Participation means more than just involving people in technical problem-solving. Participation is a basic political right that should be enjoyed at all levels of (the global) society:

from urban municipalities and village councils to central governments, from national parliaments to international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, and from political parties to trade unions, associations, women’s organisations and human rights groups. Often, however, those in power prevent or instrumentalise active citizen participation. And it is precisely the poor who lack access to power, even though they form the majority of the population.

It is therefore imperative to strengthen the organisational capacities, the political awareness and the technical expertise of poor sections of the population. Because democracy and sustainable development go hand in hand. Civil society actors such as Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), social movements and Churches play an important role in this process: They support the poor in articulating their concerns and demanding their rights from those in political power.

Last but not least, participation also means involving women and men on an equal footing. The targeted promotion of women helps create conditions that are conducive to growing political participation by poor and marginalised women. The resulting presence of women in grass-roots organisations and local decision-making bodies has gone hand in hand with their assuming an increasingly influential role in many projects. Having said that, gender strategies designed to systematically 'engender' spaces of political participation remain relatively uncommon.

In project practice, some projects are designed explicitly to promote participation. Increasingly, however, the effective participation of the poor and marginalised in decision-making and other processes is now also coming to be seen as a key factor for efficient, sustainable and self-reliant development in traditional sectors such as rural development, habitat, health and education.

Starting points for participatory processes can be e.g.

• democratisation and decentralisation processes, poverty reduction strategies (PRSPs)
• high levels of corruption
• disasters (such as earthquakes or floods)
• political events (such as elections)
• conflicts (such as those surrounding large-scale projects or an oil pipeline)

Concrete forms and mechanisms of participation include e.g.

• civil society monitoring 
• efforts to influence social policy and co-determine social sectors
• mobilisation of public funds
• good governance
• decentralisation
• participatory poverty assessments
• participatory budgeting and development planning
• participation in large-scale projects

Contact

Dr. Ulrich Dornberg