Global Citizenship: Scotland's International Development Strategy

Our Priorities

Encourage new and historic relationships

• By harnessing Scotland's historical and contemporary links to the developing world in our programmes, which will support Scotland's "living" and "breathing" international development engagement.
• By strengthening partnerships between Scotland and our partner countries, through our governments; universities and colleges; institutions; public and private sectors; civil society; and communities.
• By supporting the principles of effective partnership including: equality of relations between partners; engagement and participation at all levels and within all sectors of society; good governance and accountability.

Empower our partner countries

• Through development work which will be needs-led, respecting of human rights and guided by national priorities, capacities and levels of development.
• Through our in-country programmes which will focus Scotland's expertise to provide a distinctive development contribution, maximise impact, promote democratic values, and enable skills and capacity strengthening in-country.
• Through our partnership approach which will unleash a multiplier effect, thus empowering communities to effect change and work towards sustainable development.

Engage the people of Scotland

• To build upon Scotland's history as an outward-facing, humanitarian nation to boost domestic support for international development.
• To enable individuals, communities (including diasporas) and professions to realise their own potential to help to achieve development outcomes.
• To raise awareness of our international development work including through networking organisations.

Enhance our global citizenship

• By keeping good global citizenship at the very heart of our international development work for the "Common Weal", an old Scots term meaning the collective wellbeing of all humanity.
• By taking a holistic "do no harm" approach to sustainable development, recognising that Scotland and the modern world are interdependent and our choices and actions may have repercussions for people and communities locally, nationally and internationally.
• By inspiring communities and young people to realise their role as good global citizens in the wider world, passing on the baton to the next generation.