Sustainability and Impact
Our primary mission at IDVRM is to diversify responses to domestic violence and other forms of gender-based violence (GBV) while subverting cognitive and structural inequalities that marginalise the expertise and experience of non-western and migrant communities. Our work is guided by an Impact Framework that reflects our four-fold mission, identifying specific pathways and metrics to track progress.
Our definition of sustainability
We define sustainability as the integration and contextualisation of GBV programmes and domestic violence responses in community realities and worldviews to a) promote alignment with community lived experiences and priorities, b) overcome epistemic inequalities and funding dependencies, and c) achieve programme continuity.
Cultural Value
We contribute to cultural sustainability by promoting culturally resonant and faith-sensitive responses through our research, interventions and consultancy and by supporting community-based, indigenous organisations to develop GBV leadership in research and programme delivery through co-funding and locally tailored capacity-building.
Social Value
We are aware that GBV responses in development, humanitarian and migration contexts have not eschewed issues of exploitative research practices and behaviours and aim to generate social value by upholding the highest ethical and safeguarding standards. These are detailed in our Research Ethics and Safeguarding Policy, aligning to UK-based and international policies, including the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Modern Slavery Act 2015. We have in place a robust Due Diligence Policy to ascertain the financial and organisational standards of collaborators, clients and funders.
Social – Operational value
Aware of exploitative practices in international corporate work and the historical marginalisation of non-western expertise, we aim to create meaningful and well-paid roles for our international experts and to cultivate staff growth across borders. We do so by limiting volunteer positions to one year, articulating clear standards of employment and promoting fair compensation to consultants internationally.
We also prioritise wellbeing, trauma-sensitivity and flexibility in the way we work as a team to promote life-work balance and move away from toxic higher education and corporate burnout practices.
Economic Value
Our aim is to become financially sustainable to be able to create new job opportunities for our volunteers and re-invest our surplus in organisational development and impact maximisation. We maintain financial transparency by producing accurate annual reports and managing funds according to ‘value for money’, and demand the same standards from our partners, clients and collaborators.
Recognising the colonial or extractivist origins of some philanthropic and corporate wealth, we have put in place a thorough Due Diligence policy to evaluate the financial and operational standards of funders, donors, partners and clients, and we commit to working with those that share our values.
Environmental Value
We are conscious of environmental concerns and believe that as an organisation there are small steps that we can take to reduce waste and promote good resource management. We follow numerous strategies to contribute to environmental goals, such as keeping international travel via flights to the minimum to reduce CO2 emissions, favouring online events and conferences instead of international symposia that are resource-intensive, as well as using digital publications and zero-paper policies.
Economic Sustainability
Ensure financial resilience to support mission-driven work without compromising values.
Social Sustainability
Uphold ethical, decolonial, inclusive and trauma-informed practices that safeguard communities and staff.
Cultural Sustainability
Reduce cognitive and structural inequalities; strengthen culturally grounded, faith-informed domestic violence responses.
Environmental Sustainability
| Minimise environmental footprint pragmatically and proportionally to organisational scale. |
