1. Community
Participation &
Empowerment
Rabindra Nath Sabat

2. Context
 Discuss an overall concept and key
characteristics of a community
 Present a basic framework on
Participation
 Present an experiential module on
empowerment
The presentations will be mostly relevant
to community empowerment projects (not
confined to service delivery modules)

3. Concept of Community
 In sociology, the concept of community has
caused infinite debate, and sociologists are
yet to reach agreement on a definition of the
term.
 Traditionally a "community" has been
defined as a group of interacting people
living in a common location.
 Community literally comes from the Latin
word munus., “to give amongst each other.”
 The word is often used to mean a group that
is organized around common values and
social cohesion within a shared geographical
location

4. Concept of Community
 People with common interests living in a
particular area
 An interacting population of various kinds of
individuals in a common location
 A group of people with a common
characteristic or interest living together
within a larger society
 A body of persons or nations having a
common history or common social,
economic, and political interests

5. Definition of community
“A community is best defined as a
group of people who, regardless of the
diversity of their backgrounds, have
been able to accept and transcend their
differences and communicate
effectively and openly to work together
toward goals identified for their
common good.”

6. Characteristics of a community
 When a child is born, s/he learns about the values,
culture, beliefs, society accepted norms and
conditions and education from his/her family,
immediate relatives/friends and community s/he
lives in.
 Based on where they live and what they learn during
their childhood, they form personal and cultural
values, a world view, and attitudes toward a larger
society.
 Individuals develop interpersonal relationships and
begin to make choices about whom to associate with
and under what circumstances.

7. Characteristics of a community
 During adolescence and adulthood, the
individual tends to develop a more
sophisticated identity, often taking on a role
as a leader or follower in groups.
 If an individual develops the feeling that they
belong to a group, and they must help the
group they are part of, then they develop a
sense of community.

8. Key factors of a community
 Historical factors
 Play a key role in community cohesion and resource
management
 Population and settlement history (ancestral origins
of the community) constitute a homogenous or
heterogeneous community
 The community's conflict in the past greatly
influence its present degree of social cohesion
 Social factors
 Ethnicity and language
 Family structure
 Social divisions
 Gender relations

9. Key factors of a community
 Economic factors
Differences or similarities in livelihood affect
the sense of belongingness
 Cultural factors
 Culture is the "the way of life
 Knowledge and institutions including codes
of manners, dress, language, religion, rituals,
norms of behavior such as law and morality,
and systems of belief and the art of a
population that are passed down from
generation to generation.

10. Participation framework

11. Three dimensions of participation
1. Level of participation – where
do you stand?
2. The phase (the process)–
where and how you want to
go?
3. People –who is involved?

12. Levels of participation

13. Levels of participation
To lead the people, walk behind them.
Levels of participation
The ‘lower’ level of participation keep control with the initiator – but they lead
to less commitment from others.
Information. The least you can do is tell people what is planned.
Consultation. You offer a number of options and listen to the feedback
you get.
Deciding together. You encourage others to provide some additional
ideas and options, and join in deciding the best way forward.
Acting together. Not only do different interests decide together what is
best, but they form a partnership to carry it out.
Supporting independent community initiatives. You help others do
what they want – perhaps within a framework of grants, advice and
support provided by the resource holder.

14. Levels of participation

15. Phases of participation
It is a long way from conception to completion.
Four main phases:
1. Initiation:
The phase at which something triggers the need to
involve people, and you start to think what that
involves
2. Preparation
The period when you think through the process,
make the first contacts, and agree an approach.

16. Phases of participation
3. Participation
The phase in which you use participation
methods with the main interests in the
community.
4. Continuation
What happens in this phase will depend very
much on the level of participation – you may
be reporting back on consultation, or at
another level setting up partnership
organizations

17. People (who is involved) in participation
All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.
 Some people will want – or demand – more
involvement than others
 Others will wish not to be involved.
 It is important to Identify these different interests –
stakeholders – and negotiating the level of
participation appropriate to the third dimension of
the framework.
 Some of the main issues in participation are about
where power and control lies between these
interests, and the role of ‘you’ in this.

18. People (who is involved) in participation
 Before starting a participation process it is
important to reflect on the role you have –
the hat you are wearing.
 The way you act may be influenced by how
far you control resources, to whom you are
answerable.
 People’s attitudes to you will certainly be
influenced by the role and power they think
you have.

19. Empowerment
 The term empowerment has different meanings in
different socio-cultural and political contexts, and
does not translate easily into all languages.
 Empowerment is the process of enhancing the
capacity of individuals or groups to make choices
and to transform those choices into desired actions
and outcomes.
 Empowered people have freedom of choice and
action. This in turn enables them to better influence
the course of their lives and the decisions which
affect them.

20. Definition of Empowerment
Empowerment is the expansion of
assets and capabilities of poor
people to participate in, negotiate
with, influence, control, and hold
accountable institutions that affect
their lives.

21. Power dynamics
 “Power is about somebody taking over”
 The ability to influence or resist is what
social power is all about.
 People with lots of money, muscle, status,
intelligence, etc., can usually successfully
influence other people. In most
circumstances, they have more social power.
 When a person or group has substantially
more power than others, their relationships
affect

22. Power analysis
o Social power has two aspects:
 The ability to influence others so as to
further community’s own interests or
desires.
 The ability to resist the activities of others
which affects the common citizens
o Economical power
o Political power

23. Elements of empowerment
Four key elements of empowerment
1. Access to Information
2. Inclusion and Participation
3. Accountability
4. Local Organizational Capacity

24. Access to Information
 Information is power. Informed citizens are
better equipped to take advantage of
opportunity, access services, exercise their
rights, and hold state and non-state actors
accountable.
 Information and communication technologies
often play a pivotal role in broadening
access to information.

25. Inclusion and Participation
 Opportunities for excluded groups to
participate in decision making are critical
 Sustaining inclusion and informed
participation usually requires changing the
rules to create space for people to participate
in local and national issues

26. Accountability
 State officials, public employees, and
private actors must be held answerable
for their policies, actions, and use of
funds.
 Government agencies, both
administrative and political systems
must also be accountable to their
citizens and clients for their
performance

27. Local organizational capacity
 This refers to the ability of people to
work together, organize themselves,
and mobilize resources to solve
problems of common interest.
 Organized communities are more likely
to have their voices heard and their
demands met.

28. Empowerment approaches
 Access by poor people to basic
services
 Improved local governance
 Improved national governance and
economy-wide reform
 Pro-poor market development
 Access by poor people to justice.

29. Conclusion
“Go to the people. Live with them. Love
them. Respect them. Learn from them.
Start with what they know. Build with
what they have. But with the best
leaders, when the work is done, the
task accomplished, the people will say
"We have done this ourselves".

30. Any question?
Thank you so much
for participating in
this workshop.