© 2010 Local Government Alliance for International Development
| Community engagement |
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The links that can develop, and the associated voluntary activity, not only lend cohesion and focus to community activity but also help provide a sense of identity and a point of reference for the people involved. An active, thriving direct partnership between people in the UK and a developing world community can lift both communities and inform their horizons, ambitions and sense of purpose. |
Many local international development activities spring from a community impulse or are rooted in the commitment of a group of local people. Community initiatives provide opportunities for the development of strong community bonds, increased participation in other local activities and a greater overall sense of local worth.>>Find out how
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As part of their cohesion strategies, councils can ensure they have knowledge of any existing or emerging community appetite for international development initiatives. The starting points for community-based international development are many and various. Churches, schools and youth projects are typical points of focus as are diaspora communities. In all these cases, initiatives have the potential to widen participation in community-based activity and provide a point of cohesion. In other cases, international development activities may be rooted in occupational interests, such as groups of farmers, vets, teachers or health professionals. All instances have the potential to develop into very visible initiatives that become part of the wider community, particularly in countryside areas where occupational groups such as farmers may be at the heart of the local community. Councils can do much to support and facilitate such initiatives although they must also be sensitive to not undermining the community ownership of such endeavours. Instead, they can play a supporting role by signalling their encouragement of projects through the lending of facilities, meeting venues or volunteering officer expertise. At key stages in an international link, it may also be important that they participate through the reception, for example, of overseas guests. In some cases, community-based links may evolve into a declared twinning link. |
>>Case studies
Pontypridd (Rhondda Cynon Taff) – Mbale (Uganda) link stretches young people’s horizons
PONT (Pontypridd Overseas Networking Trust) is a Pontypridd-based charity seeking to build a new model of development based on direct personal relationships between communities here in Wales and communities in Uganda. Through PONT, 50 school links including primary and secondary schools have not only set up direct connections between children and teachers in Wales and Uganda, but also developed impressive curriculum and learning projects tackling global, intercultural and community issues.
This has had a great impact on aspirations of young people in the valleys and in Mbale. School projects to have emerged from these links have included tree planting, green mapping, agricultural plots, solar powered energy generation, weather monitoring and even research into the durability of construction materials for buildings and roads! PONT’s ‘goats for orphans’ scheme has also supported vulnerable children and enabled their 450 adopted families to boost nutrition and generate income.
>>Self assessment
1 Do you have a clear picture of which communities in your area are involved in international development activity?
2 Have you considered the role that international development activity can play in the council’s strategies to build community cohesion and confidence, in particular ways in which it can lift community self-worth or boost the ambition of specific groups such as young people?
3 Have you asked the communities involved in international development initiatives how the council can best complement and support their activity?
4 Are you sure that the style and type of council involvement that you have in mind is going to boost the project rather than control and stifle it?
5 Are you linking the efforts that spring from the local community to your council’s wider international strategy and considered what they might mean for the identity of your locality?
6 Are you giving community efforts appropriate official recognition when they need it?
>>Resources
Useful links
UKOWLA is a membership organisation charity with over 300 community groups around the UK for whom it provides advice and resources, including a toolkit of good practice. UKOWLA can give telephone, e mail and face-to-face advice to individuals and groups who are either ‘thinking of linking’ or have established international development partnerships.
Wales Africa Community Links develops excellence in community linking between Wales and Africa to build peace, prosperity and understanding, through mutual development. The website contains advice and information about community links, case studies and links to community websites.
The Joint Migration and Development Initiative (JMDI) is a programme managed by the UN and the European Commission. It is aiming to support civil society organisations and local authorities in linking migration and development.