Sustainability of the human rights movement: Protection, promotion and enhancement of human rights for all individuals and groups depend largely on the extent to which human rights are rooted in local communities. The KHRC's focus on capacity building for local communities will go hand in hand with alliance building between human rights movements in the North and the South. National, regional and international human rights movements must collectively join and strengthen the movement against corporate and capitalistic globalisation, while dealing with local economic and political structures that sustain it in disregard of the human rights of Kenyans. The human rights movement must also move towards self-sufficiency, survival and permanency by reducing its heavy reliance on donor funding.

Liberation: Political struggles that seek to end existing injustice are inherently linked to the struggle for human rights. For poor and excluded people, human rights mean secured livelihoods, well-being and dignity – human life at its fullest for itself and progeny. It is during the struggle against injustice and the conditions that give rise to human rights violations that human rights are named, defined, demanded and defended. Political struggles contribute to the transformation of power relations, through well defined arenas of contestation and channelling of the force of numbers to liberate people's groupings that are based at the grassroots.

Respect for democratic values: People have a right to make informed choices and should be consulted and supported to meaningfully participate in all processes that are of concern to them. A culture and practice of participation is therefore important in our work with allies, at community, national and international levels.

Fairness and social justice: Resources should be distributed and re-distributed equitably, to the benefit of all citizens, without disadvantaging any groups. Global forces shape the human rights discourse at national and community levels. Actors such as multinational corporations, governments and the private sector generally have destructive impacts on poor communities. These effects serve to root injustice at home. The struggle for human rights must be founded on social justice paradigms that protect the vulnerable and excluded.

Accountability and transparency: Power and resources must be used with integrity and responsibility. It is only through accountable governance that human rights can be protected and enjoyed by all Kenyans. Our own accountability to communities we work with and other allies nationally and internationally, including donors, is key to the success of our strategies.

Equal protection and non-discrimination: All individuals and groups are equal, should be treated with dignity and due regard must be given to their diversity. Genuine democracy can never exist in a society that does not recognise its women and men as equals and that discriminates against individuals and groups based on their race, creed, health status, political opinion, sexual orientation or any other ground. Women, who constitute more than half of the population, have a right to participate and participate in government. Democratic governance must be gender sensitive and inclusive, stress equality and employ affirmative action in promoting equity. Likewise, people of different health status and sexual orientation must be treated with dignity, and mechanisms to protect their human rights as citizens and groups must be put in place and implemented with their participation as equals.

Use of people-centred approaches: Citizen's power of agency needs to be nurtured and supported, through action strategies in which they identify, name and defi ne human rights problems and, with facilitation, establish capabilities to apply various tools of advocacy and social transformation. As opposed to top-down approaches, people themselves lead their struggles and expand their opportunities to realise and exercise their rights.