This is a midterm participatory evaluation report of a watershed programme in Tiruchirappalli, South India. The project used PRA techniques (integrated with other methods) in the planning and impact evaluation stages. The report includes a detailed background to the programme and quantitative findings. No detail is given on how the PRA activities were carried out as the emphasis is on the information collected, including case-studies on the impact on women's status.
This journal article presents a case study of the Social Forestry Support Programme in Vietnam, in which Participatory Curriculum Development (PCD) plays a fundamental part. Beginning with stakeholder identification and analysis, PCD provides an overall framework for educational development. Recognising constraints associated with the process, the paper describes strategies aimed at capacity building, management of stakeholder involvement and planning and evaluation. As different stakeholders learn to learn together through discourse and interaction, the chances of sustainable outcomes from the PCD process should be improved. The dynamic and flexible nature of PCD suggests that there is considerable potential for its adaptation and application in a range of different contexts.
Describes the main process, and explores the problems encountered, during the ACTIONAID-Nepal utilization survey in the Rural Development Area of Sindhupalchowk, in September 1991. Objectives of the survey were: to assess how far the ideas and assets which the community has developed with Action Aid Nepal are being utilised, and the community's perception of the impact of these; to involve the community and thus increase their understanding; to increase AAN's understanding of the conditions of the poorest. The week of survey work was carried out by teams which comprised of the Community Development Committee (CDC) members, other local people and staff facilitators - staff, but not community members, were trained in PRA. Selective tools and techniques of PRA methods were used to gather all the information; the village map (of which examples are given in the appendix) was the most extensively used, semi-structured interviews were employed to collect information on household's participation in activities, and time trend and preference ranking methods were also drawn upon. Problems encountered in the survey were that indicators had not been agreed through a participatory process, the three-day training in PRA techniques was found to be insufficient, and structured questions left gaps and revealed bias. The bulk of the report is devoted to the survey findings
The ActionAid pilot projects linking literacy and PRA (see ActionAid, 1994) are soon to be evaluated. As empowerment is one of the central objectives of the new approach, a key issue is how do we measure empowerment? Matrices and semi-structured interviews form the basis of the evaluation which will be developed with the literacy learners. For example, matrices to measure community actions initiated through the literacy programme, participation of women in household decisions and children's education.
This paper examines a participatory procedure of self-assessment of irrigation system performance by farmers in the Philippines. The procedure was aimed at improving system performance through strengthening irrigators associations' (IA) managerial capacity in planning and decision making regarding operation and maintenance, communication and conflict resolution. The assessment was part of a longer intervention to organize farmers in small groups based on water and task distribution. The first phase involved self-assessment by the original groups of the process of organizing smaller groups and catalysing collective action. In one-day workshops, farmers used symbols and maps to assess the situation. The second phase used a self-assessment questionnaire filled out monthly by IA group leaders, to assess their own performance in a range of management tasks. The experiment showed that participatory self-assessment was quite successful in eliciting candid appraisals of the existing situation. Pictorial analysis was a learning experience in which farmers identified unexpected causes of problems. These problems lay within the farmers' ability to resolve them, so the assessment facilitated follow-up actions to address them, which are listed in a table.
This is a longer version of the paper by Lily in Koning (ed.) Proceedings of the International Symposium on Participatory Research in Health Promotion (1994). The paper outlines the background to the evolving Women's Development Project (WDP) in Bangladesh. It focuses on a health education component of the project, and gives an example of community mapping in a Bangladeshi village, conducted with village-based volunteer health educators (VHEs). The process of the exercise is reported, as are the reactions of the VHEs. The mapping exercise led to a discussion of the achievements and challenges faced, illustrating the potential role of mapping in enabling women to look at their own work in a new way. Other potential uses of PRA in the WDP are listed.
This document is an ACTIONAID report on the two-year REFLECT program that was piloted in villages in Bangladesh, El Salvador, and Uganda. The REFLECT program is founded on the principles of Paulo Freire's philosophy of conscientisation and was aimed to promote active dialogue and empowerment among the participants. The report discusses the theoretical roots of the program, the methods that were used with REFLECT, and evaluations of the various projects in the previously mentioned countries.
This book pays attention to the cultural and educational aspects of communication for development and would be useful for those deciding on appropriate PRA techniques to use in particular situations. The first part of the book includes an overview of the changes in development strategies over the last few decades and the effects these have had on the utilisation of communication approaches.
The second part of the book discusses the intricate link between communication and culture and the way it influences the practice of interpersonal and mediated communication. Part three deals with media and their educational potential. The last part considers the steps involved in the planning and implementation / production of communication events, programmes and materials.
This article describes how forest user groups have been involved in designing and adapting a monitoring and evaluation system that enables the involvement of both literate and non-literate people. The system is linked to goal development, analysis of local resources and institutions and action plan formulation.
In 1994 Redd Barna Uganda started developing an approach to community-based planning using PRA (PRAP) that placed children and their issues at the centre of the planning process and that also aimed to recognise differences within communities. This report is based on discussions involving project staff, members of three partner organisations and villagers from seven communities. The discussion reflected on the PRAP process to examine which aspects were proving beneficial and for whom and those that were proving problematic with an aim of identifying areas for improvement.
Strategies for scaling up the work are also examined and prospects for encouraging more community based monitoring of the PRAP process as a strategy for strengthening impact.
This booklet describes the genesis, progress and evaluation of five women's participation projects that took place in Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Zambia and Uganda between 1996 and 1999. These projects were organised by the Active Learning Centre (a Scottish-based development organisation that works for peoples' rights through education and training) and local NGOs. The overall aim of the booklet is to identify lessons learned and good practice in developing women's participation. The first section argues that the wider dimensions of poverty encapsulated in the concept of social exclusion are useful to understanding women's poverty and the underlying social relations that contribute to women's deprivation. A contrast is drawn between a gender and rights approach to tackling women's poverty, highlighting their respective useful aspects. The use of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) as the key document for the training of trainers and local community education activities is described. The second section presents an overview of women's legal rights within the project countries and highlights some of the main areas of discrimination. It includes examples of reforms seeking to provide greater equality for women. The next section focuses on the development and execution of the women's participation projects, describing their models of operation and organisation, and providing examples of group work activities. It concludes with a series of seven case studies illustrating different aspects of the work of the projects and some of the lessons learned. The fourth section provides examples of the systems used for monitoring and evaluating each stage of the project. The final section reflects on lessons learned, identifying good practices in women's participation projects.
