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7.1 Why Need Community Participation?
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7.1 Why Need Community Participation?

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What is community participation?

 

Community participation is a planned two-way communication process between the project sponsors and stakeholders, which aims to provide opportunities for the communities to express their opinions throughout the project cycle to solve their problems.

 

Instead of merely spreading information to the communities during project development and implementation, the community participation emphasizes on contributing ideas, making decisions, and taking responsibilities.

 

Significance and Benefits of Conducting Community Participation

 

The community participation process encourages community groups and individuals to participate in the planning, selection, design, implementation, and management of community development project that will affect their daily lives. Effective participation will result in a higher likelihood that the project accurately reflects the communities’ needs and interests. An effective process will:

 

  • Show more respects to local culture and customs.
  • Increase the likelihood that politically or economically weak groups have the access to project benefits.
  • Increase the likelihood that projects or solutions will be preferable designed and widely accepted.
  • Create more practical and effective solutions responding to local needs, concerns and preferences by incorporating local knowledge.
  • Increase ownership, support, commitment, and responsibility of local villagers for the sanitation projects.
  • Increase the probabilities of success and sustainability of the sanitation projects.
  • Increase local villagers’ awareness, knowledge, and skills in sanitation improvement, which would result in behavior change and enhanced capability to undertake future development projects.
  • Empower local villagers to gain greater control over their lives and communities.
  • Develop trust in community organizations and local governance through timely and in-depth communication and closely cooperation.

 

It is worth noting that community participation is a necessary, but not a sufficient component of sanitation program planning. It is fundamental to involve the benefiting community, so they have a vested and long-term interest and stake in the outcome. But community participation alone is not sufficient for the successful design and implementation of a sanitation program. Institutional support by government is also needed to supply technical expertise and support services not available in the community.

 

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