Community Connections
Gasping for Breath: Women’s Concerns and the Politics of Community Development in Rural Ghana
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Charles Gyan
This transnational feminist study describes and interprets the experiences of women within the context of community development in rural Ghana. The purpose of this study was to empirically ascertain the barriers faced by women within the community development processes in rural Ghana. With this goal, women from three randomly selected rural communities in Ghana were sampled and interviewed. A concurrent triangulation mixed method research design was adopted. The main instruments used were a questionnaire and an in-depth interview for the collection of the quantitative and qualitative data respectively. A total of two hundred women participated in the study. The findings implicate Western influence and structural factors in the low participation of women in community development processes in Ghana. This study found that Western interference in the form of the superimposition of a neoliberal capitalist agenda has had a negative consequence on the level of participation of women in their communities. This ideology has imbued in women individualistic ideals to the detriment of traditional communal life. The women were particularly disadvantaged by the reliance on level of education and fluency in English, as requirements for local government positions since English is the national business language. The existing patriarchal norms and values in rural communities such as traditional gender roles and ‘name calling’ militate against women within the context of community development. The imperative of policy and practice reforms such as the need for local women to have conversations around constructive patriarchy and global inequalities are highlighted.
Nothing About Us Without Us: Building Sustainable Communities Using a Human Rights Community-led Development Approach
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jillian Chrisp
The human rights community-led development (HRCLD) approach has been developed from several theoretical and practice frameworks – human rights, community-led development and participatory action research. A human rights approach focuses on the relationships among and between individuals, groups, communities and the State. Whilst acknowledging the community as a system, and the individual and collective rights and responsibilities of all, the human rights approach prioritises the experiences and voices of those most vulnerable to human rights violations. Community-led development is about building the capacity of communities to identify their own visions and goals and to work together to develop strategic priorities, generate locally owned solutions and monitor outcomes. Participatory action research is about communities engaging in research processes that deepen the knowledge and understanding of a particular situation or set of situations. Human rights community-led development therefore is about facilitating structures and processes in communities that encourage the active involvement of people in the human rights issues that affect their lives. It works to strengthen the ability of individuals, groups and communities to identify, examine, verify, document and monitor local human rights violations and advocate more effectively for the realisation of the community’s human rights priorities. It ensures deep and meaningful intervention through cycles of planning, action and reflection. This paper overviews the HRCLD approach, grounds it in case studies, and ask questions about what this means for our work and lives.
On Diversity and Community Capacity Building : Making Diversity and Inclusion Part of Everyday Culture
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Anahit Falihi
The small city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, has experienced a sudden and significant growth in the number of immigrants and refugees in the past few years. This growth and the associated resettlement processes brought new challenges that affected the host community as well as the newcomer families themselves as it impacted health and social resilience at all social levels, including businesses and community organizations. The research explored the perspectives of mid-level leaders from the settlement services, education, community social services, and advocacy sectors on the challenges associated with these sudden demographic changes. The paper focuses on the integration of collectivist and individualistic culture in a learning organization, emphasizing the significant role of mid-level leaders in both identifying front-line realities and promoting organizational change. The results emphasize the importance of professional and leadership development in building capacity.
Diversity Dialogues: Creating Conversations to Impact Personal Reflection, Interpersonal Communication, and Professional Practice
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Kari Bolen
Diversity Dialogues, is a peer-led professional development series of workshops that creates conversational communities to drive personal, organizational, and societal change toward greater equity and diversity. We do this by training individuals to personally reflect on their own social identities, to listen to others’ voices, and learn experientially and collectively. Through this approach, we hope our participants, connect their lives to one another and to society at large by acknowledging systems of oppression, power, and privilege. In doing so, we create a diverse, inclusive, accepting, welcoming and safe space for everyone. In this review, best practices, models, and theories toward creating these important spaces are shared.
