Our Approach

GOAL's Approach

GOAL aims for people to achieve resilient well-being, which we define as people surviving crises, having resilient health, and having economic and food and nutrition security.

To achieve this, GOAL uses an integrated approach combining systems-thinking, resilience, social behavior change, and inclusion. This integrated approach informs design within all GOAL programming, whether emergency response, health, nutrition, food security, WASH, or economic development.

GOAL’s aim is not to become a permanent part of any system, but to facilitate change within it, thereby addressing the root causes behind the system weaknesses that exclude and marginalize vulnerable populations and lead to poverty, discrimination, and inequality.

Systems Approach

GOAL understands that all people live and work within existing, interconnected socio-economic systems, such as health systems, education systems, market systems, and legal systems. In GOAL’s working environments, systems often function poorly or not at all, leading to inequality and exclusion amongst the most vulnerable.

GOAL identifies the permanent actors within a system and clearly defines its role relative to these stakeholders, understanding that they are the principal catalysts of change and will remain a fundamental part of the system long after GOAL’s input. In effect, GOAL acts as a facilitator of change so that the vulnerable communities with whom we
work can participate in and gain access to basic humanitarian rights and a range of socio-economic opportunities on
a sustainable basis.

Building Resilience

Resilience is a fundamental element of GOAL’s programming. At its core, it is the belief that communities and households living within complex systems can be assisted to anticipate and adapt to risks in order to be able to absorb, respond, and recover from shocks without compromising their long-term well being.

By investing in resilience, recovery following a crisis is enlivened, and communities and households are better prepared for subsequent shocks and stresses. Strengthening resilience aims to foster independence for affected communities
over the long term, should crises re-occur.

Fostering Inclusion

Inclusion is the dynamic process that gives recognition, roles, influence, and powers to individuals or groups in a particular system, counteracting the processes that create vulnerability, exclusion and discrimination. GOAL ensures that these processes are understood and used to inform program design, with the aim of enabling vulnerable
people to participate in and shape their societies.

Gender and age are key elements affecting inclusion, and the change GOAL seeks to create is with groups that are in some way marginalized, neglected, or excluded. Inclusion is about understanding and addressing the mechanisms which create exclusion and designing programs to counteract it.

Social/Behavioral Change

Recognizing that there are multiple relationships, interactions and behaviors that affect how functional and inclusive a system is, GOAL, through partnering with stakeholders from Government, community/civil society and the private sector, designs programs aimed at changing context-specific behaviors in a system that prevent it from working efficiently and inclusively