Resources

Understanding the allocation of public resources through national and local budgets has become an increasing focus of development. This has been driven by two principal trends. Donor agencies, on the one hand, are seeking to deliver growing proportions of their financial assistance to partner countries through mainstream government systems - while, at a different level, a vibrant civil society movement has developed which seeks to promote goals of citizen empowerment, gender equity and poverty reduction through the potentials offered by the budget process. Norton and Elson aim to contribute to the evolving understanding of public expenditure management as a political, rather than a purely technical, process. In particular, they explore the ways in which a rights approach can contribute to strengthening voice and pro-poor outcomes in budget processes, and include examples of pro-poor and gender-sensitive budget initiatives from countries such as Brazil and South Africa. The work was commissioned by DFID as part of the programme of work to take forward it's human rights strategy, and identifies issues, partners, tools and methods that may help development actors to support citizen accountability and a pro-poor, gender-equitable, focus in public expenditure management.

Why do government bureaucracies adopt participatory approaches to natural resource management? First, why do governments change their policy to support people's participation in natural resource management? And second, once policy has changed, why do field agents change their behaviour to reflect the shift towards participation in policy statements? More specifically, how can managers induce their field agents to perform well at participatory approaches? The paper will use a case study constructed with original field data to address these questions. The case study centres around the Guidelines for Watershed Development issued by the Government of India in 1995, which govern national SWC programmes. The paper concludes with implications for reformers wishing to catalyse similar policy changes in other settings, and for managers wishing to induce good performance from their field agents in participatory natural resource programmes.

The targeting of resources for poverty reduction is central to the contemporary poverty orthodoxy. This recent stress on targeting heightens the importance of poverty information, giving rise to two divergent tendencies: the tightening-up of targeting through redoubled means-testing efforts and narrowed eligibility criteria - the technocratic approach -; and the development of a new epistemology of poverty based on qualitative and participatory research methods - the alternative approach. The way poverty is conceptualized, and the form in which information is gathered and presented to policy-makers, shape and limit the identification of target groups, the formulation of poverty reduction strategies and their translation into practice. Statistical and qualitative analysis of findings from socio-anthropological research in rural Colombia, reported in this paper, shows that the technocratic approach is less 'technical, objective, equitable and uniform' than it purports to be; and the alternative approach, incorporating poor people's assessments of poverty, is more valid than it is reputed to be - perhaps more than the Colombian targeting system. The best practice compromise is some combination of the two approaches, applied in a spirit of 'self-critical epistemological awareness' (Chambers 1997), central to the alternative approach and lamentably lacking from the technocratic one.

This teachers' guide (118 pages including worksheets and assessment sheets) comes with an 18-minute-long video showing how the pack was used in some of the 30 schools involved in developing it. It is a joint project from 5 leading development agencies in the U.K.: ActionAid, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Oxfam and Save the Children. It is co-funded by the Department for International Development (DfID). It focuses on how to facilitate and assess active global citizenship in the classroom. It provides a structure for students to manage their own learning and allows them to move from thinking about issues that are important to them, to planning and participating in action, and reflecting on their on performance and assessing their work. A range of innovative and participatory activities are included to promote a skills-based approach rather than a content-based approach, so they can be used within different subject areas and with all ages. The aim of the guide is to provide an experience of being able to make a difference through action; to develop skills of enquiry, participation and reflection; and to develop an understanding of the world as a global community, and to discuss the political, economic, environmental and social implications of this. The methodology is based on PRA (Participatory Rural Appraisal) with visualization techniques, practical exercises and games.

This paper looks at the links between qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. Participatory techniques to investigate poverty have been used in development research and practice for some time, but have been used less in other fields. However there is increasing interest in using participatory methods in generating statistics to influence policy, and Participatory Wealth Ranking (PWR) is one tool widely used already. This paper describes the generation of poverty data collected in a large-scale application of PWR in rural South Africa. The main objectives reported are the linking of a quantitative household economic status index with qualitative statements about economic well-being collected during participatory wealth ranking; the use of participants' own descriptions of poverty to apply categories to the research index; and the analysis and critique of the usefulness of this combined qualitative/ quantitative participatory approach

This book provides case studies and analytical critiques of experiences in participatory governance in the Philippines. Seen as one of the most important experiments in grassroots democracy, the experiences of the Barangay-Bayan Governance Consortium are explored in the book through a combination of case studies and analytical chapters. The chapters look at the complexities of deepening democracy at the local level, including an exploration of power, democratic spaces, and fundamental questions about how social and political change occur. Each of the ten case studies tells a unique story, based on the experiences and reflections of each of the authors. Yet together, they describe how people are changing their role in the politics, and the nature of politics in general. The case studies, built on by the analytical chapters, explore and challenge concepts of æparticipationÆ, ægovernanceÆ and æempowermentÆ. The chapter titles include: æFinding meaning in local governance through popular participation at the Barangay-BayanÆ by Tom Villarin; æDeepening Democracy of æSophisticatedÆ patronage? The experience in Barangay KawayanÆ by Teresa Naraval; æTransforming leadership by creating alternative centres of power: the experience in Barangay Santa CruzÆ by Lin Ramos Mendez; æCombining multiple strategies for community organizing and local governance in an urbanizing communityÆ by Ariel Santos; æThe rebirth of the Makiling Forest Dwellers: Environmental governance and empowerment in Bagong SilangÆ by Conrad Castillo; æInstitutionalising participatory development planning: The experience of the municipal government of AlimodianÆ by Goldelino Chan; æInnovations in resource mobilisation: Surallah does it fiesta-styleÆ by Nina Iszatt; æAssessing the Barangay-Bayan governance programÆs impact on womenÆs participation in governance: the experience in Barangay Binitayan, DaragaÆ by Maria Dolores G. Alicias; æMainstreaming gender in local governanceÆ by Kissy Haynes Sumaylo; æParalegalism, local governance and development: PESANTEchÆs work in progressÆ by Vincent Festin; æCreating participatory tools for impact assessmentÆ by Mario Glavez Jr. and Rene D. Clemente; æMaximising gains in participatory, democratic governanceÆ by Marisol Estrella and Nina Iszatt; æEmpowerment and governanceÆ by Joel Rocamora.

This report documents the proceedings of the Community-based Coastal Resource Management (CBCRM) festival, held in Subic, Philippines, in 2003, to celebrate 10 years of CBCRM. The festival brought together 135 practitioners and advocate from 10 countries working with CBCRM. The report accounts for presentations and comments made by participants. It starts by looking back at 10 years of CBCRM and the state of the art of CBCRM. In the second section community-based organisations reflect on CBCRM. Two paper presentations follow on trends, outcomes and impacts of CBCRM, and results from the Oxfam Great Britain CBCRM Programme Evaluation. Local and global trends and prospects for CBCRM, and challenges and ways forward are discussed. The third and fourth paper presentations look at policy challenges in CBCRM from a grassrootsÆ perspective, and revisit the theory and practice of CBCRM in the Philippines. Workshop results for each section are also presented. Finally an overall synthesis is made of findings and discussions. Photo-documentation of the event is also included and appendices provide participantsÆ reflections on the festival; a paper on fishing communitiesÆ mobilisation towards empowerment; a summary of participantsÆ evaluation; a directory of participants; a festival programme; and a list of the organising committee.