Resources

It has been recognised that education is a powerful way of fighting poverty, and an empowering process, particularly with regards to the most marginalized groups of people such as poor women and girls. As a result, in Bangladesh, a literacy project is underway, with participants being poor women and girls. It is an ActionAid project, using the Reflect approach, which draws on the Freirean philosophy and facilitates a participatory learning process aiming to empower and promote social change.
This document is a review of the project so far. The first part describes the Reflect process and the perceived strengths of this approach to learning. The bulk of the document then consists of the review outcomes. The project is assessed on its impact on and benefits for participants, in terms of becoming literate, less marginalized and empowered to strive towards social change. It ends with a number of recommendations as to how the project can improve.

As part of the 50th issue of PLA Notes, this article provides an introductory overview of both critical reflections as well as future directions of participatory learning and action. The articles compiled in the 50th edition speak from personal analyses and experiences. This article describes the process and products of a writeshop, held at IDS, where the participants came up with a timeline of participatory development based on their experiences. The main themes identified then formed the basis for the articles in this special issue of PLA Notes, including literacy, adult education and empowerment; participatory communications; sexual and reproductive health and well-being; gender and development; children's participation; agriculture, livestock and fisheries; people-centred approaches for natural resource management; urban participatory development; participation and well-being; monitoring and evaluation; advocacy, citizenship and rights; participatory processes in the North; governance and democracy; and critical reflections from practice. Several crosscutting themes also emerged, such as the evolution or participatory discourse; sharing learning and best practice between the South and the North; recognizing the political significance of participation, democratization and issues of power; scaling-up and institutionalizing participatory approaches; the continuing importance of critical reflection and participatory monitoring and evaluation; and the links between working at the local, national and international levels. After identifying these themes, the article goes on to briefly introduce and summarise each of the articles in this special issue. The article concludes with a hope that readers of PLA Notes continue to send in critical reflections and examples of innovations and best practices.

How can ordinary citizens - and the organizations and movements with which they engage - make changes in national policies which affect their lives, and the lives of others around them?  Under what conditions does citizen action contribute to more responsive states, pro-poor policies and greater social justice? What is needed to overcome setbacks, and to consolidate smaller victories into 'successful' change? These are the questions taken up by this book which brings together eight studies of successful cases of citizen activism in South Africa, Morocco, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Turkey, India and the Philippines.