The Values of Empowerment 2026 forum, recently organised by the Charitable Society for Orphan Care in the Riyadh Region (Insan), has called for values work in the orphan care sector to move beyond concepts and one-off activities and become institutional practice that can be applied, measured and developed.

Its recommendations begin with a shared reference framework and methodology for designing values-based practices, rooted in the real needs of the children and unifying core concepts. The forum also proposed a values pathway that follows the orphan's journey from care to independence, linking values and behavioural skills to each stage of growth and empowerment.

Participants urged charities to build values work into their institutional structure, tying it to existing planning and programmes in care, education and rehabilitation. They also proposed an applied development lab where practices can be redesigned, tested and measured, and where staff build their skills through hands-on work.

On measurement and documentation, the forum recommended a tiered evidence system that distinguishes outputs, outcomes and evidence of impact, under ethical rules that protect the children's privacy and dignity and treat their voices as a source of learning.

The forum further called for a sector-wide repository of documented experiences that can be turned into adaptable, transferable "practice packages", and for meetings between orphan care associations to become a continuing professional community of practice, working with the specialised council for orphan associations, specialist bodies, universities and the private sector.

Finally, it recommended consolidating the award for outstanding values-based practices as a tool for learning and motivation, judged on the maturity of a practice and the quality of its design, delivery, documentation and transferability.