Community Engagement Training of Trainers Manual for Front-line Trainers in Lebanon
This manual introduces the concept of community engagement, defining what a community is and highlighting its importance. It explores a case study where active community members address health issues through community engagement. The manual emphasizes community-driven development, involvement in decision-making, and building sustainable relationships for social benefits.
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COMMUNITYENGAGEMENT TRAINING OF TRAINERS MANUAL FOR USE BY FRONT-LINE TRAINERS IN LEBANON Introduction to Community Engagement
INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
What comes to your mind when I say the word community?
Whatis a community? A community is a small or large social unit that has somethings in common, such as norms, religion, values, or identity. Communities often share a sense of place that is situated in a given geographical area or in virtual space through communication platforms.
Please Define In rural areas of blue land community, some families noticed that their children are getting sick with diarrhea quite often. The first day 5 children got sick, and went to the health centers for treatment, the second, 10 children got sick and by the third day 30 children got sick with diarrhea. Active community members got together and decided to understand the reasons behind the increased cases of diarrhea and found that water supply going to some houses had a bad odor. They decided to have a community gathering to see the extent of the problem and think of ways to solve it. How can you define this process?
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT (CE) Community engagement is a community-driven approach to development where community members themselves identify problems & using available resources, plan & implement solutions. By taking a major role in decision- making, community members keep ownership of process & outcomes, thus leading to more trust in their neighbours & partners, more sustainable outcomes & more confidence that they can face future challenges. Community engagement is an approach to programming and operations, it is the process by which community and organizations collectively build ongoing, permanent relationships for social benefits and outcomes.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT (CE) CE is built around involving those affected in understanding the risks they face and involves them in deciding on the response they see appropriate and acceptable
Please Define Yelo NGO is working in Puntland community to address Early childhood development issues and community refusals to send their children to preschools. Yelo started communicating with community leaders and women clubs about the problem and consequences of not seeding children to preschools. What do you think Yelo is doing?
COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION Community community towards a specific issue. The community might not be necessarily the driver, but actively involved and support the process of change. It aims at gaining commitment of community leaders, and other key players within the community. mobilization is mobilizing the
Please Define Front line workers (FLWs) in orange county are conducting community meetings and house to house visits to inform the community about Domestic Violence shelters and raising their awareness towards reducing and preventing Domestic Violence. What do you think FLWs are doing?
OUTREACH Outreach is defined as reaching out to others, or becoming involved in a community or effort. When an organization reaches out to citizens in a community to help them find food and shelter, solve their problems, this is an example of outreach. Outreach is usually workers/community volunteers, etc . done by frontline
Please Define The MOH wanted to ensure that all children under 5 years are getting vaccinated against polio, and thus developed a video directed to caregivers promotion vaccination, and along with it a set of posters, social media posts and a radio spot. What do you think the MOH is doing?
CAMPAIGN A campaign is a communication tool where a variety of activities are aimed at dissemination information to support a specific development issue by raising awareness, increasing knowledge or changing behavior & social norms. A campaign is usually communication channels (multi channel) such as mass media, social media, communication depends on different print & interpersonal
What triggers Community engagement? National issue/priority/emergency CE can be initiated in response to a national policy, national priority or national emergency that requires a specific intervention all over the country or in specific areas. Like responding to a disease outbreak in the country, or increasing the rates of preschool enrolment. Community specific issue CE can be initiated as a response to a specific problem/issue facing a community and can start from the community members themselves. Like responding to cases of water contamination in a specific geographical area, or cases of high school drop outs in a neighbourhood.
IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Leads to better, more effective programming Listening to people s needs and opinions, and involving them in designing and delivering programmes, helps to properly understand the situation and people s priorities, which leads to more responsive, relevant and sustainable programmes. Improves acceptance and trust Open and honest communication with communities about who we are and what we are doing builds trust and sets respect, help address rumours leading to enhanced acceptance by communities. Demonstrating more transparency and accountability in the way decisions are made. Empowers people, builds community resilience, and build consensus People affected by issues/crisis are not helpless victims. With the right information, people can make informed decisions, find answers to their problems and connect with others to organize their own response all of which builds long- term community resilience.
IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Supports positive behaviour and social change Simply providing information about an issue is not enough to change behaviours. CE provides innovative approaches to better understand and engage with communities, and help them adopt safer and healthier behaviours and practices. Recognizes the community as experts and partners Local people are the most knowledgeable about their situation and have a right to be active partners in the development, relief and recovery of their communities. Drawing on that knowledge and expertise through participation and feedback can build community resilience and ensure successful programming. Helps to manage communities expectations and ensure ownership Dialogue with communities is essential in order to anticipate their needs, understand their circumstances and priorities and manage their expectations in relation to what they expect. When the community is involved in a project, they have ownership of it and the decision-making process, work hard to ensure achieving results.
HOW TO FIND LOCAL PARTNERS? In every community, some individuals have more influence than others. These individuals can be government officials, head of a religious or political group, the shaweesh, the head of a civil society group, a wealthy businessman, members of an influential family, & so on. They are often referred to as gatekeepers because they can influence community-level activities positively or negatively they can either open or close the gate! During assessment phase, key influential people should be identified and turned from gatekeepers into partners. Partners would use their influence or resources to help community-initiated activities. They can offer time, financial or material resources, and clear road blocks during implementation, or publicly endorse community events.
HOW ARE HUMAN RIGHTS ADDRESSED IN CE? Human rights approaches mean giving particular attention to the most discriminated against & excluded groups within a society: women, minorities, children with disabilities, unaccompanied minors, indigenous peoples & others. In most community-oriented approaches, marginalized people are identified as beneficiaries & their participation is limited to voicing their needs & following advice from development programs designed to help. In a community engagement approach, the role of marginalized people is different: they are actively involved in decision making by being engaged in all steps of CE process, equally to their neighbours.
