EIESL is guided by the following ethical code of conduct:
Ethical conduct in international engagement
“It is the curse of humanity that it learns to tolerate even the most horrible situations by habituation.”
Rudolf Virchow
Introduction
The knowledge and fortitude to act ethically and to be socially responsible in our world of increasing global interdependence is ever more a precondition for a humane society. Universal human values of respect, forbearance, and integrity are binding principles that transcend cultural difference and connect societies.
In keeping with the Mission of The University of British Columbia, the EIESL project seeks to enable us to become exceptional global citizens, dedicated to excellence, equity, and mutual respect. As socially responsible members of society, we seek to work with and for our communities, and be agents for positive change. We will acknowledge our obligations as global citizens, and strive to secure a sustainable and equitable future for the people of British Columbia, Canada, and the world.
Ethical Conduct in International Engagement
We have adopted and adapted the Tri-Council Policy Statement on Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS) as the governing standard for our international engagement efforts. The TCPS established ethical principles have been widely adopted by diverse scholarly disciplines and, as such, they express common standards, values and aspirations of the scholarly community. Our work adheres to the following key principles:
- Respect for Human Dignity: The cardinal principle of ethics is respect for human dignity. This principle aspires to protecting the multiple and interdependent interests of the person – from bodily to psychological to cultural integrity. This principle forms the basis of the ethical obligations in international engagement. An ethic of international engagement involving any and all persons should include two essential components:
- The selection and achievement of morally acceptable ends.
- The morally acceptable means to those ends.
- The first component is directed at defining acceptable ends in terms of the benefits of international engagement for individuals, communities, and societies, and for the advancement of knowledge and service. The second component is directed at ethically appropriate means of international engagement.For example, even in the most promising of international engagement initiatives, a person must not be deceived into participating in any activity through a promise of insincere benefits. Part of the core moral objection would concern the use of another human solely as a means toward even legitimate ends.The objection provides moral insight that proves pertinent to international engagement in several ways: First, it translates into the familiar moral imperative of respect for human dignity. It is unacceptable to treat persons solely as means (mere objects or things), because doing so fails to respect their intrinsic human dignity and thus impoverishes all of humanity. Second, it translates into the requirement that the welfare and integrity of the individual remain paramount in international engagement activities. Thus, the moral imperative of respect for human dignity translates into a number of important correlative ethical principles in engagement ethics. These are elaborated below:
- Respect for Free and Informed Consent: Respect for persons means respecting the exercise of individual consent. In practical terms, the principle of respect for persons translates into the dialogue, process, rights, duties and requirements for free and informed consent.
- Respect for Vulnerable Persons: Respect for human dignity entails high ethical obligations towards vulnerable persons – where diminished competence and/or decision-making capacity make them vulnerable. People who are vulnerable are entitled, on grounds of human dignity, caring, solidarity and fairness, to special protection against abuse, exploitation or discrimination. Ethical obligations to vulnerable individuals in the engagement enterprise will often translate into special procedures to protect their interests.
- Respect for Privacy and Confidentiality: Respect for human dignity also implies the principles of respect for privacy and confidentiality. Privacy and confidentiality are considered fundamental to human dignity. Thus, standards of privacy and confidentiality protect the access, control and dissemination of personal information. In doing so, such standards help to protect psychological, bodily, and cultural integrity. They are thus consonant with values underlying privacy, confidentiality and anonymity.
- Respect for Justice and Inclusiveness: Justice connotes fairness and equity. Procedural justice requires that the engagement process is governed by fair methods, standards and procedures for reviewing projects and protocols, and that the process be effectively independent. Justice also concerns the distribution of benefits and burdens of engagement activities. On the one hand, distributive justice means that no segment of the population should be unfairly burdened with the harms of engagement. It thus imposes particular obligations toward individuals who are vulnerable and unable to protect their own interests in order to ensure that they are not exploited for the advancement of international engagement. History has many chapters of such exploitation. On the other hand, distributive justice also imposes duties neither to neglect nor discriminate against individuals and groups who may benefit from advances in international engagement.
An affiliated Project, Kuwasha, is guided by an identical code of conduct. To learn more about Kuwasha, visit their website.
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