Download available
Download available
Download available
Download available
Download available
This manual was prepared to facilitate access to participatory planning tools in Tanzania, to make them more accessible to planners and other development workers in order to facilitate sustainable development in the country. Its main purpose is to provide a source of reference for the Tanzania government and other staff whilst engaging in development activities with communities. The manual is structured to explain the background to the underlying planning and local government reforms, and the monitoring and evaluation of development interventions at community and other levels. The background describes how the current local government reforms are designed, how they are implemented, and the measures to be put in place. It also provides an overview on why the new planning approach necessitates a shift in emphasis on participation of communities in creation of their own development interventions, and how other actors are to be involved in supporting and facilitating the successful implementation of development interventions. The manual is structured into four parts which hare based on a build up of knowledge and skills development: preliminaries, concepts, participatory methodology, and opportunities and obstacles to development.
This manual was prepared to facilitate access to participatory planning tools in Tanzania, to make them more accessible to planners and other development workers in ordre to facilitate sustainable development in the country. Its main purpose is to provide a source of reference for the Tanzania government and other staff whilst engaging in development activities with communities. It presents a number of æinstructionsÆ for undertaking participatory methodologies on a day-by-day basis, over a course of six days, and includes exercises and tools to carry these out.
This report investigates the effectiveness of NGOÆs strategies and methods to influence land policy reform. It is based on a study of seven NGOs promoting land reform and land rights in Mozambique and Kenya. A number of key questions were explored: do NGOs influence policy or are structural, institutional and political constraints too great? should NGOs maximise their own advocacy roles or focus on building the advocacy capacity of less powerful groups? can NGOs engage with government without compromising their independence? do donors facilitate or constrain the work of NGOs?| A framework was used for assessment based on four main areas of impact: strengthened civil society organisations, consultative government procedures and practice, pro-poor changes in policy, and direct benefits to and improvements in living conditions of poor groups. There are two main implications arising from the study. Firstly, building the capacity of community groups to take informed action is important in itself and for long-term and sustainable pro-poor policy influence. Secondly, many aspects of laws and policies are actually made during implementation; monitoring this process is therefore a key role for NGOs.
This report provides an assessment of the conditions in Montserrat by people in Montserrat. It begins by discussing the impact of the start of a volcanic eruption in 1995 on peopleÆs lives and government action. By 1998 a four-year Sustainable Development Plan was set out with a strategy to rebuild Montserrat and its social fabric. The report discusses peopleÆs own perceptions and definitions of poverty and hardship with reference to a wide range of factors. Three groups emerged as being particularly vulnerable: single headed households; the elderly; and the mentally challenged. A discussion is then made of coping strategies people have developed that illustrate a high degree of resilience and resourcefulness. Finally, a discussion is made about how PPA can help the sustainable development process. It is found that it provides a more disaggregated assessment of who is facing what levels of poverty and hardship; it can help to assess the impact of policies on peopleÆs lives; and it provides a more informal channel for feeding peopleÆs views up to the government.
This paper was prepared for the Workshop on Scaling-Up NGO Impact, held at the University of Manchester, UK, 1992. Four main strategies for scaling-up or having a wider impact are assumed: working with government; operational expansion; lobbying and advocacy; and supporting community level initiatives. This paper investigates whether there is a fifth strategy, self-spreading and self-improvement, for scaling up impact. The core of the paper, and the example on which this speculation based, is experiences with rapid rural appraisal (RRA) and participatory rural appraisal (PRA). Questions are raised concerning the further spread and improvement of these approaches and their methods. The wider issue being whether this is an example of a type of strategy through which NGOs can scale up their beneficial impact. The paper concludes with an analysis of ideas, approaches, methods and people: whether they are self-spreading and self-improving or if they need constant maintenance; and if self-spreading and self-improving strategies should be actively pursued by NGOs. It points to methodological innovation, sharing innovation and staff development as some of the elements in this strategy, and reflects on the potential for different types of organisations to be open to the approach.
Download available
In the last few years, there has been growing talk amongst development actors and agencies about a rights-based approach to development. Yet what exactly this consists of remains unclear. For some, its grounding in human rights legislation makes such an approach distinctive, lending it the promise of re-politicising areas of development work that have become domesticated as they have been mainstreamed by powerful institutions like the World Bank. Others complain that like other fashions it has become the latest designer item to be seen to be wearing and has been used to dress up the same old development.|
This paper seeks to unravel some of the tangled threads of contemporary rights talk. Where is today's rights-based discourse coming from? Why rights and why now? What are the differences between versions and emphases articulated by different international development actors? What are their shortcomings, and what do these imply for the practice and politics of development? Reflecting on these questions, we explore some of the implications of the range of different ways of relating human rights to development. We argue that ultimately, however it is operationalised, a rights-based approach would mean little if it has no potential to achieve a positive transformation of power relations among the various development actors. Thus, however any agency articulates its vision for a rights-based approach, it must be interrogated for the extent to which it enables those whose lives are affected the most to articulate their priorities and claim genuine accountability from development agencies, and also the extent to which the agencies become critically self-aware and address inherent power inequalities in their interaction with those people.
Download available
In this reflective article, as part of the special 50th issue of PLA Notes, Robert Chambers recalls the milestones and breakthroughs in the evolution of participation. He comments that many of the innovations are occurring everyday in workshops and practices in the South, but sadly this is not represented in the literature which tends to be dominated by Northern writers. The author echoes the request from the very first edition of RRA Notes (which has since become PLA Notes), calling for people to write in with stories, innovations, reflections from the field, spelling mistakes and all, to help amplify the voices of those working at the cutting edge of participatory approaches in practice. The author reflects on what we have learnt during the evolution of participation, including they can do it; difference matters; PRA approaches and methods can open up hidden and sensitive subjects; behaviour, attitudes and good facilitation matter more than methods; methodological pluralism works best; the importance of combining practice and critique; scale with quality needs commitment, continuity and congruence; institutional change is a progression and an art; and that participatory professionalism challenges power. The article concludes by looking at where we are now, and we are going, particularly focusing on the dimensions of power and the necessity of transforming power from above as well as from below. This includes looking at approaches and curricula in training and education as well as looking at change and transformation at the personal as well as institutional level.
Download available
As part of the special issue of PLA Notes, this article looks at the evolution of the Reflect program pioneered by the INGO ActionAid. Looking back at an issue of PLA Notes on participation, literacy and empowerment in 1998, the authors look at the Reflect approach and its historical links with PRA. The Reflect program began as a fusion of Paulo Freire's theoretical framework on the politics of literacy with the participatory methodologies developed by PRA practitioners. The Reflect approach has now spread through the work of at least 350 different organizations in more than 60 countries, and this article looks at the key moments in the continuing evolution. Some of the main issues addressed in the article include Reflect as a political process; creating democratic spaces; intensive and extensive processes and building from existing experiences; the importance of integrating reflection and action; the role and use of participatory tools; power analysis; coherence; and processes of self-organisation. The authors also look at future directions for Reflect, such as the integration of Reflect with the Stepping Stones approach (a participatory adult education program to address gender relations and HIV/AIDS prevention) to create STAR; linking Reflect to governance and accountability; Reflect and information communication technologies; reflect within institutions and applying Reflect to ourselves.
Download available
In this personal article, the author reflects on the necessity to address HIV in all development programs and recognize the gender and other systemic inequalities on which it thrives. Looking at issues from access to treatment under the WHO 3x5 initiative to the plagiarism of ideas and practices from community based projects by international NGOs, the article provides insight about the challenges ahead for combating the HIV epidemic. The author concludes by suggesting ways that readers of PLA Notes could take action, such as by familiarizing themselves with routes of infection and considering the realistic implications for themselves, friends and family. The author argues that unless we remove the morality debate from the issue of HIV, and recognize that it is poverty, global power imbalances, and gender issues which fuel the pandemic, HIV will continue to thrive and people will continue to die. The author also suggests that readers promote solidarity with HIV positive people within their own communities and join advocacy networks to lobby for free and equitable access to antiretroviral drugs. In conclusion the author suggests that if we all work together, we can make a difference.
Download available
As part of the special 50th edition of PLA Notes, this article highlights key lessons from experiences on livelihoods and natural resources. The three key themes identified are: participatory learning and action for local adaptive management of natural resources rooted in indigenous and local knowledge and skills; bureaucracies and organisations ought to challenge themselves and become learning-oriented organisations; and that facilitating and encouraging individual and collective learning for inclusive and equitable participation in natural resource management requires action at various levels (local, national and international). The article also provides short information about a couple of case studies, such as fishing associations and the co-management of freshwater ecosystems in Sweden, an example from the Solomon Islands and community integrated pest management in Indonesia. The article then focuses in on learning by doing, creating inclusive platforms and the shift from participation to transformation. Exploring the challenge of social learning for local adaptive management, the author looks at transforming knowledge and ways of knowing as well as the challenges of institutional reform. The article concludes by looking at the emerging challenges for national resource management and participation in a climate of globalisation, and suggests that bold innovations will be needed to strengthen the voices of the weak in setting research agendas and framing policies, create safe spaces and participatory processes that can scrutinize corporations and æexpertÆ knowledge, and support the emergence of transnational communities of inquiry and coalitions for change.