Public Policy and Expenditure Mailing List Archive

["Ruchi Tripathi" <<address removed>>]

Participation is the starting point in many external interventions whether 
initiated by donor, government or non-governmental agencies.  With 
participation we need to ask how meaningful has participation of the poor 
communities been, has it brought about the desired change in their condition 
and position, has it laid the foundations for greater change in the future.

ActionAid International has pioneered several participatory techniques and 
approaches in our work with local communities and partners be it in the area of 
education, HIV/Aids, agriculture, hunger etc. 

Social audit, micro-level planning, budget tracking, use of report cards, 
Reflect, participatory vulnerability analysis are some of the processes used by 
ActionAid International to help empower communities to analyse their own 
situation and demand greater accountability of others, including governments.  
(Some of these are discussed under ActionAid International's contribution 
making expenditure work for the poor)


Citizens Juries


In India and Brazil Citizen Juries have been used as an effective tool for poor 
farmers participation in analysing and debating complex policy issues for 
example genetic engineering, modernisation of agriculture.  The poor farmers 
(including landless labourers, women farmers) were provided information from 
experts in the area with a chance to analyse pros and cons of various 
technologies.  The jury was empowered to use the information, cross examine 
experts, understand the implications of these technologies/policies for their 
own situation before deciding whether they wanted it or not.  The results of 
the juries were then transmitted to the local/state government directly or 
transmitted to the media for wider dissemination.


Participatory Video


ActionAid International Malawi was engaged in supporting formation of the 
Village Mgwirizano (Alliance) Against Hunger.  The communities there have only 
produced up to 80% of food sufficiency five times in the past 30 years.  The 
villagers from these 3 villages researched and documented the reasons for their 
underdevelopment in a video diary and shared it with other villagers, before 
taking it to the donors and governments for action.  Use of video in this 
action research helped resource poor communities to research, analyse, organise 
and negotiate for change on their own behalf.  Commitments from donors and 
governments were then recorded in the video and taken back to the community 
completing the cycle of engagement.


Participatory assessments


A series of Participatory Poverty and Governance Assessments conducted by 
ActionAid International Vietnam and its partner Centre for Rural Progress (CRP) 
with different stakeholders which included government, UNDP among others 
resulted into larger participation by poor people in evaluating the service 
provision by government and also the rights to participation and information as 
envisaged by the Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy of 
Government. CRP has gone one step further to workout Vietnam Development Goals 
based on Milleneum Development Goals at the province level with a view to scale 
it up in many provinces later. Such initiatives coupled with series of 
workshops conducted at local level on Grass roots democracy has increased 
people's participation in development planning and government's transparency 
and accountability towards them.


Participation within pre defined boundaries


Participation in itself might not lead to the desired outcome in terms of 
policy change or change in people's lives.  The policies that we are 
influencing need to work for the poor.  Moreover, often participation is 
limited by the program/project design and its limits controlled by the donors.

ActionAid International - Uganda and USA's recent discussion paper, Rethinking 
Participation: Questions for Civil Society about the Limits of Participation in 
PRSPs has highlighted that 'by agreeing to focus only on poverty-related issues 
such as priorities for health and education expenditures, civil society 
organisations can risk neglecting other core areas of development policy.'

ActionAid International USA's briefing from 2002 points out that, "Governments 
appear to be far more comfortable with (civil society) organisations playing 
the traditional role of 'implementers' than of them providing policy solutions 
and options particularly on fiscal and macroeconomic targets and goals.  To 
them, the utility of (civil society) organisations lies in their outreach and 
ability to organise grassroots consultations on the basic needs of the working 
poor and excluded groups."

Recent experience of civil society participation and engagement in the 
Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Programme (SDPRP) as well as the 
Food Security Strategy of Ethiopian government has not been very positive.  
According to our Country Director Fikre 'The accountability line seems to be 
disproportionately emboldened in favor of donors who have priority political 
and security agenda than the poor people in Ethiopia whose priority is freedom 
from hunger, injustice, inequality and discrimination.'

 



ActionAid's vision is a world without poverty in which every person can 
exercise their right to a life of dignity. Registered Charity No. 274467
www.actionaid.org 

**DISCLAIMER**
This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. 
If you have received this e-mail in error please notify the postmaster at
<address removed>