Peoples participation UCD.pptx

Urban Community Development (UCD)
People participation is very important in Community Development.

1. Peoples participation-UCD Prof.Sakthi Devi Dept of Social Work Chennai

2. Aristotle  observed that if liberty and equality are to be found in democracy, people need to be involved.’

3. Participation -Definition According to United Nations Development Programme (1993) “participation means that people are closely involved in the economic, sociocultural and political processes that affect their lives.”5 Participation in development is usually said to mean the full involvement of the people in development which affect their lives regardless of gender, race, age, class, sexual orientation or disability. According to International Labour Organization, participation involved active collectively organized and continuous efforts by the people themselves in setting the goals, pooling the resources together and taking actions which aim at improving their living conditions

4. Participation in Development United Nation’s resolutions show that there are three basic ways of popular participation in development. These are a) Mass sharing of the benefits of development. b) Mass contribution to the development efforts. c) Decision making in development Midgley, Hall, Hardiman and Narine (1986) define community participation as the direct involvement of ordinary people in local affairs. Community participation can be summed up as a means of educating citizens in order to increase their competence

5. The ladder of citizen participation The ladder of citizen participation (shown below) has eight steps, each representing a different level of participation. From bottom to top, the steps explain the extent of citizen participation and how much real power citizens have to determine the process and outcomes.

6. Bottom to Top At the lowest end of the ladder, forms of non-participation are used by powerful actors to impose their agendas. Participation as tokenism occurs when participants hear about interventions and may say something about them, which power holders denote as ‘input’. However, the voices of participants will not have any effect on the intervention; thus participation does not lead to change. At the higher end of the ladder, participation is about citizens having more power to negotiate and change the status quo. Their voices are heard  and  responded to.

7. The forms and functions of participation Sarah White distinguishes four forms of participation: nominal, instrumental, representative and transformative. She reasons that each form has different functions, and argues actors ‘at the top’ (more powerful) and ‘at the grass roots’ (less powerful) have different perceptions of and interests in each form. Nominal   participation Instrumental participation Representative participation Transformative participation

8. Nominal   participation  is often used by more powerful actors to give legitimacy to development plans. Less powerful people become involved in it through a desire for inclusion. But it is little more than a display, and does not result in change Instrumental participation  sees community participation being used as a means towards a stated end – often the efficient use of the skills and knowledge of community members in project implementation.

9. Representative participation  involves giving community members a voice in the decision-making and implementation process of projects or policies that effect them. For the more powerful, representative participation increases the chances of their intervention being sustainable; for the less powerful, it may offer a chance for leverage. Transformative participation  results in the empowerment of those involved, and as a result alters the structures and institutions that lead to marginalisation and exclusion

10. Types of Participation D. P. Fauri  describes 4 types of participation. These are: 1.   Democratic participation 2.   Social protest participation 3.   Community development participation and 4.   Programme participation

11. Democratic participation Democratic participation may be called political participation. It is the basis of democracy and political modernization or development. According to S. P. Huntington and John M. Nelson, “political participation is the activity by private citizens designed to influence governmental decision making.” Social participation It includes all types of participation. Social participation sometimes takes the form of social protest. The deprived section people have less access to the center of authority to influence the decision making process in government and politics. In this situation social protest can be an effective form of communication between social and political system.

12. Administrative participation Various scholars called it in different forms as “programme participation” and “community development”. It is used synonymously with decision making process. Such as policy planning, programme planning, implementation and evaluation of policies and programmes Community development participation Community development is the process by which the people combine their efforts with a view to improving the socio-economic and cultural life of the communities. Community development in South Asian countries primarily mean encouraging rural people to become self reliant making them capable of enlighten their participation in socio-economic development and nation building measures through mobilization and utilization of resources.

13. Importance of Peoples Participation According to WHO (2002), community participation helps communities to target resources more effectively and efficiently, allowing people to become more responsive to community needs and take responsibility. Communities have a wealth of untapped resources and energy that can be harnessed and mobilized through community participation. Community participation ensures ownership and sustainability of programs, provides a source of information, knowledge as well as experience and eliminates deficiencies in the society, empowering members to put emphasis on problem solving (Christensen and Robinson 1980)

14. Importance of Peoples Participation People's participation  and involvement  is an  important  factor for the successful implementation of any development  activities. Specially, in decision making, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and sharing the benefits  of the  development programmes,  people's participation and  involvement  is necessary. P eople’s participation impact on local governance elements and sustainable local development. L ocal people get empowered to raise their voices in government decisions that affect their lives P articipatory decision provides more appropriate outcomes and the highest use of any development program, which enhances economic growth. These economic improvements then reduce poverty and enhance equity among all comunity members To get local services people’s participation is important To improve Local self governance

15. Problems of people’s participation in Urban Development Lack of systematic planning Missing link with local people /beneficiaries No information provided to the beneficiaries Inadequate information Unavailability of information Manipulation of people’s participation Lack of fund and influence in fund utilization

16. Hinderance or factors affecting People from participating in development activities Physical health Attitude Lack of support Lack of knowledge Lack of awareness Poor communication and information sharing Powerful people wont allow powerless people to participate(Domination) Lack of financial resources Lack of Interest/ Lack of Trust unfair distribution of benefits in the community 

17. Methods or ways of involving people in Development processes Promote active and representative participation toward enabling all community members to meaningfully influence the decisions that affect their lives Giving them an awareness on the importance of participation strategy was to be responsive and address questions specifically, reach out to the community, and conduct additional public meetings. Engage community members in learning about and understanding community issues, and the economic, social, environmental, political, psychological, and other impacts associated with alternative courses of action Work actively to enhance the leadership capacity of community members, leaders, and groups within the community Be open to using the full range of action strategies to work toward the long-term sustainability and well- being of the community

18. Use particular sources and influential persons and organizations to reach the specific groups you hope to involve Reach out to those who can benefit and contribute (those we most want to involve) through people who can connect with and persuade others Use particular sources and influential persons and organizations to reach the specific groups you hope to involve Recruit and Training and support the volunteers Create the ways for Self Help Plan activities or meetings or Trainings in the same area or locality so that people can easily come and take part.

19. Conclusion Community strategies and initiatives are only successful when the local communities are fully involved in planning and implementation of such initiatives. Participatory community initiatives bring psychological and Social satisfaction to members of the local communities, giving them a sense of ownership to community initiatives while tapping into the unlimited potential of skills and knowledge from local communities.