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Pioneers of Participation Case Study Series, Cape Town: Islandla Institute
In 1998, the government of Kenya advertised a call for proposals for community-based projects. Financed by the Europe...
In 1998, the government of Kenya advertised a call for proposals for community-based projects. Financed by the European Union, the Community Development Fund expected community-based organizations to raise 25 percent of the proposed budget. One self-help group based in the town of Vihiga (which bears the same name as the district in which it is located) was interested to apply, but could not raise the necessary funds from among its members. The group of women sought advise on the matter...
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Pioneers of Participation Case Study Serie, Cape Town: Islandla Institute
In South Africa's eastern coast town of Durban, local government leaders felt it was their responsibility to resolve ...
In South Africa's eastern coast town of Durban, local government leaders felt it was their responsibility to resolve the legacy of injustice left by apartheid. When in 1996 the 48 distinct local councils were unified into six local councils and one municipal council (eThekwini Municipality), they thought they had their chance.
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Pioneers of Participation Case Study Series, Cape Town: Islandla Institute
The Soweto Crisis Committee was originally known as the Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee when it formed in 2002 in...
The Soweto Crisis Committee was originally known as the Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee when it formed in 2002 in response to cut-offs for non-payment by Eskom, the public electricity commission. Eskom was cutting off as many as 300 customers per day in the community of 1.5 million. According to Zodwa Madiba, a member of the Crisis Committee and a Johannesburg city councillor, residents where unable to pay because Eskom has hiked its rates as part of the new cost-recovery strategy.
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Pioneers of Participation Case Study Series, Cape Town: Islanda Institute
After a decade of political crises and wars that left more than 5 million people dead from violence, famine, and dise...
After a decade of political crises and wars that left more than 5 million people dead from violence, famine, and disease â one of the greatest disasters in human history â the warring factions in the Democratic Republic of Congo signed a power-sharing agreement and peace deal in 2002. The violence, however, continues, especially for women of eastern Congo, who have suffered immeasurable harm at the cruel hands of the remaining militias.
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Pioneers of Participation Case Study Series, Cape Town: Islandla Institute
In 1986, a local board of commissioners - the equivalent of a municipal council - was appointed in the informal settl...
In 1986, a local board of commissioners - the equivalent of a municipal council - was appointed in the informal settlement of Epworth with two mandates: to facilitate the registration of land titles and to promote the local economy. Formalizing land titles in Epworth, however, posed a threat to the use of empty plots for grazing by many residents. Many of the informal settlers hence refused to cooperate with the local board and even opposed the proposal to hold local elections...
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Benequista, N, McGregor, G & A, Dunn
Sick of Waiting: Citizen Prescriptions for Better Health Policy, Citizenship DRC Case Study Series
This two-page document summarises research on the Treatment Action Campaign, South Africa's most influential AIDS adv...
This two-page document summarises research on the Treatment Action Campaign, South Africa's most influential AIDS advocacy group.
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Benequista, N, McGregor, G & A, Dunn
Sick of Waiting: Citizen Prescriptions for Better Health Policy: Citizenship DRC Case Study Series
This two-page document summarises research into Bangladesh's attempt to enhance community participation in the public...
This two-page document summarises research into Bangladesh's attempt to enhance community participation in the public health sector.
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Benequista, N & A, Dunn
Sick of Waiting: Citizen Prescriptions for Better Health
This two-page case study summary describes how in a city in the UK with a troubled political history, residents in on...
This two-page case study summary describes how in a city in the UK with a troubled political history, residents in one neighbourhood discovered that the Health Authority was planning to close their health centre, so they mobilised and undertook research to stop the closure.
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Benequista, N & A, Dunn
Sick of Waiting: Citizen Prescriptions for Better Health
This two-page document summarises a study of the role of Aboriginal people in the deliberative aspects of the Romanow...
This two-page document summarises a study of the role of Aboriginal people in the deliberative aspects of the Romanow Commission, established in April 2001 by the Canadian government to deliberate with citizens on the future of healthcare in Canada.
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Benequista, N
Backed by Popular Demand: Citizen Actions for Accountability, Citizenship DRC Case Study Series
This two-page document describes an action research project that sought to restore accountability in the management o...
This two-page document describes an action research project that sought to restore accountability in the management of water resources - through institutions that linked indigenous communities in the hills of southern Veracruz and municipal governments along the coast.
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Benequista, N
Backed by Popular Demand: Citizen Actions for Accountability, Citizenship DRC Case Study Series
This two-page document summarises research into the strategies taken by tenement housing residents to claim their rig...
This two-page document summarises research into the strategies taken by tenement housing residents to claim their rights.
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Benequista, N
Backed by Popular Demand: Citizen Actions for Accountability, Citizenship DRC Case Study Series
This two-page document summarises research into the Bangladesh garment export sector, showing that a context where co...
This two-page document summarises research into the Bangladesh garment export sector, showing that a context where companies adhere to codes of conduct is not the same as a culture of accountability where citizens mobilise to hold their employers and other companies to account.
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Benequista, N
Backed by Popular Demand: Citizen Actions for Accountability, Citizenship DRC Case Study Series
This brief research summary describes how Researchers from the Theatre for Development Centre (TFDC) at Ahmadu Bello ...
This brief research summary describes how Researchers from the Theatre for Development Centre (TFDC) at Ahmadu Bello University used participatory theatre as a methodology for encouraging discussion among communities of the Niger Delta on the breakdown in accountability of local and state leaders to citizens.
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Benequista, N
Citizenship DRC Case Study Series
This document combines five case studies from different countries that illustrate how citizens take action to claim a...
This document combines five case studies from different countries that illustrate how citizens take action to claim accountability from local institutions, governments, corporations and global actors.
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Benequista, N
Backed by Popular Demand: Citizen Actions for Accountability: Citizenship DRC Case Study Series
This two-page document summarises how non-governmental organisations used multi-stakeholder accountability dialogues ...
This two-page document summarises how non-governmental organisations used multi-stakeholder accountability dialogues to help protect the rights of people living in communities affected by the construction of a power plant.
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Benequista, N & G, McGregor
Sick of Waiting: Citizen Prescriptions for Better Health Policy, Citizenship DRC Case Study Series
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Salihu, A
Champions of Participation Case Study Series, the Citizenship DRC: Brighton
Citizen participation in local governance is rare in Nigeria, but civil society groups and leaders and champions work...
Citizen participation in local governance is rare in Nigeria, but civil society groups and leaders and champions working inside government have managed to influence some parts of the government to take the needs and wants of citizens more seriously. This case study describes how new democratic spaces were created in the city of Abuja to facilitate dialogue between political leaders in local government and citizens. Through the use of public meetings and a range of media, decision-making processes became more transparent and the scope for trust and mutual respect improved. Amina Salihu is former Senior Special Assistant on Information and Strategy for the Minister of Abuja.
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Avritzer, L
IDS In Focus Policy Briefing, 5
Relentless urbanisation has fundamentally changed the composition of Brazilâs population â today 70 per cent of B...
Relentless urbanisation has fundamentally changed the composition of Brazilâs population â today 70 per cent of Brazilâs people live in cities compared to 30 per cent in 1900. Due to poor planning, this process was often unfair and chaotic, leading to the creation of vast urban slums. This Research Summary shows how a national urban reform movement â The Right to the City Campaign â emerged in the 1980s and successfully campaigned for legislative change. The Statute of the City was finally approved in 2001 and, despite certain shortcomings, it is increasing the slum dwellersâ access to urban land, public goods and housing.
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IDS In Focus Policy Briefing 5
In 2005, after a nine-year campaign by peopleâs organisations, the Indian government implemented a far-reaching Rig...
In 2005, after a nine-year campaign by peopleâs organisations, the Indian government implemented a far-reaching Right to Information (RTI) Act. The Act, which requires all central, state and local government institutions to meet public demands for information is one of the strongest in the world. It empowers citizens to demand greater government accountability, improve their participation in decision-making, and help reduce corruption. This Research Summary shows how a national network of peopleâs organisations helped enact this legislation and ensure it was put into practice.
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Borras, Jr SM
IDS In Focus Policy Briefing, 5
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Pittman, A
IDS In Focus Policy Briefing 5
This Research Summary explores how the Moroccan womenâs movement, which had been active since the late 1950âs, su...
This Research Summary explores how the Moroccan womenâs movement, which had been active since the late 1950âs, successfully strengthened womenâs rights by demanding the reform of the Moudawana, or Personal Status Code, a legal code governing the roles of men and women within the family. This achievement was remarkable considering the dominant patriarchal context and the vigorous opposition from the Islamists and religious conservatives, and serves as an inspiring model
for legal change in other Muslim-majority countries.
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Fuentes, C
IDS In Focus Policy Briefing, 5
The lives of poor Chileans, especially children, improved dramatically after 1990 as poverty, maternal and child mort...
The lives of poor Chileans, especially children, improved dramatically after 1990 as poverty, maternal and child mortality rates fell, and school enrolment and child nutrition levels increased. These gains were all the more impressive given the legacy of extreme poverty, inequality and social dislocation inherited from Pinochetâs 15-year military dictatorship. The restoration of political and civil rights also allowed civil society to flourish, and this burgeoning sector played an important role in helping implement the governmentâs social agenda. This Research Summary examines how three centre-left democratic governments, supported by non-governmental organisations (NGOs), made such enormous strides, from 1990 to 2005.
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Robinson, M & S, Friedman
IDS In Focus Policy Briefing, 5
This two-page document summarises research into how civil society is contributing to democratisation in Africa and th...
This two-page document summarises research into how civil society is contributing to democratisation in Africa and the impact of foreign aid upon this process. This IDS Research Summary addresses these important questions by highlighting the conclusions of a comparative research project based on empirical case studies of 12 leading civil society organisations (CSOs) in South Africa and Uganda, and related material from Ghana. The studyâs implications and recommendations are far-reaching for both donors and CSOs. Examples of effective advocacy in specific contexts are given, but the findings also emphasise the limited overall influence of CSOs upon policy and they downplay the role of foreign aid.
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Layton, M, Campillo Carrete, B, Ablanedo Terrazas, I & AM, Sanchez Rodriguez
IDS In Focus Policy Briefing, 5
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IDS In Focus Policy Briefing, 5
This two-page document describes a concerted campaign by womenâs and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) ...
This two-page document describes a concerted campaign by womenâs and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organisations that succeeded in achieving a revolutionary change in the philosophy and content of the Turkish Penal Code on issues of gender and sexuality. The new Code allows women greater sexual and bodily autonomy, for example by criminalising marital rape, and prompted a groundbreaking shift in public and social attitudes. This Research Summary shows how the campaigners successfully achieved thirty five progressive amendments to the new code despite the opposition of the ruling religious conservative government.
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Friedman, S
IDS In Focus Policy Briefing, 5
Powerful social movements can overturn international commercial interests and change government policy. This Research...
Powerful social movements can overturn international commercial interests and change government policy. This Research Summary shows how the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), a coalition of HIV- positive people established in South Africa in 1998, successfully pressed multinational companies and the South African authorities to improve access to life-saving anti-retroviral medicines (ARVs) for people living with AIDS. But despite these advances in treatment and the TACâs drive to prevent new HIV infections, the problems are still vast: only a small proportion of South Africaâs 5.6 million HIV-positive people are receiving treatment and there are signs the government is still dragging its feet.
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Ardron, R
Champions of Participation Case Study Series, the Citizenship DRC: Brighton
A multi-cultural inner city community in Sheffield recently took part in a UK government strategy called the New Deal...
A multi-cultural inner city community in Sheffield recently took part in a UK government strategy called the New Deal for Communities programme aimed at neighbourhood renewal and tackling social exclusion. This case study explores participation from the perspective and experience of a citizen and community activist. It examines the implications for citizens and communities of working in partnership with local government to improve services and transform a very deprived neighbourhood.
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Brickley, A
Champions of Participation Case Study Series, the Citizenship DRC: Brighton
The East London Communities Organisation (TELCO), UK bases its approach to community cohesion and empowerment on the ...
The East London Communities Organisation (TELCO), UK bases its approach to community cohesion and empowerment on the methods developed by Saul Alinksy, an activist working in Chicago, USA in the 1960s. TELCO is an independent community organisation through which citizens can challenge powerful political and economic institutions, requiring them to listen and respond to the concerns of ordinary people who are mobilised and working together. This case study is an example of a âbroad-based community organisationâ that enables a wide range of civil society groups to come together around common concerns and to campaign for change.
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Hicks, J
Champions of Participation Case Study Series, Brighton: the Citizenship DRC
South Africa has one of the most progressive constitutions in the world. It includes the municipal legislative framew...
South Africa has one of the most progressive constitutions in the world. It includes the municipal legislative framework that provides for community participation in decision-making at municipal level. However in practice citizens have had little experience of this, which is particularly relevant in contexts of severe poverty and failure by the state to provide basic services. This case study demonstrates the challenges a national NGO, the Centre for Public Participation (CPP), faced when working to influence central government policy on citizen participation. It also explores the role and influence of international donors in promoting this agenda.
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Huggins, M
Champions of Participation Case Study Series, the Citizenship DRC: Brighton
In the city of Eau Claire in Wisconsin, USA, a community visioning and strategic planning process is currently giving...
In the city of Eau Claire in Wisconsin, USA, a community visioning and strategic planning process is currently giving citizens new opportunities to participate in decision-making in their communities. This case study describes how a coalition of government and non-profit organisations, led by the city of Eau Claire, worked with a broad cross section of community members to develop a vision and strategic plan for the area and to find solutions to the challenging problems they face at a time of rapid change and budget constraints.
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Howe, V
Champions of Participation Case Study Series, the Citizenship DRC: Brighton
Through an international learning exchange between eight European cities, Newcastle City Council became inspired to u...
Through an international learning exchange between eight European cities, Newcastle City Council became inspired to use participatory budgeting: getting local people to understand how public money is used and involving them in decision-making around it. This case study illustrates the value of sharing experiences of empowerment internationally and explains how participatory budgeting (PB), as developed originally in Brazil, has been adapted to support community empowerment in the northern UK city of Newcastle upon Tyne.
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Hedge-Morrell, C
Champions of Participation Case Study Series, the Citizenship DRC: Brighton
This case study examines the challenges of large scale citizen-led planning in the
<br/>aftermath of a natural disas...
This case study examines the challenges of large scale citizen-led planning in the
aftermath of a natural disaster, Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. As an alternative
to a top-down planning process residents collectively took part in formulating a
plan to rebuild their city. Cynthia Hedge-Morrell, recently elected Councillor at the
time, tells the story.
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Dwivedi, A & Gaventa J
Champions of Participation Case Study Series, the Citizenship DRC: Brighton
In many parts of India a quiet revolution is taking place in the relationship between citizens and local governments....
In many parts of India a quiet revolution is taking place in the relationship between citizens and local governments. Strengthened by new opportunities created by constitutional changes and strong legislation, citizens are increasingly aware of their rights and speaking out for improved services and government performance at the local level. At the same time, elected officials and government officials are increasingly aware of their duties to involve citizens and how they can link with NGOs and local civil society groups to strengthen local government capacity. This case study focuses on how NGOs can play a critical intermediary role, working to build awareness of citizens on the one hand and also to find and strengthen the champions of participation inside government on the other. Anju Dwivedi is the state coordinator in Rajasthan of one such NGO, the Society of ParticipatoryResearch in Asia (PRIA).
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ID21, Society and Economy
This document is a brief summary of the Citizenship DRC's research on South Africa's Area Coordinating Teams (ACTs). ...
This document is a brief summary of the Citizenship DRC's research on South Africa's Area Coordinating Teams (ACTs). South Africaâs post-apartheid constitution requires local authorities to consult communities prior to any decision being taken that might affect them. ACTs are a key mechanism for doing this in the city of Cape Town. However, it is only when these teams develop from being simple symbols of participation to real instruments of change that they can make a real difference in their communities.
