The IIRR Credo

The Credo articulates the principles that IIRR adheres to in working with its local partners to plan and implement programs as learning partners. It reads: 

Go to the people
Live among them
Learn from them
Plan with them
Work with them
Start with what they know
Build on what they have
Teach by showing
Learn by doing
Not a showcase but a pattern
Not odds and ends but a system
Not piecemeal but an integrated approach
Not to conform but to transform
Not relief but release


Bookmark and Share


The Nine Major Rural Reconstruction Principles, written in Chinese by Dr. James Y.C. Yen. Please click the image for a translation.

ABOUT US

Who We Are

The International Institute of Rural Reconstruction is a small international development, research and training organization with over 80 years of grassroots experience working in people-centered, sustainable development in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Today, IIRR maintains…Read More >>


What We Do

We enable communities and those who work with them to develop innovative yet practical solutions to poverty. Together with our strategic partners, we have pioneered participatory, people-centered and sustainable development since the early 1920s.  We conserve…Read More >>


Our Mission, Vision, & Values

Our Mission We enable communities and those who work with them to develop innovative yet practical solutions to poverty through a community-led development approach and widely share these lessons to encourage replication. Our Vision We envision…Read More >>


Policies & Governance

IIRR’s Board of Trustees and staff take the Credo and Values of the organization very seriously. In keeping with the organization’s mission, vision, and values, the following policies and governance documents guide our work: Donor Privacy…Read More >>