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These Plans profile the tsunami-affected village, its political economy and the post-tsunami realities, aspirations and challenges of the communities. They present a community-led pre-tsunami social map, in order to establish a public documents, detailing the property ownership that existed before the tsunami.
This collection of case studies was prepared for the LogoLink International workshop on Participatory Planning Approaches for Local Governance, held in Bandung, Indonesia, January 2002. The workshop brought together 34 participants from 18 countries to discuss lessons and insights from a wide range of experiences in participatory local governance. The case studies are divided by region (Latin America, Africa, Asia and others) and include the following presentations: La participación ciudadana en Estelí*, by Pérez Acuña (in Spanish); Write-ups on Estelí’s participatory planning initiative*, by Howard; Situational strategic planning and citizen participation processes in Tlalpan, Mexico, by Rodriguez; The participation of social actors traditionally excluded in the planning of the municipal development in Eastern Bolivia*, by Linzer; Transformation and empowerment through the Participatory Budget*, Brazil, by Baierle; Case study on participatory planning initiatives presented by the urban trust of Namibia*, by Haufiku; Public participation in the Western Cape, South Africa*, by Achmat; Combined Harare residents’ association’s participatory planning approaches, by Mangodza; Participatory planning, the case of the Bunda District, Tanzania, by Hosea; Various innovation fact sheets – Uganda, by Bazaara; Poblacion North, adopting participatory governance in the Barangay*, Philippines, by Tiongson; Building empowered sustainable committee through effective people’s participation in governance, the Caret experience in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan*, Philippines, by Ramos; BATMAN Philippines presentation*, by Ramos; The making of democratic local governance in Indonesia*, by Antlöv; Encouraging citizen participation through partnership approach, the experience of Indonesian partnership on local governance initiatives- IPGI , Indonesia by Sjaifudian; Enhancing civic engagement in local governance: the case of Majalaya Town, Bandung municipality, West Java Province, Indonesia, by Sjaifudian; From centralistic to participatory planning: lessons learned in social safety net program, Indonesia, by Firman; Participatory planning in decentralised governance for building sustainable models of development in rural areas of Madhya Pradesh, India, by Nagar; Participatory planning exercises: two cases from India (Kerala and Lakshadweep), by Chatukulam; The Road to Success: Women Showed the Way. Experience On Participatory Planning & Local Self-Governance*, India, by Jamuar; Participatory planning process: IUCN Pakistan experience with environmental rehabilitation in NWFP and Punjab, by Malik; Participation in budget process in Russian cities: St.Petersburg, Murmansk, Petrozavodsk, Pskov, Velikije Luki, Samara, Novosibirsk, Yuzno-Sakhalinsk, St. Petersburg Humanities and political Studies Centre “Strategy” Participatory Planning Initiative*, Russia, by Vinogradova; The Community needs survey: research as a participatory planning tool- Cipher- LOGO*, United States, by Gupta; and Access denied: the fight for full enrolment-NWFCO*, United States by Hall.
This paper describes the development of a children's participatory budget council in the city of Barra Mansa (Brazil), to which 18 boys and 18 girls are elected by their peers to ensure that the municipal council addresses their needs and priorities. This council determines how a proportion of the municipal budget (equivalent to around US$ 125,000 a year) is spent on addressing children's priorities, and its child councillors are also involved in other aspects of government. Each year since 1998, more than 6,000 children have taken part in discussions and assemblies to elect their child councillors and discuss their own priorities. The elected children learn how to represent their peers within democratic structures, to prioritize based on available resources, and then to develop projects within the complex and often slow political and bureaucratic process of city governance. This process has extended to children the concept of participatory budgeting that is now widely used in Brazil for increasing citizen involvement in urban governance. It is encouraging similar innovations in other cities in Latin America, as the example becomes better known and as more people visit Barra Mansa.
This report documents the proceedings of the 3rd LIFE grantee NGOs workshop, held during two days in Faisalabad, Pakistan, 1998. LIFE (Local Initiative Facility for Urban Environment) was launched in Pakistan in 1993 by the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme). It supports local initiatives carried out by city dwellers in cooperation with municipal governments, NGOs and CBOs (community based organisations) to tackle environmental and social issues facing rapidly growing town and cities. The workshop was arranged with representatives from LIFE grantee NGOs (non-governmental organisations) to compare, analyse and discuss project experiences. Participants also visited one of the nearby LIFE projects. This report contains some brief notes on the proceedings and general discussions held in the workshop. It also gives more detailed account of some of the presentations made. This includes a keynote address concerning lessons learned in community based urban development from low income settlements, drawing from experiences of the Orangi pilot project; a presentation reflecting on the role of UNDP in changing urban patterns in Pakistan; and a session on exchange of key issues of mutual concern for the involved NGOs. Some of the main conclusions were that NGOs need to work together with the government at the policy level and at the field level; they need to seek out community activists, integrate them into the projects and give them training; larger projects should consider paying staff; young people should be encouraged to participate as they are intrinsically idealistic; NGOs need more transparency; information sharing should be improved in order to avoid duplication of work; and the involvement of commercial businesses should be considered. Annexes include statistics on urban growth in Pakistan; summaries of three LIFE projects (Anjuman Samaji Behbood, Lahore Sanitation Programme, and Faisalabad Area Upgrading Project); workshop schedule; and a list of participants.
This paper gives account of a study that was made as part of Mabalauta Workshop, held in south-eastern Zimbabwe. The study makes a comparison of PRA (Participatory Rural Appraisal) methods and a household sample survey for eliciting economic data on the use of the Ilala palm (Hyphaene petersiana), an important resource for livelihoods in this area of Zimbabwe. The paper considers whether PRA and traditional economic tools produce similar results for a range of quantitative economic data; if there are differences then how big are they, and which technique is more reliable for which type of data; and whether PRA techniques really are more cost effective, especially in terms of the time requirements of the æbeneficiariesÆ. Field work was carried out in the Xini-Maoze Ward, in Sengwe Communal Land, Chiredzi district, Zimbabwe. The comparability of the two approaches was assessed by looking at the data sets for a range of variables, including the population proportions of different stakeholder groups, household cash income shares, and the production, marketing and economic returns of palm products. While quite similar results were obtained for some of the variables, the PRA findings appeared less reliable for most quantitative information. Production and economic data were also collected from informal discussions with key informants. It was concluded that this method produced the most reliable quantitative data, although this reliability is subject to representativeness. Single visit random household surveys were most useful for differentiating between households, and fro aggregating stakeholder group data in a project area. This type of survey was also more revealing in terms of gender differentiation. In conclusion, this study indicates how these three tools can be used in combination to develop a reasonable data set for project design purposes. Appendices include the household survey questionnaire used in the study and economic calculations made using the PRA and survey data.
This brief report documents the process of introducing participatory appraisal into the management of the La Verna Housing Association, which is based in central London and includes tenants suffering from AIDS. In preparation for a review of the services provided the association decided to adapt a participatory appraisal approach, considering that the association only has twelve tenants and four staff. Five workshops were undertaken defining what services are important to the users and why; which services to prioritize for re-assessment and improvement; and three sessions with joint planning and action. Participatory methods were applied to facilitate the workshops, such as Venn diagrams, matrix scoring and timelines. The report brings up some of the main lessons learnt from the process, non-tenant perspectives, staff-perspectives, and impacts. It is concluded that the approach was helpful in letting staff reaffirm priority areas of work in balance with tenant needs. It also brings up issues leading up to the appraisal, and potential problems of staff feeling that a participative approach could threaten their status as expertise.
With this pioneering book introducing participatory approaches in rural development, the author challenges preconceptions dominating rural development at the time. The central theme of the book is that rural poverty is often unseen or misperceived by outsiders, those who are not themselves rural and poor. The author contends that researchers, scientists, administrators and fieldworkers rarely appreciate the richness and validity of rural peopleÆs knowledge, or the hidden nature of rural poverty. He argues for a new professionalism, with fundamental reversals in outsidersÆ learning, values and behavior, and proposes more realistic action for tackling rural poverty. The book is divided into eight chapters focusing on rural poverty unperceived (i.e. as perceived by outsiders); two cultures of outsiders, negative academics vs. positive practitioners; how outsiders learn; power structures and knowledge; integrated rural poverty including deprivation, vulnerability and powerlessness; making priorities for action; reversals in professional values and bridging gaps between disciplines, professions and departments; and recommendations and discussion of practical actions.
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While change accelerates in rural conditions in the South, professionalism and bureaucracy are buffered against change. In their top-down mode they produce and promote standard programmes, packages and technologies. Rural development programmes in India for agriculture, canal irrigation, watershed development, and poverty alleviation illustrate how there is a mismatch between such standardisation and diverse needs and conditions. This mismatch is underperceived, and status at the cores is sustained, by misleading positive feedback from the peripheries. Falsely favourable impressions and information have five sources: misreporting; selected perception; misleading methods; diplomacy and prudence; and defences against dissonance. Error and myth among the development professions further aggravate the misfit between belief and reality. The costs of the resulting psychosis of the state are colossal. Therapy can be sought through policies and practices which empower poor people: reversals for local diversity; clarifying and communicating peopleÆs rights; and personal choices by the powerful.
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This paper seeks to suggest certain principles of good governance for children, drawing on examples of local city governments from around the world that have addressed childrens needs in new ways. It does not focus on what was done in these cases, but rather the principles behind these actions that can be transferred from city to city. The paper examines the responsibility of different authorities and service providers towards children, and the importance of defining these responsibilities and integrating them into public agencies agendas. It looks at definitions of good governance and the evaluation of the quality of the relationship between government institutions and civil society. It proposes that good governance for children means ensuring a web of local institutions that warrant service provision, protection and participation of children. This includes making sure that children feel that their views and needs are taken seriously. The role of local government is examined, and innovative initiatives for involving children in local governance are analysed. The discussion leads up to conclusions on how to create incentives for local action and developing a local plan. Factors facilitating the process are proposed such as national constitutions that support rights-based approaches; bottom-up democratic pressure; decentralisation; national legislation; national government commitment for support; international human rights conventions; and top-down democratic safe-guards for political rights and support for local democracy. The paper also focuses especially on the importance of information systems; training for those who deal with children; learning from othersÆ experiences; integrating support of children in all areas of governance; and cities working for and with parents. Text boxes are included through the paper, presenting and analysing different examples of city governance involving children (e.g. PRODEL in Nicaragua and the Childrens Participatory Budget Council in Barra Mansa, Brazil).
This brief paper gives an introduction to the worldview approach and its application in facilitating creation of wholistic baselines, understanding community perceptions, collating Participatory Learning and Action profiles, analysing community survival strategies, and developing community level development plans. The paper introduces the technique, giving details of what is required to get started, and as an example, describes a recent field application of the Wholistic World View Analysis (WWVA) method as developed by the author. The method integrates information from standard PLA (Participatory Learning and Action) exercises including livelihood analysis, problem analysis and uncertainty analysis, through the creation a multi-level circular diagram. The innermost circle in the diagram represents areas in the control of the community, while the middle circle represents areas influenced by outsiders connected to the community, and the outer circle areas under the influence of outsiders that are not connected to the community. The inner circle will then show the capacities of the community while the outer circle will represent the vulnerabilities of the community. The author found the method useful when tested in remote rural villages in several parts of Asia, where villagers had no difficulty in understanding the method and were eager to participate. The estimated time for undertaking a WWVA is estimated to two hours, and the author stresses the need for facilitators to seek triangulation in the perceptions put in the diagram as to avoid overlooking smaller groups.