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This article discusses the details of the RAAKS (Rural Appraisal of Agricultural Knowledge Systems) methodology, in combination with the PRA tools, used successfully in the CARE-Macina integrated rural development programme in Mali. The methodology enabled the agency team to produce relevant information concerning community-based organisations at village level, and thus highlighted some of the strengths and weaknesses of its efforts to reinforce their organisational capacity. This led to major changes in the agencies' strategy. As well as the methodology used, some results of the exercise, and changes in programme strategies concerning the strengthening of community-based organisations are discussed.
This article explores the question of whether the principles of organisational learning can be successfully adopted in complex bilateral programmes. Organisational learning is seen by many organisations as a means of attaining organisational change for greater impact on development. It covers the areas of team learning, shared vision, common goal, and strategy, and has had impressive results in non-profit organisations and in the private sector.
The case is considered in this piece of a programme between the Dutch and Kenyan governments in Keiyo Marakwaet, Kenya. It analyses the process of institutionalising participation as both a learning and a conflict-generating process. The case reveals some of the gaps and assumptions in the theory of learning organisations in the context of bilateral programmes which have multiple actors, competing interests and conflicting goals. It was found that learning depended on the position of an individual in an institution, which raises that question as to whether what individuals choose to learn or not to learn contributes to a shared vision. In addition, while individuals and teams may learn from the process of institutionalising participation, these lessons may not translate into action towards a common goal. The problem of high staff turnover in bilateral programmes is also a problem as it can lead to the neglect and erosion of institutional memory. It is recommended that in order to make the concept of learning organisation effective in bilateral programmes, organisations should be viewed as political systems and it should be determined what is learned, by whom, how, and for what purpose.
This report provides a summary of the Village Immersion Programme (VIP) in Sri Lanka. The VIP is essential training for staff of the World Bank, and provides them with an opportunity to sensitise themselves to poverty and development related issues at village level. The report outlines the process of the programme through personal documentation of events. It provides recommendations for improving the Bank's lending programmes from the perception of the participants, and offers suggestions for the VIP's improvement. The overall observations and conclusions are made that:
" The isolated conditions gave participants a useful experience to understand the difficulties experienced by people in such locations in accessing services provided by the Government;
" Interruptions in planned schedules due to unforeseen circumstances often led to unplanned activities, and resulted in greater appreciation of villagers conditions by participants, as well as a space for knowledge sharing;
" The opportunity for participants to provide feedback was a useful component of the programme;
" The understanding and closeness emerging from the interaction is seen to pave the way for greater collaboration in designing and implementing Bank programmes.
This newsletter is a special issue on trying to bridge the gap between donors' resources and their effective use in targeting the poor, through the use of community development funds. Community development funds function like banks, but can work more flexibly and at different levels. Several case studies are presented from countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and southern Africa, and a number of tips and advantages in setting up a community development fund are outlined. Some of these are that they: " Set new standards of transparency and accountability; " Make multiple, small-scale investments in many community-initiated urban development projects; " Support tangible outputs of value to the urban poor, in different sectors and areas; " Help establish and strengthen long-term partnerships between community organisations, municipal authorities and the private sector, while stimulating new working practices; " Provide poor communities and their organisations with opportunities to learn by doing.
This Mobility study was carried out in Bangladesh with a view to understanding Char dwellers' socially differentiated perceptions of mobility and the relationship between mobility and vulnerability. The study had two elements: mobility ranking and mobility mapping, and gathered information from NGO field staff and extensive field visits. Both tools were found to be effective in quickly understanding the issues related to mobility and vulnerability, though mobility ranking was found to be more powerful in involving members of all households present in active discussion and analysis. The usefulness of mobility mapping was the in-depth studies of each household's inside stories like shift of place, distance covered, length of stay, major event in the family, etc. In cases of larger group participation many crosscutting issues were brought out relating to mobility, such as livelihoods, land ownership, migration, exploitation, power equations, drudgery of men, women and children and many other topics of interest.
In combination these two methods generated rich discussion with the community, which contributed substantially in learning the mobility-vulnerability links of the char people, and could be useful in targeting environmentally vulnerable households or social groups.
This collection of lessons from the field brings together the experiences of ActionAid's newly adopted approach to annual reviews: participatory reviews and reflections. These processes allow communities to challenge the organisation over the way money is raised and spent, the ability to demand greater openness and flexibility, and the possibility of raising rights issues. Review and reflection is a key part of ActionAid's 'accountability, learning and planning' system (ALPS), which makes accountability to the poor and marginalised central. The key principles of ALPS are explored through case studies presented of on-going projects in India and Africa, and include: " Strengthening ActionAid's main accountability to the people they target and work with; " Strengthening commitment to gender equity; " Making information relevant and useful to the people who use produce it, receive it, and who need to make decisions; " The information provider must receive feedback; " Making the best use of staff time by cutting down on the amount of written information needed; " Relating financial expenditure to programme quality; " Promoting critical learning that enables the organisation to learn from their successes and failures.
This book explores the qualities of relationship, behaviour and effectiveness that the poor of Bangladesh consider important in the institutions with which they interact during periods of crisis. It arose out of a perceived lack by the World Bank's Participatory Poverty Assessment (undertaken to contribute towards the World Development Report 2000/01) to look at the area of crisis and institutions. The main findings are: " Crisis is multi-dimensional, and related to exposure to mishaps, stresses and risks, as well as to dangers in the physical environment, in society and in the economy, and in administrative and legal systems. Events like floods, droughts, deaths, etc., which affect almost everyone in the community trigger community actions for coping with the situation; " The poor have developed a number of survival strategies to cope with crisis, which are linked with the way assets are pooled and managed to reduce vulnerability; " The poor interact with a range of formal and informal institutions during crisis. Local government, police and court systems are manipulated for political purposes by successive governments, making the poor most vulnerable since they lack political connections. Flaws in the health system have created the opportunity for corruption. Despite unanimous trust of NGOs by the poor, allegations of misuse of funds, gender discrimination, and nepotism have been made. The poor place much more of their trust in their local Community-Based Organisations for security and survival, and their inability to access state organisations". " A number of recommendations are made in the area of state institutions: pro-poor formal administration, anti-corruption, pro-poor health services, increasing women's security; in the area of pro poor policies: land reforms, safety nets; in strengthening NGO-state links; and the need for overall coherence in these initiatives".
Recent policy initiatives focusing on local government modernisation and neighbourhood management seek to reinvigorate local democracy and ensure that government is more responsive to local needs. Such policies could mark profound changes in the way our communities are governed, but what are the practical implications? Drawing upon research findings of current practice and the authors' direct experience, this report presents an overview of the issues faced by public, private and voluntary organisations, community groups and residents engaged in neighbourhood renewal and management. The analysis suggests that more attention needs to be given to issues of organisational and cultural change, capacity building and the hidden costs of implementing these new agendas.
This document is a guide to help you think through your campaigning; it sets out frameworks and tools developed by NEF for use in understanding NGO campaigning and advocacy work. They are not meant to be fixed tools, but guides to help innovative thinking towards better understanding of how campaigns work and how you can make your work more effective. This document is for: people involved in existing campaigns reflect more rigorously and carefully on their work with an aim to becoming more effective people wanting to start a campaign gain a better understanding of the complexities with an aim of influencing the strategies they choose to adopt.
This report covers the main outcomes of a workshop held by Oxfam on its UK Poverty Programme's (UKPP) participatory appraisal (PA) approach. Two practices that are commonly used overseas by Oxfam have been applied to the UK: increasing the participation of people experiencing poverty in decision making processes; and increasing awareness of how poverty impacts differently on men and women. At the workshop there was much enthusiasm for PA due to its fun, different, inclusive, flexible, challenging, and empowering characteristics. This was also matched by concerns about PA and its use:
" that PA tools are becoming separate from the PA process;
" problems in establishing and maintaining standards and quality without compromising PA's ability to be flexible, complex and responsive;
" changing attitudes and beliefs of decision makers requires a major, long-term strategy, requiring time, resources and will on the part of participants;
" that PA is presented as a consultation tool and not as an empowering process.
This bulletin is a compilation of four papers delivered at DENIVA workshops on 'Governance and Poverty for NGO District Networks' in Uganda in 2001. The papers are informative and contain illustrations. 1) 'The quest for good governance in Uganda: The role of NGO district networks' traces the history of decentralisation in Uganda, the concept of governance, and of the NGO district network. It is argued that there are a number of governance issues that this network should take up: voluntarism, poverty, literacy, civic education, gender, lobbying, income generation, agriculture, human rights and accountability. 2) 'Decentralisation and the question of gender' introduces gender analysis in relation to local governance institutions, provisions and practices, and suggests some strategies for NGOs to follow. 3) 'Decentralisation and Poverty Reduction: The role of NGO district networks' and 4) 'The Local Governments Act, 1997: Issues for NGOs' detail the legal provisions, opportunities and challenges for NGOs vis-Ó-vis local governance in Uganda.
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As development NGOs and official aid agencies embrace the idea of becoming a learning organisation, they are increasingly concerned with some form of knowledge generation and organisational learning. To date, the literature on these issues has tended to come out of the private sector and reflect a Western world view. Development and the Learning Organisation presents contributions from development scholars and practitioners from a range of institutional backgrounds around the world. These contributions are organised under five themes: Power, culture and gender: challenges to organisational learning; Learning together: multi-institutional initiatives; Levels of learning: organisational case studies; Learning from humanitarian action, and Ways and means: tools and methods for learning and change. Some introduce new approaches and models, others offer critical case studies of individual and group learning practice across cultures as well as organisational efforts to put theory into practice. The book ends with a review of resources including books, journals, organisations, websites and publishers.
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This article reviews a project in Pune, India, where 400 community toilet blocks have been built through a partnership between municipal government, NGOs and community-based organisations. In 1999, the Municipal commissioner sought to greatly increase the scale of public toilet construction and to ensure that toilets more appropriate than those previously constructed by the municipality got built, by inviting local NGOs to make bids for toilet construction and maintenance. One of the NGOs that received contracts had long had a partnership with two people's organisations, the National Slum Dwellers Federation and Mahila Milan (a network of slum and pavement women's savings and credit groups). The three institutions had been working in Pune for five years prior to this, supporting savings and credit movement among women slum dwellers, which had included experiments with community toilets. One factor that constrained community participation was the municipal commissioner's desire to complete the programme while he was still in office. Despite this limitation, many of the inhabitants were involved in the design and construction of the toilets. The authors conclude that the project was made possible through a reconfiguration of the relationship between city government, NGOs and communities, with the government recognising the capacity of the community organisations to develop their own solutions. The project was unusual for India in its transparency and accountability, with weekly stakeholder meetings and constant communication between community leaders and government officials.