CESC – 12 ( FINALS REVIEWER)

Module 1.1 :Core Values of Community Action Initiatives: Human rights and Social Equity
Human rights - are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex,
national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other status.
Human Rights also:
 Universal and inalienable
 Interdependent and indivisible
 Equal and non-discriminatory
 Both rights and obligations

Core Values
Human rights are guided by the following core values:
 Integrity, transparency and Accountability
 Professionalism and responsiveness
 Advocacy
 Focus and direction
 Partnership and Collegial Spirit
 Social Responsibility
 Mutual Respect and Tolerance
 Innovation and Entrepreneurship
 Financial Sustainability
 Networking and Internationalization

Other Core values of Human Rights:

 Service - with humility
 Independence - including fairness, objectivity and impartiality
 Inclusiveness - ensuring diversity
 Accessibility - ensuring empathy, tolerance, and understanding
 Collaboration
 Making rights real

Social equity – is concerned with justice and fairness of social policy.

Core Values of Social Equity
 Commitment to the common good
 Protection of human life and dignity
 Accountability
 Responsibility
 Rehabilitation
 Concern for others
Module 4: METHODOLOGIES AND APPROACHES OF COMMUNITY ACTIONS

 Community Profiling - involves building up a picture of the nature, needs and resources of a community with the
active participation of that community.
 Community Needs Assessment - identifies the strengths and resources available in the community to meet the
needs of children, youth, and families.
 Community leadership - the courage, creativity and capacity to inspire participation, development and
sustainability for strong communities (Nossal, nd).
 Partnerships - collaborative relationships between two entities c — an provide organizations with opportunities
to advance common goals and educate local communities about good health (American Psychological Association
Services, Inc, 2012).
 Social action - about people coming together to help improve their lives and solve the problems that are
important in their communities.
 Social Action Evaluation - a process to determine if objectives have been met. It is dependent on the and specific
objectives, the evaluation instruments which be used will will differ from one project to another (A Toolkit for
Volunteers, nd).
Partnerships - are intended for joint solving of problems, resource exchange, Cooperation, coordination and coalition
building. The relationship among partners can be temporary (local bodies, including government, grassroots NGO’s) or
permanent

Types of partnership
 Networks - The relationships among partners within networks are often less formal or informal.
 Coordination – Relations among members are more closely linked. Definition of Specific tasks among
organizations, which require resources (for representation, Management, fulfillment of specific tasks) beyond
information sharing.
 Collaboration – Relations among members are strong with functional more broad ranging areas defined for joint
activities.

Principles of partnership
 Trust: the most important if the partnership crosses many boundaries - interpersonal, interinstitutional, cross
cultural - at the same time.
 Mutuality: In this case, the partnership relations are open to dialogue and exchange of views. Respect is of
utmost importance.
 Solidarity: It means sensitivity and commitment to the problems, efforts and constraints of other partners
particularly of those living in conditions of poverty and oppression.
 Accountability: Any partnership involves rights and obligations. It is a major challenge when one partner has the
resources and the other has to ask for it.
Community profiling - involves building up a picture of the nature, needs and resources of a community with the active
participation of that community.
Community (or stakeholder) profiles - a useful way of developing an understanding of the people in a geographical area
or a specific community of interest.
Needs Assessment
- identifies the strengths and resources available in the community to meet the needs of children, youth, and families.
- focuses on the capabilities of the community, including its citizens, agencies, and organizations.
- provides a framework for developing and identifying services and solutions and building communities.
Sources of conflicts in a partnership
1. Value disagreements.
2. Personality conflicts.
3. Communication misunderstandings.
4. Doubts about priority need for partnership.
5. Confusion over differing degrees of members’ autonomy.
6. Different power interests
Conflict management in partnerships should focus on encouraging open communication and ways of negotiating
expressed differences to meet at least some of the needs of all partners.

Types of Social Action (Max Weber):

Rational-purposeful Action - This action may be rationally expedient if it is based on logical or scientific grounds. This
action entails a complicated plurality of means and ends.
Value-rational Action - Action is rational in relation to a specific value. This action occurs when individuals use rational
– that is effective means to achieve goals or ends that are defined in terms of subjective meaning.
Affective action - fuses means and ends together so that action becomes emotional and impulsive.
Traditional action - occurs when the ends and the means of action are fixed by custom and tradition.

Steps in social action evaluation

1. Framing the evaluation
2. Designing the evaluation
3. Doing the evaluation

Module 5 : Strategies for Community Organizing

COMMUNITY ORGANIZING - is the form and process of building a group of people who have a common vision and
goal and who engage in community action.

Community organizers - help make the people realize the power of collective action, which starts from
identifying common problems in the community, defining and addressing the problems together,
mobilizing resources as a collective and sustaining community action as one body.
STEPS IN COMMUNITY ORGANIZING
1. ENTRY IN THE COMMUNITY – Entry to a particular community means you have
done the necessary preparations like gathering basic information about political,
economic, cultural and ecological conditions in the area.

2. INTEGRATION WITH THE PEOPLE – The most difficult stage is the integration
part of the process. There is a possibility that the people will ignore you.

3. COMMUNITY STUDY/SITUATION ANALYSIS - Based on the data that the

community organizers have gathered, they will review the preliminary data and enhance
analysis based on the new data.

4. INDENTIFYING AND DEVELOPING POTENTIAL COMMUNITY LEADERS -

While integrating and discussing social issues with the people, the CO consciously
observes and spots potential community leaders, those with deep concern for the people
and a good grasp of the community’s problems.

5. CORE GROUP FORMATION - the Co will form a core group comprising of potential
leaders. The Co will have regular discussions and training with the group.

6. SETTING – UP THE ORGANIZATION - Once the organization is set – up structures

will be formed, organizational leaders will be elected, and necessary policies will be
established. Then training of the members will be carried out.

7. STRENGTHENING THE ORGANIZATION – In ensuring sustainability, there will

be a continuous human resource development, policy refinement, and development of
organizational programs that will help strengthen the organization.

Module 6: PLAN USING PARTICIPATORY APPROACHES

Plan – design or something to be made or built
Participatory – characterized by or involving participation especially in providing the
opportunity for individual participation.
Participatory Approaches – identify the participation or role of an individual, group of persons
or social institution in community development
Partnership – it implies a relationship of equals, where everyone has an equal voice, and where
power and responsibility are equally shared
Reflexivity – generally refers to the examination of one’s own beliefs, judgements and practices
during the research process and how these may have influenced the research
Stakeholder – a person with an interest or concern in the community
Participatory approach - helps to secure the ownership and commitment of the communities
involved.
Participatory planning - an urban planning paradigm that emphasizes involving the entire
community in the strategic and management processes of urban planning; or, community-level
planning processes, urban or rural.
ADVANTAGES OF PARTICIPATORY PLANNING APPROACH
1. Participation carries with it feelings of ownership, and builds a strong base for the
intervention in the community.
2. It ensures that the intervention will have more credibility in all segments of the
community because it was planned by a group representing all segments of the
community.
3. A participatory planning approach avoids pitfalls caused by ignorance of the realities of
the community or the target population.
4. It involves important players from the outset.
5. It teaches skills which last far beyond the planning process.
6. It can bring together and establish ties among community members who might normally
have no contact.
7. A participatory planning process builds trust.
8. A participatory planning process generally reflects the mission and goals of grass roots
and community-based organizations.
DISADVANTAGES OF PARTICIPATORY PLANNING APPROACH
1. A participatory process takes longer.
2. Education may be needed, for community members and the organization.
3. One determined individual can wreck the whole process if he's not handled well
LEVELS OF PARTICIPATORY PLANNING
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 forrm
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.