ST PAUL’S UNIVERSITY

NAIROBI CAMPUS

REGISTRATION NUMBER: CCDSNRB396420

UNIT CODE: CCD 1108

UNIT TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNITY CAPACITY BUILDING AND

EMPOWERMENT

DATE OF EXAMINATION: 24 AUGUST 2020

LECTURER: MARGARET MACHARIA

QUESTION 1

a) Explain the meaning of capacity building and empowerment in the context of community
development (3 marks)

Community capacity building grants support community organizations to provide programs and
projects that respond to local needs and make a positive contribution to community
development whereas empowerment refers to the process of enabling communities to increase
control over their lives and enable them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-
determined way, acting on their own authority. Capacity building fosters a sense of ownership
and empowerment so that community members gain greater control over their own future
development.

b) Citing examples, illustrate six measures you would use to empower communities (12
marks)
1. By supporting their talents and hobbies- This can be done through giving the community
members a platform to showcase their talents as well as empower them with knowledge
and understanding to maintain and use these talents to succeed in life. This will ensure
that the number of crime rates in the community have reduced since the people have
embraced the importance of having talents. This can also be a source of income to
some of the community members thus improving their standards of living. For example,
youths can showcase their talents like football and participating in cultural events which
is a way of curbing vices in the community that comes from idling an unemployment.
2. Make them form groups, loan them some money to start small businesses or some
projects like poultry farming and cattle keeping. This will ensure that the community
come up with different income generating activities which will keep them busy and bring
a source of income in return. This will make the community members to be more
productive and responsible in various activities that they intend to undertake.
3. Civil education by empowering them on their rights - This will ensure that the community
members are aware of their rights and that they should be respected. Civil education will
also facilitate the concept of gender equality which will ensure that male and female
gender appreciate the various role each play. Through empowering communities on their
rights will act as an eye opener to many inequalities that are happening in the
communities thus creating a community where women, men, boys and girls have the
same chances, the same representation and the same rights. For example, you can also
teach them on the constitution which has highly supported human rights.
 4. By providing and training them with knowledge and skills on how to start small
businesses like the retail shops- This will help the community members to gain some
skills on how to start and manage small businesses which will improve their standards of
living. These trainings should help community members become fully and productively
engaged in employment opportunities or job creation. This will also contribute to lifting
individuals out of poverty by improving access to work, increasing productivity, and
fostering sustainable economic growth.
5. Be inclusive- This will ensure that all the members in the community have a right to
participate and take part in community activities. For example people with disabilities,
the marginalized, the poor and children have a role to play in the community and
therefore they should not be secluded in community matters. By including these people
in community activities people will start to appreciate the importance of everyone in the
community and curb discrimination.
6. Teach them on their culture- Culture is the way of life and every community is unique
with it culture. This will ensure that community members value their culture and also help
them curb some of the harmful social norms rooted in culture which makes people to be
more vulnerable to violence and discrimination. For example, some cultures support
harmful social norms such as early marriages and Female Genital Mutilation which
makes it difficult for women and girls to get an education, marry when they choose to,
earn an income and have a voice in their own life and communities.

QUESTION 2

a. With examples, analyze key issues you will address among the youths that will build
their capacity to self-reliance (12 marks)
1. Youths should be equipped with practical skills- This will ensure that they have the
confidence to start something new which will help them become self-reliance. For
example, through attaining practical skills, youths will be able to do some work on
carpentry and plumbing which will provide a source of income to the youths thus
facilitating self-reliance.
2. They should be able to make their own decisions- This means that the youths should
stand up and make decisions on what they want to do to improve their lives. In matters
of livelihood, they should ensure that everyone has his or her own plan which they will
manage to execute. For example, one can decide to plant groceries while the other can
 decide to plant maize to ensure that they do not depend on other people for their well-
being.
3. By encouraging youths to stop comparing themselves with others- Many youths fear to
start something new because they are not confident enough if it will be a success. For
example, they compare themselves with their friends who started their businesses but
they did not succeed. They feel intimidated and end up lacking the confidence to start a
new venture. Thus it is important to remind them that they have all it takes to ensure that
what they intend to do succeeds thus facilitating self-reliance.
4. Youths should be taught on how boost their self-esteem- Youths should be taught and
encouraged on how to appreciate and like themselves. This is because many youths are
battling with low self-esteem issues like ongoing stressful life events such as financial
troubles. For example youths with low self-esteem will tend to abuse drugs thus resulting
to more harm to themselves and others. Teaching youths on the importance of self-
esteem will highly influence their choices and decisions. It will also help them, feel more
confident and help put aside fears of being worth less than others.
b. Recommend to the government alternative measures that will ensure the engagement of
youths without necessarily depending on the governments employment (8 marks)
1. By encouraging the youths to start some income generating activities such as agriculture
that would benefit the youths. This will ensure that they get income after they sell off
their products thus raising their standards of living.
2. Youths should be encouraged to embrace skill gaining programs to enable them learn
vocational skills of their choice, establish a small and medium scale enterprise and be
masters of their own.
3. Youths should be empowered- This is a means of encouraging youths to do great things
for themselves and also to make great impact in their society. When a youth is equipped
with essential skills, he can utilize them to feed, assist others, and even invest for future
use, aiding the nation economically. A youth empowered society will not seriously suffer
from the problem of unemployment that many nations are battling with in the current
time. A skillful youth is a job creator.
4. Engaging youths in community development- As youth are brought into community
organizations and civic roles that they have traditionally been excluded from, they can
participate in local decision-making at multiple levels. This collaboration leads to skill
enhancement, confidence building, and ownership that prepare them as they navigate
toward adulthood.