Participation of the Poor in Development Initiatives: Taking Their Rightful Place

Description

The importance of involving the poor recipients in planning and implementing development policies has long been recognized, and has been the official aim of large donors, including the World Bank and major donor agencies. This text assesses their success and the results of the primary stakeholder participation achieved. It analyzes the institutional changes necessary for stakeholders to participate in decision-making, and the strategies and behaviour of other parties involved, including NGOs. From this review and analysis, it draws an important range of lessons for future donor and NGO policies and organizational reform.

Carolyn Long is a consultant on the roles of civil society organizations in development. The institute for Development Research is a non-profit research and consulting organization dedicated to increasing the capacity of civil society organizations to promote just and sustainable development.

'A well researched, well argued book.' Aubrey Williams, former Participation Coordinator, World Bank 'This is a superb account of the efforts undertaken by international development agencies to introduce the simple but powerful notion that the poor must participate if development is to succeed.' Brian Atwood, President, Citizens International, former Administrator, USAID 'The book comes up with a number of lessons which are worthwhile to be considered.' Habitat International 'Carolyn Long's rich, historical and comparative analysis of efforts by civil society to mainstream participation in the development paradigm is an excellent and practical addition to arguments for placing the poor at the centre of development efforts.' Lisa Jordan, Program Officer, Governance and Civil Society, Ford Foundation, former Executive Director, Bank Information Center 'This book is a thoughtful analysis of the progress made by donors and agencies during the past decade to embrace participation as an imperative, and makes an important contribution to our understanding of how to effectively involve citizens in the donor-assisted social and economic development programmes of their governments. It sounds a hopeful note for what donors, governments and civil society can do together to foster participatory development in the future, and shares useful lessons on how to improve development practices.' Sadig Rasheed, Director, Programme Division, UNICEF