and life skills to promote integration into Israeli and international society
- Develop ahealthy sense of identity
- Cultivate Bedouin culture as a resource for growth from a multicultural standpoint
- Imbue both the Bedouin and the Jewish communities with the values of peace, mutual respect and responsibility
Fundamental principles:
Tolerance and peace: “Don't say the day will come, bring the day” (Yaakov Rotblit, Song for Peace) We believe that peace and tolerance among sectors of Israeli society will not arrive by themselves. Therefore we see its advancement between the Bedouin and Jewish societies in the Negev as a top priority and see ourselves as obligated to endow the values of peace and tolerance amongst us, in order to allow ourselves to see the other.
Mutual respect: “There shall be no violation of the life, body or dignity of any person as such..All persons are entitled to protection of their life, body and dignity.“ (Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty , 1992) We believe in the actualization of the value of human dignity and are committed to protecting basic human rights out of the recognition that human beings are born free and equal. At the same time, we act out of sensitivity and respect for the cultural and religious differences of man.
Multiculturalism: Human beings are naturally varied. Even within one nation, there are a variety of people who come from different cultural backgrounds. When a person is aware of his cultural background and seeks to cultivate it, he has something to offer the society in which he lives. Through this offering, multiculturalism is achieved, thus allowing people to broaden their horizons.
Cooperation and coordination: We see cooperation, coordination and pooling of resources between organizations as a necessary condition for efficient action and a basis for maximizing abilities under conditions of lack of resources. We are committed to cooperation with other organizations operating within the sphere of our work.
Social responsibility: We operate out of social responsibility and a commitment to the needs of the Bedouin population while advancing values of mutual responsibility, giving, intervention and social solidarity. Therefore, we are committed to identifying the crucial, authentic societal needs required for the advancement of Bedouin society, and to develop services and provide a response that is suited both to its needs and to the abilities and the goals of the organization.
Integrity: We are committed to integrity, good governance , reliable reporting, transparency and avoidance of conflict of interest. We operate with truth and integrity and make the information on our administration, activities and use of donor funds accessible to the general public,with full transparency. We act clearly according to the regulations and goals of the organization, as defined by law, with no intent to profit.
Professionalism and efficiency: We are committed to administer our various activities with professionalism, with openness to inspection and critique and with the hope for constant efficiency. We do this in order to maximize our resources for the mission of the organization within the Bedouin population. Therefore, we act out of professional considerations only and are committed to use the resources of the organization in a professional and effective manner. We continually review our methods of conducting our activities in order to streamline them and operate in an optimal manner.
Equality: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. ..Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” (The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN, 1948)
We are committed to implement the spirit of these words for the population with which we work in an equal manner without regard to religion, race, gender, nationality, sexual or gender orientation and according to the standards that we have set, with an awareness and respect of cultural differences.
