Institute for Research and Application of Development Methods

A societal and ethical commitment

The Iram association was born in 1957, in full accession to the independence of African countries and the emergence of developing countries on the international scene. Through it, its founders (including Henri Grouès, known as Abbé Pierre, Yves Goussault and Henryane de Chaponay) endeavored to promote rural people in the construction of these new states. It is the idea of a “commitment in society” which thus founded the first years of Iram, which has since been formalized by a charter. Since then, the association has structured itself as an associative design office.

Four priority issues

Iram carries out its actions in some forty countries of intervention — Africa, Latin and Central America, Southeast Asia, Europe and the Middle East — around four priority issues:

• Reduced vulnerability to hazards
• Strengthening the capacities of local and national organizations to influence public policies
• Reappropriation of the development of territories by their actors
• Training and socio-professional integration of young rural people