PARTICIPATORY

DEVELOPMENT
Prepared By:
Marijane L. Reyes

Submitted To:
Prof. Weng Abig RSW,
MSW
 ESSENTIAL REASONS OF
PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT:

1. it strengthens civil society and the

economy by empowering groups,
communities and organizations to
negotiate with institutions and
bureaucracies, thus influencing
public policy and providing a check
on the power of government; and,
2. it enhances the
efficiency,
effectiveness and
sustainability of
development
programmes.
PARTICIPATORY
DEVELOPMENT
seeks to engage local
populations in
development projects.
(Wikipedia)
- is a process through which
stakeholders can influence
and share control over
development initiatives, and
over the decisions and
resources that affect
themselves. (ADB 1996)
 Stakeholders and Participatory
Development
These stakeholder groups are:

General public: those who are

directly or indirectly affected by
the project (women’s groups,
individuals and families, indigenous
groups, religious groups)
Government: civil servants in
ministries, cabinets, etc.

Representative assemblies:
elected government bodies
(parliament, national and
local assemblies, district and
municipal assemblies, elected
community leaders
Civil society organizations:
networks, national and
international NGOs,
grassroots organizations,
trade unions, policy
development and research
institutes, media, community
based organizations.
Private sector: umbrella
groups representing groups
within the private sector,
professional associations,
chambers of commerce.
Donor and international
financial institutions: resource
providers and development
partners
The dynamics of development
planning are changing, largely
due to the increasing participation
and importance of the latter
groups:(i) local government units
(LGUs), (ii) CSO/NGOs and the
private sector, and (iii)
development partners.
• Decentralization and
devolution of authority to
LGUs is a form of
participation, in the sense that
sub-national agencies now
play a bigger role in the
bringing about national
progress.
• Cooperation with CSO/NGOs
continues to strengthen the
effectiveness and
sustainability of ADB poverty
reduction efforts by
harnessing NGO experience,
knowledge, and expertise.
• Networks or consortia of
regional and/or national
CSO/NGOs have proliferated
the past years establishing
platforms for both
operations and advocacy.
• Global efforts towards
harmonization among
Governments and
Development Partners -
Two Perspectives that can Define
Participatory Development:

1. Social Movement Perspective

defines participation as the
mobilization of people to eliminate
unjust hierarchies of and knowledge,
power, and economic distribution.
Empowerment participation

is when primary

stakeholders are capable
and willing to initiate the
process and take part in
the analysis.
2. Institutional Perspective

defines participation as the

reach and inclusion of inputs by
relevant groups in the design
and implementation of a
development project.
Stages of a Participatory
Development Project from an
Institutional Perspective

1. Research Stage is where

the development problem is
accurately defined.
2. Design Stage defines the
actual activities.

3. Implementation Stage is

when the planned intervention
is implemented.
4. Evaluation
Stage participation ensures
that the most significant
changes are voiced, brought
to common attention and
assessed.
Incorporating Participatory
Approaches and Methods

Information sharing (or

gathering)
is at the passive or shallow end
of the participation scale.
Consultation

it refers to people being

asked for their opinion
about something while
development professionals
listen to their views.
Collaboration/joint decision making
and empowerment/shared control
represent what most participatory
development practitioners consider
to be genuine participation.
 Shared control
involves deeper participation than
collaboration. Citizens become
empowered by accepting increasing
responsibility for developing and
implementing action plans that are
accountable to group members and for
either creating or strengthening local
institutions.
Examples from the ADB-
Philippines Development
Partnership
The 1991 Local Government Code
provides a large measure of local
autonomy to the provincial, city and
municipal governments. It has granted
the LGUs more powers, authority,
responsibilities and resources.
Among those responsibilities is the provision
of basic services and facilities for
constituents. These include agricultural
extension, community- based forestry, field
health and hospital services, public works
and infrastructure projects funded out of
local funds, school buildings, social welfare
services, tourism facilities and promotion,
telecommunication services and housing
projects.
The minimum requirements for the
preparation of the local development
plan are shown below:

Local development planning

STEPS:

Major development concerns

and priorities of the locality
Development vision and goals

Development strategy

Sectoral/spatial priorities

Medium-term fiscal plan

Public investment requirements

Philippines: Development of Poor
Urban Communities
The Development of Poor Urban
Communities project illustrates the value
of participatory activities in designing a
project. By participating in formulation of
the fundamental goals, stakeholders are
empowered and develop a sense of
ownership of the activity.
This project has a radical objective: to
provide land titles to urban squatter
communities and to rehabilitate the
communities by improving housing,
municipal infrastructure, and social
services. In the process, both local
government and community
organizations will be strengthened to
serve the needs of poor communities
better.
Community residents became actors
in project design, rather than being
simply (passive) beneficiaries. An
important step was identifying the
stakeholders who would participate
in project design. The likelihood of
being affected, positively or
negatively, by the project was the
key criterion for selection.
1: Empowering Poor Urban
Communities and Strengthening Local
Institutions (Philippines)

The Development of Poor Urban

Communities project in the Philippines
builds social capital through
institutionalizing community
organizations. The plan has four stages:
1. Communities engage in action
planning and form teams to
address the four components of
the project: livelihood, land
security, infrastructure, and social
services. A board is formed that
includes the chairs of each team.
2. Community organizations (for
each group of households) become
more structured and legitimized. A
general assembly, including either
the husband or wife of each
household, is formed and elects its
leaders. The community organization
is then equipped to transact business
with external parties.
3. Community organizations in a
contiguous area are then organized
into clusters, forming a coalition or
federation headed by a cluster
council. The cluster council advocates
on behalf of the members of its cluster
to the village development council,
based on each community’s
development plans.
4. Cluster councils further coalesce
into a municipal or citywide
organization in order to represent the
community organizations before the
local government decision-making
bodies. The citywide organization
assesses city development and
housing and land use plans,
and ensures that cluster needs and
priorities are incorporated into the city
development agenda. Assessments
are likewise undertaken of the city
and village budgets to ensure that
their use reflects balanced
responsiveness and sensitivity to the
needs of the urban poor.
 2 : Planning Method used by
Communities in the Cordillera
Highlands Agricultural Resources
Management Project (Philippines)

A unique feature of the Cordillera Highlands

Agricultural Resources Management (CHARM)
project was its use of a multilevel participatory
planning approach to maximize stakeholder
participation in project decision making.
Village level
dialogue with elected village
officials and leader's of people's
organizations.
provided an orientation for
community members on the
project and the participatory
planning process to be
undertaken
a core group was established to
ensure inclusion of existing groups
and traditional institutions

Community workshops for

participatory planning were then
organized by the core group and
the NGO facilitator
The first step was a comprehensive
village profile

Various methods were used:

secondary data collection,
household surveys, and participatory
rural appraisal (PRA) exercises
including community maps, seasonal
calendars
, land transects, and socioeconomic
and livelihood analysis. In the second
phase, core group members and
village residents analyzed the data
They identified and prioritized
community issues and problems,
outlined goals and objectives,
and then created a plan of action
using a project planning matrix.
Finally, they consolidated the outputs
of the Barangay (village) Natural
Resource Management (BNRMP).
 Municipal and Provincial Levels

The BNRMPs including prioritized projects were

then forwarded to the municipal level where a
municipal management group composed of
local government officials, relevant line agency
personnel, people's organization representatives,
and elected officials, plus NGO project staff,
assessed the technical merits of projects and
prioritized them across the area.
These project lists were forwarded to
the provincial management group for
final review and ranking at the
provincial level.
The municipal and provincial project
management groups coordinated the
various line agencies, local
government units,
and NGO field staff in screening and
prioritizing projects, providing technical
support, and working closely with
elected community leaders and
people's organization leaders.
Consensus among the key project
stakeholders at each level was
obtained while finalizing the priority lists
in their areas.