Communities and Development

Presentation by Steve Schmida,

SSG Advisors

Today’s Objectives

• Increase understanding of the different actors, principles and approaches to community development

• Introduce the concept of community partnership methodology

• Identify emerging trends in development in West Africa

My background

• Worked for NGOs overseas for 10+ years

• Supported and implemented some 600 community development projects

• Advise USAID, State and corporate clients in 30+ countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eurasia.

What is Community Development?

• Community development, often abbreviated as CD, and informally called community building, is a broad term applied to the practices and academic disciplines of civic leaders, activists, involved citizens and professionals to improve various aspects of local communities. Community development seeks to empower individuals and groups of people by providing these groups with the skills they need to effect change in their own communities. These skills are often concentrated around building political power through the formation of large social groups working for a common agenda. Community developers must understand both how to work with individuals and how to affect communities' positions within the context of larger social institutions.

Community Development: Stakeholder

• Stakeholders are anyone who has an interest in the project in your target community. Project stakeholders are individuals and organizations that are actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be affected as a result of project execution or project completion. They may also exert influence over the project objectives and outcomes

USG Stakeholders

• USAID + Contractors and Grantees

• State - Especially ECA and PD

• MCC, PEPFAR, OPIC

USG Spotlight: PEPFAR

• President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is the largest international health program in human history ($50 billion)

• Prevention, Treatment, Care

• Implemented through USAID, CDC, DOD, etc.

• Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria in West Africa

International and Regional Organizations

• UN, World Bank, Regional Development Banks

• Publicly-funded• Very slow and

bureaucratic• May be very skeptical of

USG intentions

Public Flows71%

Private Flows 83.2% Private Flows

83.2%

Public Flows16.8%

USAID, June 2007

Other Actors May Matter More than Governments

In 1970, 70% of capital flows from the US to the developing world were from government sources - Total $5 billion

By 2005, 82% of capital from the US was from the private sector - Total $164 billion

US Total Resource Flows to the Developing World in 2005: $164 Billion

Foundations

• Foundations - Typically make grants to local or international organizations using endowment funds.

• Mostly American.• Tend to think in longer time horizons than

USG.• Often will be cautious about working with

USG - sometimes history goes back 50+ years.

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

• Largest private philanthropy in the world

• Focused on health and poverty issues

• In West Africa, tackling ‘neglected diseases’ e.g. malaria, guinea worm, etc.

• Extensive partnerships with USAID and State through GAVI and GAIN

International Non-Governmental Organizations

• Non-governmental organization (NGO) is a term that has become widely accepted for referring to a legally constituted, non-governmental organization created by natural or legal persons with no participation or representation of any government. In the cases in which NGOs are funded totally or partially by governments, the NGO maintains its non-governmental status therefore it excludes government representatives from membership in the organization.

• Mission-driven• Deliver humanitarian relief, work to improve health, environment,

economics, human rights.• May have very long-term presence in W. Africa 30+ years• CARE, MSF, OxFam, Human Rights Watch• Can be very large: $500 million+• May have USG and private support

Host Country NGOs

• Provide services

• Advocate for reform

• Monitor government and military activity

• Promote free press, human rights, etc

• May have an ethnic or regional dimension

Spotlight: Host-Country NGO

• Green Belt Movement (Kenya)

• Environmental conservation, democracy and human rights

• Exposed corruption in Kenyan politics, pressure on President Moi

• Planted 20 million+ trees• Founder won the 2004 Nobel

Peace Prize

Corporate Sector

• Multinational Companies (MNCs) are heavily invested in mining/oil/gas and agri-business (cocoa/coffee) in West Africa.

• More recently financial services and telecommunications firms - Vodaphone, MTN, Orange.

• May have very strong interest in communities adjacent to their facilities and assets

Why extractive industries complicate development

• Capital intensive, not labor intensive

• Taxes/royalties typically paid at national level, but problems are at local level

• Influx of revenue causes inflation, disparities of wealth.

• ‘Unearned’ revenue stream greatly increases corruption opportunities

Spotlight: Newmont Mining

• US Company, top ten gold producer, 34,000 employees

• Active mine in Ghana, several development projects in W. Africa

• Accused of major human rights and environmental violations

• Shareholder revolt in 2008 leading to reform process

Community Stakeholders

• Local government/traditional institutions

• Schools, hospitals, etc• Faith-based institutions• Women!!• Small Enterprises

(SME)• Community-based

Organizations (CBOs)

Community Stakeholders Continued

• May be very skeptical of outsiders

• May have their own agenda

• Development projects can be sources of community conflict.

Community Partnerships: Bringing Stakeholders to a

Common Agenda

Community Partnership: Identifying Common Interests

USG interest

Community Objectives

Partnership happens when stakeholders see a shared interest/objective

Step 1: Identifying and Mapping Stakeholders

• ID community leaders and interview them

• ID international and national players

• ID USG stakeholders

Gather information in order to better understand operational environmentUnderstanding the Operational Environment is Essential to Effective Programming • What do the locals really care about?• What is causing conflict or tension in community? Drivers of Conflict? Why?• You are interested in their interests, not their positions• Where are the community allegiances (to the government or other groups)?• Who is really in control in the community? Who are the real power brokers?• Will will benefit from projects? Why? • Who will be left out? Why?• Will an intervention cause conflict or tension in community? If so, what are ways to mitigate?FM 3-24 Effective civil-military programming starts with “situational

awareness” based upon facts and an understanding of local perceptions.

Questions for Community Stakeholders

American Culture to “Do” Things, Solve Problems, and Accomplish Objectives • Instant gratification• Military Culture: accomplish the mission and show results

This mentality does not translate well into effective community engagementsWe should not be trying to solve problems in communitiesWe should not be “doing” projects to just spend money and create a success story (storyboard)

• How do we work with the village so they can solve their own problems?• They have solutions; your job is to help them: local security forces, sub-national government work together to develop solutions• Facilitating a process of empowering locals• Give them confidence - they can solve their own problems

Children Analogy

Facilitating vs. Executing Review

Stakeholder Mapping ToolMore Influential

Less Influential

More Interested

Less Interested

Stakeholder Mapping: Chagai PakistanMore Influential

Less Influential

More Interested

Less Interested

Notizai Tribe

Mohammadzai Tribe

PPP

BLFBLA

Gumshadzai Tribe

Mohmad Hesni Tribe

Yar Mohammadzai

Tribe

SherdzaiTribe

AijbariTribe

BNP

National Party

Muslim League

Mullahs

BSO

ZaiMarbleZehri Marble

Sandik

IRESRA

(NGOs)

Local Workforce

Local Suppliers

Law Enforcement

FCLevies

Local Press

Your Turn

• See Handout

• Take 10 minutes to map out possible stakeholders

• Be prepared to talk for 5 minutes