Community-Driven Development and SDGs, 19 – 22 November 2019 at UNITAR CIFAL Jeju/Jeju International Training Center (JITC), Jeju-do, Korea

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Background

Community-Based or Community-Driven Development (CDD) is a recognized approach from many international institutions such as the World Bank which promotes inclusive development through empowering local communities. Prior to CDD, these communities comprised primarily of women, elderly and the youth were underrepresented. CDD gives “a great deal of responsibility and authority to allow villagers and ethnic minority groups themselves to decide and manage their own development activities.” Solely focusing on the World Bank, its active CDD projects in the Asia-Pacific Region were worth $9.8 billion. The UNDP also recognizes the importance of communities and local sustainable development solutions through various funding programs and partnerships.

However, CDD does not come without criticism. The qualitative goals of the CDD are hard to measure and therefore the effectiveness of the related projects is unclear. Also, there is potential for “Elite capture” which is when a small group within the community takes all the benefits of the project.

Nevertheless, the bottom-up idea itself has potential to benefit the previously excluded groups with a multi-faceted approach, including the individuals with disabilities, indigenous populations, women, youth and so many more to achieve collective rural and urban development.

The lectures and activities included in this workshop are aimed at providing participants with a platform to gain a deeper understanding of their community and how development affects it. Best practices on community development will be presented, offering opportunities to explore well-designed community development cases around the world. There will be sessions to discuss good policies and practical community development projects in line with the UN SDGs. Finally, the workshop will help local actors effectively develop relevant policies, promoting and enhancing their national development plans and economic benefits in the long term.

Event objectives

The workshop aims to motivate participants to learn from each city’s case studies and to establish in action plans to assess and improve the effectiveness of their community-driven development projects in their respective cities by utilizing workshop materials as well as networks established. Evaluating the benefits and impacts of community-driven development projects, especially those in the Asia-Pacific.

In this sense, this event will;

  •   Provide a venue for establishing network amongst the participants who are devoted to the method of CDD as well as the pledge behind the 2030 Agenda: “no one will be left behind”
  •   Promote a learning atmosphere between cities and establish a strong network which can be utilized after the workshop.
  •   Offer a venue for knowledge sharing and discussion and motivate participants to implement community driven development and development policies, with particular focus on community development
  •   Provide an opportunity for the local governments and cities sustainable development and social development policies and best practices through city-to-city cooperation.

Learning objectives

At the end of the workshop, the participants will be able to:

  •   Understand the community driven development trends and social policy development in the context of the principles of transparency, participation, accountability, and enhanced local capacity;
  •   Utilize the lessons learned from the good cases of community driven development policy implementation;
  •   Share the best practices of the community/local government-driven community development projects;
  •   Understand the economic impacts of sustainable development and social development on the regional development, recognizing and evaluating the benefits and impacts of community-driven development projects;
  •   Coordinate partnerships to effectively promote the benefits of community development policies with civil societies, government and local communities

Content and structure

 

The workshop contents are composed of the followings:

[Module 1] Nexus between Community-Driven Development (CDD) and the 2030 Agenda

[Module 2] Empowerment of the local community

[Module 3] Assessing and evaluating the effectiveness of CDD

[Module 4] Funding sources to support CDD

[Module 5] Engaging in action plan

Methodology

The training will be comprised of:

  •      lectures and presentations by experts in relevant fields
  •  practical exercises and group discussion
  •   exercise on UNITAR CityShare Methodology
  •   action plan presentation
  •   study visit

Target audience

This training is mainly open to government officials and other related personnel from NGOs, Civil Societies and institutions and community-based organisations, academic and training institutions and other local actors, who are working in the field of national and local development within the Asia-Pacific region.