Resources

This book is written by 13 Karimojong researchers, young men and women aged between 20 and 29, of the Matheniko, Bokora and Tepeth groups who live in the Karamoja Sub-Region in Uganda.  In November 2011 they set out to research the situation of youth in their area and this book comprises their findings and conclusions.  Some of these researchers have been through school and university, others have not been to school at all, and this combination of people who read and write and those who speak and hear is the strength of this research.  It enabled access to people, knowledge and ideas that would not have been possible otherwise.  The basic principles used are described in a methods paper, Action Research; how a group of young people did it in Napok and Moroto, in Karamoja, Uganda.

This book is about people and the processes needed to facilitate sharing of knowledge in order to achieve sustainable developmental change.  It underlines that development communication is based on dialogue, which is necessary to promote people’s participation.  It follows a two-way model and increasingly makes use of many-to-may forms of communication to facilitate the understanding of people’s perceptions, priorities and knowledge with its use of a number of tools, techniques, media and methods.  It aims to give voice to those most affected by the development issue(s) at stake, allowing them to participate directly in defining and implementing solutions. Based on the assumption that authentic participation directly addresses power and its distribution in society, which often decreases the advantage of certain elite groups, the authors argue that structural and sustainable change necessitates the redistribution of power.

This book aims to provide field-based tools for linking the ‘micro’ or voices at local level, with the ‘macro’ public-policy making at higher levels.  Drawing from research in developing countries, it describes 27 voice tools for gaining insights into the larger picture and institutional spaces.

This handbook is for local level civil society practitioners who want to make services work better for the poor. It builds on current good practices which focus on strengthening local accountability in service provision and governance. Experience shows that accountability is a key issue in promoting more responsive and just service delivery. This handbook gives step-by-step guidance as to how civil society organisations and activists can help to improve local services by focusing on accountability.

This is the foundation text for the series and introduces key governance issues for promoting just and democratic governance at the local level.  The resource book presents a people centred, participatory and rights based approach to local democracy. It analyses democratic and decentralised local government and explores the challenges faced by civil society in championing this vision. It examines the crucial link between the political mandates that determine the scope for local democracy, and the fiscal and administrative requirements needed to support them.  Closely connected to this is the interaction between elected and administrative power holders on the one hand and citizens, their accountability work, and claims for voice and representation on the other.  Finally, the resource book also considers the interplay between formal democratic power versus hidden or parallel power.