Resources

This toolkit draws on the lessons generated from learning projects and case studies supported under the Citizens and Governance programme of the Commonwealth Foundation. It offers practical guidance on how to promote the participation of citizens in governance. The contents of the toolkit include: the meaning of inclusive governance; ways for citizens to organise and engage in governance; strategies for multi-sectoral partnerships; key themes that emerge in governance, such as conflict, gender and power; suggestions for participatory methods in governance, including learning circles, popular theatre and role play; and methods for inclusive governance capacity building of citizens, intermediaries and government officials. Brief summaries of action-learning projects and case studies from the Citizens and Governance Programme from: India, the Caribbean, Vanuatu, Tanzania, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Jamaica, Zimbabwe, UK, New Zeeland, Africa, Malaysia, Canada and Belize; are presented. A toolkit CD-ROM designed to run on Windows 95/98/XP and MacOS9 is also incorporated. The CD-ROM contains the toolkit in an electronic format and has a resource bank of downloadable materials, such as relevant publications, materials used by the project partners and a word bank which provides explanations of, and proverbs illustrating terms common in the debate about civil society and governance which project partners themselves have furnished.

This document describes, in detail, the processes and the outcomes of a training workshop on participatory appraisal methods, the main objective of which was to develop a methodology for the study of urban poverty and violence in Jamaica. The training workshop, which was participated in by over a dozen people including the Bank staff, was carried out in three phases: an introduction to the methodology in classroom sessions, pilot fieldwork and review, and the planning for the main fieldwork . The report provides an example of how PRA tools can be used successfully in studying more sensitive issues in the urban context as well. The fact that a good PRA in practice can help to bring about changes in 'outsiders' view regarding the importance and practicality of PRA tools is demonstrated. The report contains annexes with tables and diagrams.