Resources

This resource book is about people’s participation in decision-making and about people’s right to have a ‘voice’, to be heard and to choose their own representatives.  Democracy is an ongoing process and to create more just and equal societies it is essential that democratic “spaces” are made that enable real influence for those living in poverty.  This book is for local level civil society practitioners who want to make their own voice heard, and who want to involve more people in their efforts to make their opinions and ideas heard at the local level, in elected local government and other state bodies, in civil society organisations, and in public spaces and media.

This paper traces the development the Village Animal Health Worker (VAHW) training programme in Nepal developed by the United Mission to Nepal (UMN). After twenty years the VAHWs had no official recognition or legal registration. Discussion led to the following criteria to be established in order to gain certification, and the equivalent of a 'level one' post in the civil service: VAHWs to complete a two-week training course; a six-month post-training review by trainers; eligibility for the skills test examination after one year's experience.|Overall, government certification and recognition has been an important step in the development of VAHWs. It allows them to play a critical role in national animal health programmes, and extends the reach of veterinary services to those who would otherwise have no services. Yet this process has tended to devalue those who have not been able to achieve certification, such as those who lack formal education standards.

This manual suggests themes, training methods and activities to facilitators carrying out governance training programmes, giving a foundation in the governance debate and promoting citizenÆs desire and capacity to take an active part in the processes of democracy. The manual is addressed to trainers as a guide in conducting a five-day programme, for groups of 20-25 people, in governance issues. It consists of 14 sessions and applies participatory training methods requiring the participants to analyse situations and express their opinions. The trainers therefore should have special facilitating skills and the ability to synthesise the responses given by participants. The manual addresses the following key issues: the concepts of governance and good governance; the rationale for good governance; how to promote good governance and encourage active citizenship; and the roles of active citizenship and civil society organisations. All sessions are structured and easily accessible, setting out the objectives for trainers and participants, giving indication of the duration of the session, and suggestions for training methods. The session is then explained step by step with suggested timings. The sessions include: citizens and governance; introduction to human rights; civil society; issues faced by citizens; women in governance; overcoming injustices in civil society; active citizenship; civil society organisations; advocacy for civil society organisations; networking; participants as actors; and an evaluation and closing session.

A citizens jury (CJ) can be described as ôan opportunity for people to express an informed view on a subject, according to their principlesö. The CJ includes ordinary people on the jury, who get information from specialists with different perspectives, and make conclusions on community issues in order to influence decision makers. This handbook uses a series of cartoons as a guide, to take you through a step-by-step process on how to plan, implement, and follow-up citizens juries (CJs). The cartoons illustrate what a CJ is, why you might want to have one, what the main ingredients of a CJ are, and how to set up and realise a CJ. The manual explains the origins of citizensÆ juries, and provides examples of some of the situations in which you might feel it would be worthwhile to hold a citizensÆ jury yourself. An accompanying video, æTeach yourself citizensÆ juries: Making a differenceÆ, has been prepared to accompany the manual; portraying examples of successful CJs in the UK.

This three-volume set from Community Partnership centre (CPC) includes a participant's journal, a facilitator's handbook, and a facilitatorÆs resource guide. It describes and outlines the process for developing a CPC Citizen Learning Team and promoting participation in sustainable community development efforts. The model facilitates the community participation in the identification, evaluation and monitoring of community concerns. The participantÆs journal is designed to be used during work in a Learning Team divided into phases, where each phase begins with a question that provides an objective for team members to follow. The facilitatorÆs handbook is intended both for trained researchers and community members who wish to facilitate participation in the community development process, giving an introduction to the CPC evolving model for participatory community development research and practice. It goes through this process giving advice to prospective facilitators, phase-by-phase and providing general tips on meeting facilitation. The facilitatorÆs resource guide provides brief articles and other information sources such as internet links, relating to the topics of each phase. The phases in the project are divided as follows: how to work together and define goals; rationale and selection of what to learn; sourcing information and knowledge; action planning; evaluation and updating of the learning agenda; and visions for the future.

Using PRA techniques to collect information for the purposes of policy analysis, raises different issues from using PRA in an NGO project context. Training exercises for policy-oriented PRA need to be "custom-designed" for government staff who tend to have a more "top-down" approach, work in discrete departments and have restricted time for learning PRA. The article suggests how to plan a training programme in view of these points.