1. Mobilizing Communities for
Development and Social Change
Save the Children US

2. What is community
mobilization?

3. Operational Definition
 Community mobilization is a capacity-
building process through which
community individuals, groups, or
organizations plan, carry out, and evaluate
activities on a participatory and sustained
basis to improve their health, education,
food security, etc, and other needs, either
on their own initiative or stimulated by
others.

4. Community Mobilization:
Definitions
 Community mobilization is not a
campaign, nor is it a series of
campaigns. It is a continual
and cumulative communic-
ational, educational and
organizational process that
produces a growing autonomy
and conscience.

5. Community Mobilization
is not...
 Social mobilization
 Community participation
 Advocacy
 Interpersonal communication
Although community mobilization
may utilize the above strategies, or
may be a strategy utilized by them,
these terms are not synonymous.

6.  What is the difference
between community
mobilization and social
mobilization?

7. Social Mobilization
 Social mobilization is a process
of bringing together all feasible
inter-sectoral partners and
allies to determine felt-needs
and raise awareness of, and
demand for, a particular
development objective.
(UNICEF)

8.  Successful social mobilization
strategies have been one-time or
annual campaigns to solve one
problem (e.g. UNICEF’s EPI strategy
of the 1980s).
 Maternal and neonatal health is
more complex and program
strategies are evolving. (e.g. Nepal
Safe Motherhood network).

9. Illustrative ‘Communication’
Activities
Mass Media
42%
Community
Mobilization
36%
Interpersonal
Communication/
Counseling
22%

10. Why Community Mobilization?
 Decentralization and democratization
require increased community level
decision-making
 Communities have different needs and
problems, different cultures, beliefs and
practices--one message may not fit all
 Builds mechanisms and systems to
sustain health improvements

11. Why Community Mobilization?
 Brings additional resources that may not be
available to health system alone
 Communities can apply political pressure to
improve services.
 Empowering CM approaches can strengthen
community members’ skills and capacity to
address the underlying causes of health
problems and reduce barriers to access of
information and services.

12. Why Community Mobilization?
 Social structures and norms may need to
be changed if true access to information
and services is to be achieved by those
who need them most. CM can help to
facilitate these changes.
 CM can increase community members’
awareness of their right to decent
treatment and can strengthen members’
ability to claim this right.

13. What is Community?

14. What is community?
 Geographically defined
 Shared interests, identity and/or
characteristics
 Shared resources

15. Consider using CM when
and where….
 National IEC campaigns fail to reach pockets of
the country because access to mass media is
limited, language is different, etc.
 Systemic changes are needed at community
level
 Sustained community support is desired
 Theme is too politically sensitive to be thrust of
a major national campaign

16. Consider using CM when
and where….
 Settings are very diverse and local
solutions are required
 Problem of individuals affects the rest of
the community
 Communities themselves have identified a
health problem and request assistance
 Community resources are required or
desirable

17. For the Group…..
 What are some of the
important/key elements
of community
mobilization?

18. Key Elements of
Community Mobilization
 Human rights
 Community
 Health
 Culture
 Gender
 Education
 Communication
 Leadership
 Mobilization
 Participation
 Dialogue of
knowledge
 Power
 Equality
 Citizenship
 Ethics
 Role of institutions

19. Collective action
Co-opted
Cooperating
Consulted
Collaborating
Co-learning
Dimensions of Community Participation
Adapted from: Andrea Cornwall, 1995, IDS

20. GETTING ORGANIZED
EXPLORING C.M.
FOCUS
& SETTING PRIORITIES
PLANNING TOGETHER
COMMUNITY ACTION
EVALUATING TOGETHER
Putting the strategies together--
A Community Action Cycle
Preparing to
Mobilize

21. What skills do
“Mobilizers” need?
 Understand and be able to apply learning and
behavior change principles and theories
 Be politically, culturally and gender sensitive
 Excellent communication skills-- LISTEN!
 Facilitation skills; know and use appropriate
methods/techniques--Don’t “facipulate”
 Technical knowledge of heath issue
 Possess program design and management skills
 Organizational development skills (group
dynamics, structures, etc.)
 Be able to assess, support and build community
capacity/competency (organization, participation,
leadership, management, link to external orgs, etc.)

22. What roles can external
organizations play in
community mobilization?
 Mobilizer: works directly with existing leaders and community
groups to stimulate action.
 Organizer: forms new organizations or bring existing
organizations together in new ways around an issue.
 Partner: may focus on capacity building of local organizations
or complement local organizations in a joint effort.
 Liaison: links communities with resources, builds networks.
 Advisor: provides assistance to communities who request
specific advice/technical expertise.
 Advocate: supports community members efforts to obtain
resources or change policies.
 Donor: provides funding to community to address health issue
 Marketer: shares experience with others to expand CM

23. Community Mobilization
Strategies and Approaches

24. Program Approaches
 Problem-posing approaches
(Freire: critical reflection, generative
themes, critical incidents….)
 Strength-based approaches
(Cooperrider, Zeitlin, etc., organizational
development “Appreciative Inquiry”)
 Mixed/Others?

25. Community Organizing
 Identify and work with existing
organizations and leaders.
 Identify those most affected by
issue. If they are not already
organized, facilitate organization and
work with and through them.
 Establish support groups.
 Redefine community structures and
roles.

26. Community Organizing-
cont’d
 Organize community around:
• Critical incidents
• Common problem(s)/issue(s)
• Expressed needs
• Traditional community events
• General development activities
• Emergencies

27. Strength-Based
Strategies
 Appreciative Inquiry
- Discover (what is now)
- Dream (what might be)
- Design (what should be)
- Deliver (what will be)
 Assets-based approaches

28. Strength-Based
Strategies
 “Positive Deviance”
(SC/Vietnam)
Identify those who practice
healthy behaviors and enlist
them to model positive
behaviors for others.

29. Participatory Research
& Evaluation
 Rural Rapid Appraisal
 Participatory Research &
Assessment
 Participatory Learning & Action
 “Autodiagnosis”
Community participates in question
formulation, design of methods and
instruments, conduct, analysis of
research & evaluation.

30. Community
Development
 “C-BIRD”- community-based
integrated rural development
 Institutional development
approaches
 Partnering (joint agreements,
plans, etc.)
 Leadership training (changing
concept)

31. Community
Development
“Community Action Cycle”
(SC/Bolivia Warmi Project)
Autodiagnosis
Planning Together
Implementation
Participatory
Evaluation

32. Participatory Communication
& Community-based Media
 Community members develop,
design and produce:
• Local radio shows
• Street theater, dramas, concerts
• Print materials (newspapers,
educational materials, booklets, comics,
brochures...)
• Slide shows, videos
• Health fairs (“Lilac Tent”)
• Other (“talking drums”, town crier, etc.)

33. “Community Defined Quality”
 Community members work with
service providers to define and
improve quality of care.
(e.g. Peru “Building Bridges for
Quality” project, Save the
Children/Nepal CDQ project)

34. Advocacy
 Political action
 Petitions
 Lobbying
 Demonstrations and rallies
 Support of political candidates
 Drafting of legislation or policy
proposals

35. Evaluating CM programs
Current SC (JHU/PCS4)
community mobilization
projects are attempting to
measure indicators related to:
• Health outcomes
• Community competency/capacity
outcomes
• Linkages/relationships between
communities and service providers

36. CM “sticky issues”
 Varying opinions about what CM is
and how it should be done
 Evaluation frameworks, indicators
 Going to scale
 Cost-effectiveness compared with
other approaches (goals and
objectives may not be comparable)
 Donor support often not realistic
(time frames and resources)

37. More “sticky issues”
 Ethical and political issues related
to equity and empowerment (cultural
biases, transparency, control, what is role
of external orgs.? etc.)
 CM often not considered a technical
discipline
 Emphasis on tools and methods
rather than comprehensive
approaches & philosophy

39. Key Element:
Community
 Community is not merely a human space confined to a
defined territory. Communities today may be defined more
broadly in terms of common interests or characteristics,
but they are not homogenous and are likely to be full of
conflict and contradiction. Many people living in a
community may be excluded from decision-making
processes and have limited access to services and
information. These marginalized groups are often at greater
risk of health problems. They have the right and should be
invited to actively participate in community work to ensure
that their needs are addressed. It is important to respect
and promote a community’s autonomy, but this autonomy
should not be interpreted as isolation from the outside
world.

40. Key Element:
Mobilization
 Mobilization is always closer to interaction and
dialogue about knowledge than messages with
which one intends to change behaviors.
Mobilization cannot be confused with
spontaneous and sporadic impulses. Experience
shows that in some cases it is necessary to
create new organizations in the community to
stimulate the mobilization process. Mobilization
is not a linear process; it has its peaks, its highs
and lows. Mobilization does not only seek to
resolve specific problems, but also to influence
local, regional and national policies.

41. Key Element:
Participation
 Participation is not merely an instrument to more effectively
ensure compliance with reaching project objectives, but is
a right and a fundamental necessity of people and of
communities. Participation cannot be considered as merely
a strategy of health services to obtain the collaboration of
the population. Participation is an action of responsibility,
of liberty and self-determination. Participation is important
in relation to the group, but also as a democratic value.
From participation, one learns how to pass from co-
management to self-management. Participation can resolve
conflicts, but it can also generate them. One should not
sanctify participation, it is not a panacea nor is it
indispensable for all occasions. It has to do with passing
from a representative democracy to a participatory one.

42. Key Element:
Dialogue of Knowledge
 Community mobilizers should recognize
the importance of both kinds of knowledge:
the scientific technical and the popular
traditional. Establishing a respectful
dialogue between the two can lead to
innovative and effective “new improved
practices” and broader understanding of
the rationale behind existing and
recommended actions.

43. More Definitions...
 Approach: An approach is the course
to be followed, in a broad sense. Your
approach helps to define how you orient
your program. For example,
• Problem-posing
 Appreciative, Strength-Based, Asset-
Based

44.  Strategy: A strategy sets forth the
direction in which you move toward
achieving a specific goal. For example,
 Organize and strengthen women’s groups.
 Work with traditional healers to increase
community acceptance of condom use
 Child-to-child promotion of healthy
practices

45.  Methodology: “a set or system of
methods, principles, and rules used in a
given discipline, as in the arts or
sciences.” (Webster’s Dictionary) For
example,
• “4-D’s” of Appreciative Inquiry
 Warmi’s “community action cycle”
 Participatory Rural Appraisal

46.  Methods: Methods are the
techniques and tools that you use in
your program. For example,
• Facilitated group discussion
 Venn Diagram analysis of community
relationships
 Socio-drama or role play

47.  Activity: “a specific deed, action,
function, or sphere of action.” (Webster’s)
For example,
 Train 50 Community Volunteer Health
workers in how to facilitate group meetings.
 Community youth group will develop and
perform a drama depicting how HIV/AIDS
affects young people in the community.

48. Measuring a Group’s Social
Standing and Capacity for
Collective Action
 Increased access to resources
 Increased collective bargaining power
 Improved status, self-esteem and cultural identity
 The ability to reflect critically and solve problems
 The ability to make choices
 Recognition and response of people’s demand by
officials
 Self-discipline and the ability to work with others
(Suzanne Kindervatter Non-formal education as an empowering process: case studies from
Indonesia and Thailand. Amherst: Center for International Education, University of
Massachusetts, 1979.)

49. Dimensions and Sub-Dimensions
of Community Capacity
 Citizen participation that is
characterized by:
 Strong participant base
 Diverse network that enables different
interests to take collective action
 Benefits overriding costs associated with
participation
 Citizen involvement in defining and
resolving needs
Identifying and Defining the Dimensions of Community Capacity to Provide a
Basis for Measurement, Robert M. Goodman, Ph.D. et al., Health Education
and Behavior, Vol. 25 (3): 258-278 (June 1998).

50. Leadership that is
characterized by:
 Inclusion of formal and informal leaders
 Providing direction and structure for
participants
 Encouraging participation from a diverse
network of community participants
 Implementing procedures for ensuring
participation from all during group meetings
and events
 Facilitating the sharing of information and
resources by participants and organizations
Goodman, et al (1998)

51. Leadership that is
characterized by:
 Shaping and cultivating the development
of new leaders
 A responsive and accessible style
 The ability to focus on both task and
process details
 Receptivity to prudent innovation and risk
taking
 Connected-ness to other leaders
Goodman, et al (1998)

52. Skills that are characterized
by:
 The ability to engage constructively in group
process, conflict resolution, collection and
analysis of assessment data, problem solving
and program planning, intervention design and
implementation, evaluation, resource
mobilization, and policy and media advocacy
 The ability to resist opposing or undesirable
influences
 The ability to attain an optimal level of resource
exchange (how much is being given and
received) Goodman, et al (1998)

53. Resources that are
characterized by:
 Access and sharing of resources that are
both internal and external to a community
 Social capital, (the ability to generate
trust, confidence, and cooperation)
 The existence of communication channels
within and outside the community
Goodman, et al (1998)

54. Social and inter-organizational
networks that are characterized by:
 Reciprocal links throughout the overall
network
 Frequent supportive interactions
 Overlap with other networks within the
community
 The ability to form new associations
 Cooperative decision-making processes
Goodman, et al (1998)

55. Sense of community that is
characterized by:
 High level of concern for community
issues
 Respect, generosity, and service to others
 Sense of connection with the place and
people
 Fulfillment of needs through membership
Goodman, et al (1998)

56. Understanding of community
history that is characterized by:
 Awareness of important social, political,
and economic changes that have occurred
both recently or more distally
 Awareness of the types of organizations,
community groups, and community
sectors that are present
 Awareness of community standing relative
to other communities
Goodman, et al (1998)