Why Ugandans Should Embrace the Parish Model of Development
When the NRM caucus met in Kyankwanzi sometime back this year, they mooted a move to focus community development (government activities) at the parish level, as this would ensure that communities at households fully participate in development activities that have always eluded them since they were at sub-county level, not household level, this according to proponents would increase productivity and accelerate national development that is inclusive.
The parish model would mean that the center of government activities leaves the sub-county and be concentrated at the parish level and this model of development needs to be supported to fully exploit the local talents at the parish level and achieve sustainable development.
Any meaningful development should be people focused, initiated and people managed, community development designs and plans must be emanating from the people themselves as the beneficiaries of whatever development that is thought of, however this is not the case with most of the development models, many times all community development programs, plans, and designs are designed by people with little knowledge about the plight of the poor, they have never experienced poverty or any kind of deprivation, they have not done proper problem analysis with the people or within places they intend to design program for to be able to develop a program that is tailored to the real identified problem, aspirations, experience and needs so that developed plans are not just as a result of a feel but deeply identified need. This model will come in handy in answering some of these if fully supported and implemented.
You cannot sit in high offices in Washington, Nairobi or Kampala and be the very person to design programs to develop my area in Myanzi, you simply have no idea about what people there need, you simply work on assumption sometimes based on what has worked elsewhere regardless of varying environs.
Community development must be allowed to be initiated by those who understand what it means to lack, sleep on an empty stomach, walk on barefoot and lack any opportunity to be in the mainstream society, these are the ones that can produce better community development designs, just they need slight guidance and empowerment and they will produce for u the best designs ever.
Development is a process that creates growth, progress, positive change or the addition of physical, economic, environmental, social and demographic components. The purpose of development is a rise in the level and quality of life of the population, and the creation or expansion of local regional income and employment opportunities, without damaging the resources of the environment. Development is visible and useful, not necessarily immediately, and includes an aspect of quality change and the creation of conditions for a continuation of that change.
Development can be defined as a process of economic and social advancement in terms of the quality of human life. It can be measured in terms of culture, wealth, education, healthcare, opportunities and can be commonly classified by the following terms: HDI- human development index, a UN standardized measure based on 3 factors: life expectancy, literacy/education, and standard of living.
And Community development is the planned evolution of all aspects of community wellbeing (economic, social, environmental and cultural). It is a process whereby community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems. The scope of community development can vary from small initiatives within a small group to large initiatives that involve the whole community. Regardless of the scope of the activity. Effective community development should be: A long term endeavor, well planned, Inclusive and equitable, Holistic and integrated into the bigger picture, Initiated and supported by community members, of benefit to the community and grounded in experience that leads to best practice
The community outcome of community development is improved quality of life. Effective community development results in mutual benefits and shared responsibility among community members and recognizes; The connection between social, cultural, environmental and economic matters; The diversity of interest within a community and Its relationship to building capacity
Community development requires and helps to build community capacity to address issues and to take advantage of opportunities, to find common ground and to balance competing interests; it does not just happen, it requires both a conscious and a conscientious effort to do something (or many things) to improve the community. let’s consider some of the assumptions about the word and “community “development”
The term development often carries with it an assumption of the growth and expansion, during the industrial period development was strongly connected to increased speed, volume, and size. Many are currently questioning the concept of growth for numerous reasons. There is a realization that more is not always better. Increasingly there is respect or reducing outside dependencies and lowering levels of consumerism. The term development, therefore, may not always mean growth. It does however always imply change. The community development process takes charge of the conditions and factors that influence a community and changes the quality of life of its members.
Community development is a tool for managing change and therefore is not; a quick fix or a short-term response to a specific issue within a community, a process that seeks to exclude community members from participating or, an initiative that occurs in Isolation from other related community activity.
Community development is about community building as such, with the process as important as the results. One of the primary challenges of community development is to balance the needs for the long-term solutions within the day to day realities that require an immediate decision and short-term action.
This parish model as suggested will build capacity among our people. We must appreciate that all people and communities have a certain amount of capacity. No one is without capacity but often we need to develop it. What is important to realize is that the heart of the capacity building is people. These communities are made up of healthy people and families. The creation of such environments at the parish level will encourage economies and sustainable development. It takes capacity to do this as well as good leadership, a viable plan, motivation and the support of the community and this is what has been lacking in our development endeavors, so with this parish model that centers government activities and development to a household, we are assured of built capacity, increased participation and eventual uplifting of our citizens out of the poverty levels.
Basically, it takes capacity to build capacity, and it takes a well thought out process to start community capacity building and effective community development. Capacity is the way and means needed to do what has to be done. It is much broader than simply skills, people and plans. It includes commitment, resources and all that is brought to bear on the process to make it successful. Most often, capacity is referred to as including the following components: People who are willing to be involved, skills, knowledge and abilities, ability to identify and access opportunities, wellness and community health, motivation to carry out initiatives, infrastructure, supportive institutions and physical resources, Leadership and the structures needed for participation, economic and financial resources and enabling policies and systems.
Community capacity building is based on the premise that community sustainability can be improved over time. Capacity or the lack of it is reflected in the people, economy, environment, culture, attitude, and appearance of the community and a parish model will be another tool that ensures this happens.
According to Roodt, (1999,p.312) participation mean the process where people involve themselves indirectly or directly in organizations concerned with the decision making about and implementation of development; in practice participation has been used to refer to implementation of project objectives, sharing in benefits and costs, evaluation and decision-making; and by centering government activities nearer to the household level we will ensure effective peoples participation in decision making and implementation of program activities that concern their own development , so there is a need for us all regardless of our political or religious shades to support this parish model focused community development that Kyankwanzi caucus resolved government to undertake.
Development is people owned, managed, planned and people-centered and this is only possible with focused models that can empower and build local communities` capacity to get involved in all levels of development, and it’s for this very reason that the parish model SHOULD be supported by all of us regardless of color shades.
For God and the Great Pearl.
