STRATEGIES FOR MOBILISING COMMUNITIES BY CSO IN MAKING FOI REQUESTS
BY
PROFESSOR A.A. ILEMOBADEPRESIDENT & CEO, UPLINE RESOURCES FOUNDATION,AKURE, ONDO STATE.
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
Introduction of Participants What is Community, Its dimensions
Why Mobilization Benefits of Community Mobilization
COMMUNITY
What comes first to your mind when you think or hear the word “COMMUNITY” ?
WHAT IS A COMMUNITY?
A Community is a set of people living together with common interest”
We all live in a community. There are different things that bind us together. Let us try to identify them.
Beliefs Values Language Territory Religion Culture Occupation
COMMUNITY MOBILISATION: DEFINITION
Community mobilisation is an attempt to bring both human and non-human resources together to undertake developmental activities in order to achieve a common purpose. – Wikipedia.
COMMUNITY MOBILISATION - DEFINITION
The Act of marshaling and organising and making ready for use or action or common purpose - Dictionary
COMMUNITY MOBILISATION - DEFINITION
Community Mobilization refers to the process of building social relationships in pursuit of common community interests.
Community Mobilization is seen as being the foundation of the community development process.
WHY COMMUNITY MOBILISATION?
As a Means or Strategy for: Creating demand for interventions Increasing access to services Scaling up interventions Increasing effectiveness and efficiency of interventions Contributing additional resources to the response Reaching the most vulnerable Addressing the underlying causes of Education: gender
disparities, lack of awareness etc. Increasing community ownership and sustainability
Benefits of Community Mobilization in a project Increase community, individual, and group capacity
to identify and satisfy their needs Improve program design Improve program quality Improve program results Improve program evaluation Cost effective way to achieve sustainable results Increase community ownership of the program
STEPS IN COMMUNITY MOBILISATIONStep 1: Define the Problem
Step 2: Establish a Community Mobilisation group
Step 3: Design Strategies, set objectives and select target groups
Step 4: Develop an Action Plan and a timeline
Step 5: Build Capacity
Step 6: Identify Partners
Step 7: Implement the Plan of Activities
Step 8: Monitor, Evaluate and Improve
STAKEHOLDERS
Who are the stakeholders?
Why is it important to coordinate among all stakeholders?
What can be achieved when we involve all stakeholders?
What can we assume if we don’t involve all stakeholders?
IDENTIFICATION OF MARGINALISED/DEPRIVED GROUPS
Economically deprived group (Poor)
WomenTribal/Ethnic peopleDisabled peopleMinority GroupsOthers
Key Tasks involved in Community Mobilization Developing an on-going dialogue between
community members Creating or strengthening community
organizations (Committees etc.) Creating an environment in which individuals
can empower themselves to address their own and their community’s needs
Promoting community members’ participation
…CONTINUING
Working in partnership with community members
Identifying and supporting the creative potential of communities to develop a variety of strategies and approaches
Assisting in linking communities with external resources
Committing enough time to work with communities, or with a partner who works with them
REASONS FOR MOBILISING FOR FOI
What are the reasons why we are mobilising our Communities under an FOI project?
REASONS FOR MOBILISING FOR FOI
• FOI is a basic right of all citizens• FOI is at the root of achieving a
relatively corruption-free society• Access to information is crucial to
achieve transparency and accountability in governance
• FOI provides teeth to the rule of law
• Gives credibility to governance.
…CONTINUED
And…..Transparency is a key public policy tool for promoting greater efficiency in the use and distribution of Public Resources and improving public services.
SELECT A STRATEGY
Since this is FOIA, plan for community dialogue and select a strategy.
Requires sensitization on the issue.
Calls for mobilization of community
Need for interaction with individuals, family members.
DEFINING THE PROBLEM
In defining the problem, collect basic information in order to have clear statement of the problem and identify target population in the community
ESTABLISHING COMMUNITY MOBILISATION GROUP
The aim is to establish a group that can influence community mobilisation activities
Usually the group should consist partners that have a stake in the issue (e.g. CBO, FBO as well as influential groups and members of the community such as formal and informal leaders, civil servants and political leaders and traditional leaders)
DESIGNING STRATEGIES, SETTING OBJECTIVES AND SELECTING TARGET GROUPS
Mobilise resources from Community and other external partners
Community Mobilisation group to design strategies the issue of FOI with objectives that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART)
DEVELOPING AN ACTION PLAN WITH A TIME LINE• An Action Plan links the
general community mobilisation plan with time lines for the implementation of planned activities against target set for goals to be achieved
BUILDING CAPACITY• Identify existing capacity resources• Assess the gaps that exist to
implement community mobilisation• Gaps identified should be
addressed by capacity building of the community groups and other relevant stakeholders in the community.
IDENTIFYING PARTNERS
Identify various partners who may be working to achieve similar goals through simple mapping exercise. The following partners may be relevant: religious institutions, CBOs, women organizations, youth organisations, other local NGOs
IMPLEMENTING THE PLAN OF ACTIVITIESBased on the Action Plans
developed with all partners implementation of the community mobilisation activities is the main task.
Clear and unambiguous role for any partners that may be involved is given and communicated with all of them
MONITORING AND EVALUATION
Although last activity, it is essential element of Community Mobilisation
Provides a basis to assess whether or not the action plan has been implemented effectively and objectives met in respect to the issue the community is mobilised to achieve.