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This paper goes beyond conceptual debates to explore country level practice around emergent rightsbased approaches to development, and their relationship with more established practices of participatory development. Drawing from the perspectives of a cross-section of Kenyan civil society groups, the paper examines the extent to which these approaches overlap, and evaluates the prospects for an integrated and sustained approach to civil societyÆs questioning of institutional arrangements that foster unequal relations.|Current trends suggest a gradual closing of the chasm between the practice of participatory community development and the practice of rights advocacy: community development NGOs are taking more seriously the notion of peopleÆs rights and entitlements as the starting point for their work, and the need for greater engagement with macro-level political institutions to build accountability; rights advocacy NGOs are responding to demands for active and meaningful participation of marginalised groups in shaping a rights advocacy agenda that is genuinely rooted in communities; and community-based networks are looking inward to ensure internal legitimacy, inclusiveness and non-discrimination. These trends hold promise for an integrated and sustained approach that is potentially more effective in Kenya's new political climate characterised by stronger demands for accountability at different levels. The paper concludes with suggestions on how these emerging trends can be strengthened.

Participation has become a critical concept in development, increasingly employed in the planning and implementation of development programmes. This book takes participation one step further by exploring its use in the monitoring and evaluation of these programmes. Bringing together a broad range of case studies (12 in total) and discussions between practitioners, academics, donors and policy makers, the book explores conceptual, methodological, institutional and policy issues in participatory monitoring and evaluation. It distils the common themes and experiences in participatory monitoring and evaluation to show the challenges - and far-reaching benefits - of the approach. The book starts with a general overview of participatory monitoring and evaluation, followed by a synthesis of case studies and regional reviews of practice and methodological innovations around the globe in Part 1. Part 2 then presents case studies of learning with communities; these illustrate the diverse range of settings and contexts in which participatory monitoring and evaluation is being applied. Part 3 raises the key issues and challenges for participatory monitoring and evaluation, including the need for changing institutions. The book concludes by way of proposing areas for future research and action.

This is the second volume of the series 'Learning to Shareà' in which development practitioners continue to share lessons learnt from the field in the area of community participation. The experiences described in this book are all based in India and cover such topics as participatory eco-restoration, women's food calendar, participatory livestock development, participatory forestry, participatory village profile, bio-diversity monitoring, participatory need assessment, children's perceptions of livelihood and participatory impact assessment. See also, Volume I, shelf location 3171

This short case study on local governance in Zambia highlights the deficit of the Zambian system in terms of service-delivery, participation and accountability. The state system has left decentralised government under-funded, insufficiently accountable and in conflict with line ministries. Development agencies have met these inadequacies by creating parallel structures for service-delivery that enhance participation. However, these parallel structures undermine the state system, are not sustainable, and have proliferated without coordination at district level and without inter-institutional learning. However, people's willingness to participate is clear, and the problems of this case point to how an enhanced model of democratic decentralisation would expand opportunities for participation, and provide a framework for coordination and improved accountability. The EU is a major funder of development programmes in Zambia, and may therefore exert influence over the Zambian government to move towards greater and coordinated democratic decentralisation.

It is only over the 1990s that local government bodies have started to apply participatory methodologies with any consistency. This is surprising given their mandate to meet the needs and interests of local people. This overview discusses the many issues surrounding participation and local government. These include: the reasons why local government has failed until recently to employ participatory methodologies; how local government officials in both the North and South can learn from each other and how participation can be used to influence new styles of leadership that are more democratic, transparent and accountable.