COMMUNITY

ENGAGEMENT,
SOLIDARITY AND
CITIZENSHIP
Every community has its own
issues and problems that are
needed to be resolved. There are
issues that are being a subject
matter of the argumentation and
discussions of the people. There
are also problems wherein
conditions are undesired by
people which they tend to seek
solutions.
Due to the above stated realities in the community,
actions and initiatives from its members are very
relevant and needed. Being a member of the
community, you should take part in the said
actions, to address the issues and problems, so
that community life will be better for you and
other community members.
Thus, the process of collaborative work between the
individuals and groups known as community engagement
will take place in the community action initiatives. A
community initiative is generally a network of individuals
and partner organizations dedicated to improve the
health and welfare of a community. It seeks to deal with
and reduce the effect of social problems, in order to
improve peoples' quality of life. They vary by community,
but may address issues such as homelessness, drug abuse,
domestic violence, and many others.
The Core Values of
Community Action
Initiatives
WHAT ARE THE CORE VALUES?
According to Oxford Dictionary, core values are
principles or beliefs that a person or organization
views as being of central importance. Another
definition of core values is that these “are the
fundamental beliefs of a person or organization.
These are guiding principles dictate the behavior
and can help people understand the difference
between right and wrong.”
Core Values also
help to determine if
they are on the right
path and fulfilling
their goals by
creating an
unwavering guide.
The Core Values
and Principles of
Community-action
Initiatives
Based on the book of (Taguibao et. al 2016), There
is no single approach to community development
and as such, initiatives and actions that are
intended to address community issues and
problems must consider different tools and
methods that are appropriate to the context of the
community. Essentially, community actions must
give members and leaders a “voice” in the
community action.
 In that sense, the following are
the core values that must be
taken into consideration in
making community action
initiatives and plans.
• Human rights
• 2. Social Equity
• 3. Gender equality
• 4. Participatory development
HUMAN
RIGHTS
According to the Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR), it is defined as “the rights inherent
to all human beings whatever our nationality,
place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin,
color, religion, language or any other status .
It is also defined as the supreme, inherent, and
inalienable rights to life, to dignity, and to self-
development. It is concerned with issues in both
areas of civil and political rights and economic,
social and cultural rights founded on
internationally accepted human rights obligations.
In this sense, each person, even
before coming into this world and
getting out of its mother’s womb,
have already have rights, like right to
live, which is a natural right. Upon
birth and growing up, citizenship and
other rights and entitlements are
already alongside to the child, such as
the right to a name and nationality,
the right to health and nutrition, the
right to shelter, the right to education
and the likes.
 Natural Rights - The liberty and the pursuit of
Also, here are the happiness.

human rights
Civil Rights - privacy, property, religion, expression,
included in the contract and movement
United Nations
Political Rights - assembly, petition, suffrage, direct and
declaration: indirect participation, self-determination, self-
government and election to public office
All of these and more are our rights, but
let us not forget that our right ends,
where the rights of others begin. Also, in
every right there is a corresponding
obligation and responsibility.
SOCIAL EQUITY
It is the fair access to opportunities, like
education, livelihood and resources. It involves
participation in cultural and political practices in
the community like the social justice, but social
equity emphasizes more on institutions and how
people can access it, especially those who need it
most. It also refers to standards set applied to
improve the participation of a certain classes or
sectors of people in the community.
An example of this is the marginalized group like Persons
With Disability (PWDs) who do have the same and equal
rights to ordinary people but are also 12 protected and
given the privilege to achieve social equity. Other
marginalized groups sectors or groups are women,
children, youth, indigenous, LGBTQ+ community, and
the likes who are considered weak and in need of help.
In tackling social equity, we cannot
go away with social justice. As
defined by former President Jose P.
Laurel, it is the humanization of laws
and the equalization of social and
economic forces by the state so that
justice may at least be approximated.
It is anchored heavily on the idea that
justice is based on basic human rights
and each individual must have an
opportunity to exercise these rights
Hence if we compare equity and equality, equity
according to Encarta Dictionary is a general
condition characterized by justice, fairness, and
impartiality, while equality is full equality under
the law. If we think about it, equality means
giving all things to all individuals even others may
not need it, while equity is giving the individuals
what they need.
GENDER
EQUALIT
Y
As defined by United Nations Entity for Gender
Equality and Empowerment of women, it is “the
equal rights, responsibilities, and opportunities of
women and men and girls and boys.” It does not
mean that both genders are the same but
emphasize the equality of men and women, with
equal rights, values, treatment, and opportunities.
 -Men may often have better opportunities,
freedom and social favor compared to
Clear examples women.
of problems in
-Most of the positions, socially and
gender equality politically were being occupied mostly by
are seen in the men. –
following
situations: Men may have more weight in marriages
or other direct or indirect relationships.
It is known that individuals in a community have
unique roles that are being played, also, aside
from the said roles; they also have unique needs
that must be answered. There are gender
differences between the roles played by women
and men and their unique needs and responses to
a community issue.
Not including a certain gender group may
mean a different set of priorities that would
become a possible condition of a non-holistic
approach in the issue and problem solving
PARTICIPATORY
DEVELOPMENT
Its objective is to engage the marginalized group in
programs and activities that will benefit them. It must
have advocacies to enable the marginalized groups to
promote their rights. The more participation from the
community, the higher is the possible success and
sustainability of the programs and projects. As a result, it
will empower a certain sector that will benefit from the
community initiatives thru participatory development.
This kind of development aims to directly involve local
communities in development projects. It is in our
knowledge that different members of the community
have their own and distinct needs, but if all or most of its
members will unite and participate for a certain goal,
there will be less discord and misunderstanding, then
most likely, the program and activities, as well as the
participation of the groups in the community, will
succeed, and answering the needs of a certain group or
sector would be easier.
Hence, the entire above stated core values of
community action initiatives must be our
guiding light in making and preparing our
own community action initiative and project.
DEFINING
EMPOWERME
NT AND
ADVOCACY
 According to Oxford Dictionary,
empowerment is the act of giving
somebody more control over their
own life or the situation they are in
or giving somebody the power or
authority to do something.
On the other hand advocacy is the
support, advice and help given to
people, often with special needs or
aims, who are unable to speak for
themselves.
Thus, if it will be applied to community
engagement, solidarity and citizenship, these
two are both modes of community
engagement. It highlights the collaborative
nature of various groups and people working
together to attain a specific goal that may
promote betterment of the quality of life and
social change.
 To elaborate, according to Taguibao
(2016), in connection with community
action, people empowerment is the
process that increases community
autonomy and individual self-
determination. These processes are
designed to help gain control of their
own lives.
 As stated by Ban Ki Moon, Former
Secretary General of the United
Nations, this aims to ensure that
people have the right set of skills
and opportunities they need to live
better and dignified lives.
 Now, let us move to advocacy. It refers to enabling marginalized
groups and promoting their individual rights. It is a process of
supporting people and advancing or promoting the rights these
individuals have.

 Advocacy, in connection with community engagement, also

means attaining people empowerment. It can be led by people who
are not part of the community or by leaders within the
community. The most effective advocacy and people empowerment
is the combination by both.
STRATEGIES OF
EMPOWERMENT
AND ADVOCACY OF
A COMMUNITY
ACTION INITIATIVE
Empowering sectors like the poor, indigenous
people and the likes need strong and effective
advocacies for protection and promotion of
their interests. In this sense, according to
Huberman (2014), these are the strategies is
community mobilization resulting to people
empowerment and advocacy:
1. Secure Strong Leadership-Engage strong
leaders within the community members. The
leader should possess these characteristics: the
will to serve as the leader of the community
over a significant period of time; the capacity
to provide both infrastructure and human
resources; financial stability; the ability to
gather and manage financial resources, and the
respect and support of the community.
2. Establish Formal Structure- a formal
structure must be created for it can effectively
lead community change efforts. These may
include specific committees, organizational
charts, rules like by laws, policy statements
and formal letters of agreement for those who
lead, organize, and participate in the
community effort.
3. Engage the stakeholders- engage people,
groups or institutions that may be affected by
or are important to the achievement of the
stated purpose of a project. They include
government, civil society, and the private
sector at national, intermediate and local
levels.
4. Conduct a Needs assessments-it's a
way of asking group or community
members what they see as the most
important needs of that group or
community. The results of the survey
then guide future action.
5. Create a Strategic Plan- develop a
strategic plan that lays out the
goals and objectives. The strategic
plan should identify the social,
structural, and individual changes
that will lead to people
empowerment.
Strategic planning is an organization's
process of defining its strategy, or
direction, and making decisions on
allocating its resources to pursue this
strategy. It may also extend to control
mechanisms for guiding the
implementation of the strategy