Community Mobilization &

Participation
 Students will be able to…
• Define community participation and mobilization
• Discuss purposes and benefits of community
mobilization
• Identify the key stakeholders in the community
• Integrate process of community mobilization with
health project
• Discuss techniques of promoting community
mobilization and participation
• Identify the roles of a community mobilizer
 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.

 Territory
 Sharing resources
 Administrative unit
 Language
 Religion
 Culture
 Occupation
 What is community?
Groups of people who may be physically separated but
who are connected by other common characteristics,
such as
• profession
• interests
• age
• ethnic origin
• beliefs and values
• culture
• language
Community Participation
•People of every level are encouraged to
participate in development activities
spontaneously by building awareness on
their needs, problems, roles and
responsibilities.
•The awareness and spontaneity make
them self-confident.
•As a result they themselves take the
initiative to solve their own problems.”
(Dhaka Ahsania Mission, 2001)

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 Degree of Community Participation

Away from ownership & sustainability

Collective Action
Towards ownership & sustainability

Co-Learning

Cooperation

Consulting

Compliance

Co-Option
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 Co-option

• Token involvement of local people

• Representatives are chosen, but have no real

input or power

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 Compliance

• Tasks are assigned, with INCENTIVES

• Outsiders decide agenda and direct the process

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 Consultation

• Local opinions are asked

• Outsiders analyze and decide on a course of action

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 Cooperation

• Local people work together with outsiders to

determine priorities

• Responsibility remains with outsiders for directing

the process

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 Co-learning

• Local people and outsiders share their knowledge to

create new understanding

• Local people and outsiders work together to form

action plans with outsiders facilitation

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 Collective Action

• Local people set their own agenda &

mobilize to carry it out in the absence of
outside initiators & facilitation

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 Community Mobilization
The process of building enthusiasm and commitment
within a community to establish a formal working
relationship in order to work together for
accomplishment of a common goal

http://www.compass-malawi.com/cglossary.htm

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 Community Action Cycle

Mobilize Communities for Health and Social Change

Explore the common issue

& Set priorities

Prepare to mobilize Organize the community

Plan together
For action

Prepare to scale up Evaluate together Act together

 Policy makers

Volunteer Community
groups leaders

Community
All population
Individuals
sectors
Community
mobilization

Local
Organizations
government

Religious
Businessmen
groups
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Why We mobilize community

???

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 Why Mobilizing the community?
• Infusing new energy into solution of an issue
• Awareness of an issue
• Increasing access to services
• Increasing effectiveness and efficiency of interventions
• Addressing the underlying causes
• Increasing community ownership and sustainability
• Encourage collaboration between individuals and
organizations
• To promote long-term, organization/community
commitment

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 Benefits
• Increase community, individual, and group capacity
to identify and satisfy their needs
• Improve programme effectiveness
• Cost effective way to achieve sustainable results
• Increase community ownership of the program

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 Process of community mobilization
1-Pre- 2-
positioning Assessment

5- 3-
Monitoring Community
& action
Evaluation planning

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How to enhance the community
Participation?
???

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 Key Tasks to promote Community
Mobilization

• Developing an on-going dialogue b/w community

members
• Creating/strengthening community organizations
• Creating an environment for community empowerment
• Working in partnership to promote participation
• Support communities to develop a variety of strategies
and approaches

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 Cont…

• Assisting in linking communities with external

resources
• Providing adequate time to communities
• Involving stake holders
• Identifying deprived group

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 Community Mobilizer

A mobilizer is a person who

mobilizes, i.e. gets things moving.
Social animator. A Catalyst

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Role of Community Mobilizers

• Bringing People Together

• Building Trust
• Encouraging Participation
• Facilitating Discussion and Decision-making
• Helping Things to Run Smoothly .
• Facilitation in community mobilization process

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 Prepare to mobilize
• Identify a common issue
that the whole community
can get involved
• Gather information about
the issue and the
community
• Identify resources and
constraints
 Conclusion
• Community mobilization needs continuous
efforts to know more about the community
• Using its available resources for the
community effectively
• While obtaining support from the community,
• Explore cooperation with other agencies.
Thank You
Any Question
???

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