One major
reason for my third year extension was to work with the Ministry of iTaukei (Indigenous)
Affairs to develop a process and the tools (guidebook, template, trainings,
etc) needed for effective participatory community development planning to take
place in every Fijian village.
This
project came to fruition because after helping my community through the process
of writing a village development plan, I was approached by the Provincial
Council to assist them in doing similar plans for other villages. It was about
this time that I just so happened to meet the Manager for Provincial Services,
the person in charge of overseeing all the Provincial Councils in Fiji (there
are 14 of them). I asked him if there was a template that the government wanted
communities to use for village development plans. He told me there was none....
and asked me on the spot if I would be interested in helping create one!
It turns
out it was included in their strategic plan for all villages to have
development plans, but no one had given any thought as to how they would
achieve this lofty goal. While I didn't feel particularly qualified, I told him
I was very interested in helping and at least I had the practical experience
from working with my community. My only request was that they would have to
find a counterpart for me to work with to ensure their commitment and as well
as the sustainability of the whole initiative.
Well, it
took about a year for this to happen, but I am happy to say that in February we
had our first planning meeting. I presented to the team an overview of what I
thought the process could look like and proposed questions I needed them to
help me answer. It gave us a good platform from which to start and the group
dynamic was great!
We want
the plans to be comprehensive, covering all important areas of development. Too
many times development is equated with economic development and infrastructure
only. We are proposing breaking plans down into focal areas to ensure all
important topics are covered. The draft list of focal areas is as follows:
1)
Cultural Heritage and Governance
2)
Administration and Financial Management
3)
Economic Development
4) Health
5) Water
and Sanitation
6) Energy
7)
Transportation and Accessibility
8)
Telecommunication
9)
Education
10)
Women’s Development
11) Youth
Development
12)
Vulnerable Community Members (Children, Elderly, Persons Living with
Disabilities)
13)
Natural Resource Management & Conservation
14)
Climate Change Adaptation
15)
Disaster Risk Management, Housing and Infrastructure
For each
focal area, communities would identify the current status (including issues and
opportunities), their goals for the future, actions for achieving those goals,
and who will be responsible for ensuring that action takes place. We will be
able to provide definitions and examples of best practices within each focal
area as part of a guidebook.
Using a Training-of-Trainers (TOT) approach, government officers in each provincial office would receive training in participatory planning, facilitation, and project management. They would then be tasked to raise awareness about sustainable development planning and the process in each village under their jurisdiction. They would advise communities on how to set up inclusive development committees.
Using a Training-of-Trainers (TOT) approach, government officers in each provincial office would receive training in participatory planning, facilitation, and project management. They would then be tasked to raise awareness about sustainable development planning and the process in each village under their jurisdiction. They would advise communities on how to set up inclusive development committees.
The
village and committee would then choose a community facilitator, using a set of
criteria, to be responsible for leading their community through the process.
This person would then be trained by the Provincial Council in the same areas
mentioned above. Upon return to their community, they would have the guidebook
and some basic supplies to support their efforts. The Provincial Office will be
able to provide support but it is intended for the plan to be written by the
community for the community.
Now that
we've been able to develop an overview of what we are proposing, we must
present it to the government higher ups for their approval. If/when they
approve, it will become a budgeted program and we'll be able to take off
running with more planning and stakeholder outreach, as there are a lot of experienced
people and organizations we're hoping to collaborate with. Hopefully we will be
able to present in the next few weeks! We're just waiting for confirmation of
the next meeting date of the Management Board.
I'm really
excited about the potential this initiative could have for helping communities
across Fiji and honored to be a part of it. It's a different kind of experience
and challenge than that which I have working in the village. However, I am able to incorporate all that I've learned from working with my community, what has worked and what hasn't. Unlike an NGO who might facilitate community planning and then back out, I've been able to see the issues we've had in implementing the plan first hand. I hope we can prevent some of these by tweaking the process for community engagement and expanding the topics covered in the plan template.
Most importantly, it's a learning process for the community. It's almost certain a plan will never follow it's proposed timeline on Fiji time, but it's really the process that's important -- having a community start talking about their issues and what they themselves can do to solve them.
Most importantly, it's a learning process for the community. It's almost certain a plan will never follow it's proposed timeline on Fiji time, but it's really the process that's important -- having a community start talking about their issues and what they themselves can do to solve them.
