strategies

• 9 strategies to encourage people's participation

  1. Conscientization

  2. Needs identification and goal determination

  3. Developing and enhancing confidence, skills, and knowledge

  4. Consultation, dialogue, and involvement in decision-making

  5. Delegation of tasks and being accountable

  6. Ownership and control of resources

  7. Sharing benefits of the development process and outcomes

  8. Involvement of women in the development process

  9. Environmental protection
• conscientization


  helps people understand the underlying causes of their situation by having them think about and reflect on the problems and the environment in which they live
• Needs identification and goal determination


  help people identify their needs, the strategies to meet those needs, and the necessary resources required to implement the various strategies
• Developing and enhancing confidence, skills, and knowledge


  helps people to learn by doing, giving them trainings based on needs assessment, sharing vital information, and facilitating access to information
• Consultation, dialogue, and involvement in decision-making


  involve inviting the people especially the poor, vulnerable, and marginalized sectors
• Delegation of tasks and being accountable


  require assigning tasks, through informed consent, to people involved in decision-making so that they can have a chance to be involved in the actual management and implementation of development programs and projects
• Ownership and control of resources


  allow people to manage their own affairs, have a deeper involvement in the process of organizing community projects, and help them maximize the use of their local resources in sustaining development interventions
• Sharing benefits of the development process and outcomes


  the benefits of development and the redistribution of goods and services must be distributed equitably
• Involvement of women in the development process


  in poverty-stricken areas, women and girls are often poorer and more vulnerable compared to their male counterparts
• Involvement of women in the development process


  women must be given a chance to work with other women and help them address (alongside with men!) their biological needs and the pervasive issues of discrimination, exploitation, marginalization, oppression, and subordination
• Environmental protection


  people's participation will be obstructed when the environment where they belong to negatively impacts their well-being and welfare
• 7 Levels of Participation in Community Action


  1. Manipulation and therapy (nonparticipation)

  2. Informing

  3. Consultation

  4. Placation

  5. Partnership

  6. Delegated power

  7. Citizen control
• Manipulation and therapy (nonparticipation)


  aim is to cure or educate the participants
• Manipulation and therapy (nonparticipation)


  the proposed plan is best
• Manipulation and therapy (nonparticipation)


  the job of participation is to achieve public support for a project designed by a third party, expert, aid, agency, authority, and the like
• informing


  an important first step to legitimate participation
• informing


  w/o a free flow of information, people will be deprived of making "informed choices," which makes civil participation meaningless
• informing


  the emphasis is often on a one-way flow of information, where there is no channel for feedback
• consultation


  legitimate step where people are asked about what they think should be done to address their problems
• consultation


  the answers from the people concerned are given importance, but the final decision still remains in the hands of project designers
• placation


  includes the co-option of handpicked "worthies" onto committees
• placation


  the selected people in the communities are allowed to create community development plans, but the implementation of the plan still remains in the hands of power holders
• partnership


  allows power to be shared between citizens and power holders
• partnership


  planning implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of projects are shared through joint committees
• delegated power


  allows community members to be given the power to make decisions regarding the community development projects that are to be implemented in their area
• citizen control


  allows people to design, implement, and evaluate community development projects on their own, without external help or with very minimal support