Act Together

STEPS
  1. Define your team's role in accompanying community action
  2. Strengthen the community's capacity to carry out its action plan
  3. Monitor community progress
  4. Problem-solve, trouble shoot, advise and mediate conflicts

STEP 1: Define your team's role in accompanying community action.

In the community mobilization process, you can play many possible roles in relation to the communities where you work. These roles, originally discussed in phase one, include: mobilizer, direct service provider, organizer, capacity-builder/trainer, partner, liaison, advisor, advocate, donor, and marketer.

Program teams often assume various roles that change over time as the community’s needs and capacity change. How a program team perceives its role influences the way team members and community members relate to each other. A common source of conflict between communities and external organizations is their differing perspectives on what roles each is expected to play. If you are not clear yourself about your role, you will not be able to explain why you act the way you do.


ETHIOPIA: Changing Roles

Save the Children had been directly implementing health programs in the same communities in Ethiopia for twelve years. Program staff delivered medicines to the health posts, helped with vaccination campaigns, facilitated training and health education sessions for health committees, traditional birth attendants and other groups. SC had worked with community organizations and district health services but had not helped these organizations develop their capacity to assume implementing and training roles. In essence, SC staff members were primarily acting as direct service providers. The health program donor warned that it would soon withdraw its funding as it had already invested in the program for many years. Save the Children staff quickly needed to determine how they could best phase out of the program. SC asked local NGOs and the district health service if they would become partners, though less than a year of funding support remained.

You will need to continually review your role as you move through the various phases of the community action cycle and ask yourselves whether you are creating or reinforcing dependency or fostering autonomy1.