A partnership is an agreement between two or more partners to work together to achieve common aims. Partnership is the heart of Dark & Light Blind Care’s international activities.
We work with local partner organisations because:

• Local organisations are in the best position to identify the needs of the target group and find cultural appropriate solutions.
• Working with local organisations ensures embedment in local structures and thus enhances sustainability of the activities.
• We want to make use of the available resources and knowledge and want to build local capacity where needed.

Roles
Within partnership we can identify different roles and tasks.
The role of the local partner organisations is:

• To identify and analyse the needs of the target group.
• To develop strategies to stand up for the rights and needs of the target group.
• To turn the strategies into programs with clear objectives, a defined period and budget.
• To work on knowledge development to improve the quality of services of their own and of third organisations.

The role of Dark & Light is:

• To finance programs that contribute to the mission and strategy of Dark & Light.
• To check whether the programs are implemented according to the agreements and in the most effective way.
• To advise partner organisations in implementation of programs, development of their organisations and improvement of their services.

Guiding principles
Working in partnership with local organisations is perceived as the best way to realise our goal. In our partnerships with local organisations we use the following guiding principles:

1. We strive for an equal relationship based on mutual respect. As a donor we try not to dominate.
2. We strive for an open communication with our partner organisations. It must be possible to make mistakes and learn from them.
3. Partnership is based on shared vision and values and common interests.
4. Building a partnership takes time and efforts from both sides.
5. The partner organisations are the owners of the project, not Dark & Light.

Government versus NGO’s
We will work with NGO’s and in some cases government institutes which only need monitoring from a distance and a visit once a year. Nonetheless, we see the importance of linking up with the government structures and therefore our preferred partners are those that work in cooperation with the government and provide capacity building of government staff.