Community Development Program

Details

Hits: 24

Communities already have substantial skills. Local capacity exists, but needs empowerment to be harnessed. This capacity has been cloaked by a lack of local empowerment to use it. Any definition of capacity that focuses only on technical capacity will miss the huge potential that exists. Existing capacity is best defined as the ability to solve problems. People who have survived by trying to solve problems in difficult economic and political conditions have considerable capacity to put their experience and skills to work, once they are empowered.

Capacity building in communities is an important objective, but needs to be preceded by mobilization of community capacity that already exists which becomes evident only when communities are empowered. Empowering communities means that communities should have voice, decision-making powers, and access to resources.

Community empowerment will be unsustainable if it is not embedded in institutional structures. It is crucial to have linkages between the community and other stakeholders, and community empowerment needs to be accompanied by local government empowerment. It is important to ensure adequate political, administrative and fiscal decentralization. Local governments need to have both the authority and resources to plan and coordinate local-level schemes and provide local frontline services