PARTICIPATORY SKILLS FOR PEOPLE-CENTERED DEVELOPMENT

 

Field Operations and Training Guide

 

Prepared by:

 

 

NESTOR M. PESTELOS

 

UNDP-OPS Integrated Atoll Development Project

Suva, Fiji

 

March 1992

 

 

 

FIELD OPERATIONS AND TRAINING GUIDE

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PARTICIPATORY SKILLS FOR PEOPLE-CENTERED DEVELOPMENT

 

Programme Track I :         Community Mobilization for Sustainable Human Development

 

(For field testing in North Ambrym)

 

A.     ORGANIZATION OF THE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT ACTION GROUP (HDAG)

 

1.0     The national trainers (from Planning, Local Government, an NGO with activities in the area, a representative each from Health, Education/Government Training Center and Agriculture) will recruit from local government, technical agencies, NGOs, as well as from the community itself, e.g. retired teachers, community leaders, etc. individuals with potential to be members of the Human Development Action Group (HDAG) fro North Ambrym.

 

1.1              A total of 12 members will be initially recruited and trained, two for each major village in the initial Programme area.

 

1.2              Qualifications

 

The HDAG members should be those who:

 

1.2.1       have significant track record as development workers in the villages to be covered by the Vanuatu Human Development Programme activities;

 

1.2.2       enjoy public esteemed or credibility;

 

1.2.3       preferably living in one of the villages;

 

1.2.4       of sound disposition and excellent interpersonal and communication skills;

 

1.2.5       highly committed to their work or willing to serve as development volunteers in activities which will benefit their own families and other households in the area; and

 

1.2.6       healthy and strong enough to carry out Programme activities in their assigned villages.

 

 

1.3              It is important that the recruited members be oriented on their future tasks and their commitment assured prior to the training.

 

1.4              The HDAG can be officially considered a committee under the local government unit.  It may also adopt a local name and build itself as an NGO specifically to promote and support HD initiatives in the area.

 

1.5              Tasks of the HDAG

 

The tasks of the HDAG will be as follows:

 

1.5.1       to assist local government, sectoral agencies and NGOs conduct activities in support of the National Human Development Programme for the area;

 

1.5.2       To help coordinate with local communities and groups the planning, implementation and assessment of Programme activities;

 

1.5.3       To recruit, train and monitor the activities of human development volunteers/advocates in each targeted villages, clans or cluster of households and/or within sectoral programmes, community groups, local government units;

 

1.5.4       To organize and consolidate HD core groups in targeted villages and/or within existing organizations, institutions, area-based programmes through sustained involvement in Programme activities;

 

1.5.5       To ensure the involvement in Programme activities and sharing of development benefits of social groups and households relatively more economically and socially disadvantaged than others in the community.

 

 

1.6              The HDAG members will be trained by the NCTT members under the direction and guidance of the ESHDP staff.

 

 

B.     ENTRY POINT FOR THE HDAG: HD-FOCUSED COMMUNITY PROFILING

 

2.1   A training output will be an action plan for carrying out participatory community profiling in a targeted village.

 

2.2              The profiling activity will also serve as entry point for:

 

-          determining community perceptions on local problems, resources, collective goals and aspirations, the strengths and weaknesses of existing programmes and projects;

 

-          consulting with the community on HD objectives, goals and activities, as well as various aspects of the proposed programme for North Ambrym.

 

2.3              Two HDAG members will be assigned per village.  This assignment will depend on the size of the village, terrain or relative physical accessibility of the village, etc.  It is possible to assign a cluster of villages to a team.

 

 

2.4              Key Activities of the HDAG Community Profiling Team

 

2.4.1      Compilation of available secondary data on the village.

 

The team should gather available secondary data about the village prior to actual visit to the area.  Common sources of these data are the local government, technical agencies, NGOs, and development programmes with activities in the village.

 

(The national trainers will gather secondary data about the area).

 

The team uses these data to form tentative ideas on the development situation (perceptions about problems, local resources, in the village).  These ideas will be validated, modified or corrected by subsequent gathering and analysis of first-hand data.

 

2.4.2      Briefing/individual consultations with village chief/elder, religious leaders, heads of community based organizations, landowners.

 

The team will brief the village gatekeepers or local influentials about:

 

a)     the Vanuatu Human Development Programme;

 

b)     the initial activity, community profiling, its importance in terms of development in the area and possible benefits to the individual households;

 

c)     the need to elicit participation from all sectors, including women and youth; and

 

d)     the need to designate volunteers as resource persons in the community profiling activity.

 

 

2.4.3      Recruitment of resource persons/development volunteers

 

In coordination with the local leaders, the team will recruit development volunteers who will initially act as resource in gathering first-hand about the village (or cluster of villages – development zone).  They should represent the cross-section of the population in the area, taking into account the need for a comprehensive development profile for the village.

 

Their task will be as follows:

 

-          To assist the HDAG members/community Profiling Team gather and assess pertinent development information on the village, its people, resources, locally-perceived problems, aspirations and potential for development;

 

-          To assist local communities and groups, particularly those relatively more disadvantaged than others, articulate their views and needs as inputs to the community profile.

 

 

2.4.4      Formulation of the HD-focused village profile

 

Each team will assess the information and formulate the development profile in consultation with the resource persons and/or representatives of clans and village groups.

 

 

2.5              Role of the National Trainers

 

The national trainers will:

 

-          provide technical supervision to the teams in gathering and assessing data;

 

-          brief appropriate government bodies, indigenous institutions, NGOs and other entities (not covered by each team) on he Programme and the initial activities to be undertaken;

 

-          assess the relative effectiveness of programmes and projects based on HD considerations;

 

-          consolidate the village profiles and other information gathered into the HD-focused Development Zone Profile.

 

 

C.     ASSESSMENT OF EXISTING PARTICIPATORY MODALITIES FOR COMMUNITY DECISION-MAKING

 

The ESHDP staff will directly handle this activity in cooperation with the national trainers and the HDAG.  The potential of existing structures and processes for local decision-making will be assessed.  A corollary activity will assess the feasibility of the core group approach in systematically carrying out community organizing activities towards the strengthening of local structures for participatory decision-making.  The findings will provide the basis for preparing the work plans and community organizing strategies of the HDAG.

 

 

D.     TEAM BUILDING AND ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENT FOR A PARTICIPATORY TRAINING PROCESS

 

Both the NCTT and the HDAG will be broken into two-member teams.  Assignments will be given by teams.

 

A training sessions will be conducted in this site.

 

Each team will adapt as much as possible to the ebb and flow of community activities with minimal disruption in local livelihood or other activities.  A mix of structured and non-structured activities will be aspired for a possible, the national trainers and HDAG members will seek to have dialogues with the people in their work settings, rather than meet them for prolonged periods in classroom-type situations.  People-centered approaches may mean giving the people the choice of meeting places, where they are most at home with, and where change agents can better understand the logic of the people’s particular circumstance.

 

 

FIELD OPERATIONS AND TRAINING GUIDE

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PARTICIPATORY SKILLS FOR PEOPLE-CENTERED DEVELOPMENT

 

Programme Track II :       Project Planning and Implementation with Local Communities and Groups

 

(For field testing in North Ambrym)

 

A.     TRAINING OF THE HDAG ON PEOPLE-CENTERED PROJECT DEVELOPMENT

 

Module I

 

The HDAG will be oriented on the basics of project identification and preparation.

 

This module will also thresh out the factors which will affect the sustainability of the participatory process and development projects so that they are taken into account as early as the project identification stage.  Reflection/discussion sessions will be held on:

 

a.      existing projects in the area, reasons for success or failure, need for some projects to be expanded, specific constraints met by villages or community groups in planning and implementing projects;

 

b.      existing organizations, indigenous institutions, NGOs and community-based organizations, their strengths and weaknesses as to development orientation and potential for the promotion of HD;

 

c.      prevailing cultural/traditional beliefs and practices, their facilitative or constraining aspects as far as HD advocacy is concerned;

 

d.      existing participatory processes, structures or fora used for local decision-making, whether they will tend to impede or support HD initiatives;

 

e.      the actual status of the environment and the dominant perceptions regarding its importance, extent of exploitation, etc.

 

f.        specific population groups relatively more disadvantaged than others, based on the profile data and field observations, the local community’s perception of their situation and possible implications of concentrating Programme resources to help them improve their situation.

 

Resource persons from the community will be invited as appropriate.

 

 

Module II

 

Using profile data and the outputs of Module I, the national trainers and the HDAG will identify project ideas based on HD criteria.  The listing will include existing projects which may need additional resources to produce impact.  These projects should:

 

a.      have the potential to create significant impact to the status of human development in the Programme area;

 

b.      involve or benefit more the disadvantaged population groups in the area;

 

c.      satisfy the sustainability criteria; and

 

d.      contribute to social stability and cohesiveness.

 

The national trainers and HDAG will draw up their respective action plans so that they:

 

-          can validate their project ideas with the relevant communities or groups;

 

-          formulate the individual projects with the concerned communities or groups.

 

 

B.     BUILDING SUPPORT TO THE PROPOSED PROJECTS

 

The proposals presented will be reviewed for specific assistance required from the technical agencies, government, NGOs, donors and other entities.

 

The HDAG will draw up an action plan to follow up on the required support to the proposed projects.

 

The proposed projects will be the basis for determining future Programme interventions in the area, e.g. technical assistance, training, micro fund, community-based monitoring and reporting system, area-based development planning, etc.