PARTICIPATORY ACTION - Policy, Strategy, and Investment Argument 3 from the Direct Impact Evidence

Wed, 05/03/2023 - 06:21

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There can be a tendency across the development spectrum to view people as "targets" for change. But the impact data that emerged in this process show that there can be a significant positive impact on the people directly affected by a development issue(s) when they work together to change the underlying structural, social, and contextual dynamics.

From a strategy and investment perspective, we need a high degree of trust that the results of a participatory action approach will result in demonstrated positive change on key priority issues. The impact data in this collection affirm that assumption: Very positive change does happen on key priority issues. Investment should follow.

Example Data

Strategy	Impact
Social Health Activists	Neonatal Mortality Reduced: 30 vs. 44 per 1,000
Community Mobilisation	Nutrition Improved 12-17%
Trusted Gossip	Full Immunisation up 11.8%
Social Norms Change	Iron Consumption Increased 315%
Participatory Learning	Diabetes Reduced 20.7%

Policy Implication: That development organisations, local to international and small to large, adopt overall policies that stress the importance of genuinely participative processes as essential principles and policies for their work.

Strategy Implication: That development organisations implement strategies that focus staff time and institutional resources on the core roles and capacities required to ensure in-depth participation and decision-making by people and communities (physical and identity) through: working with communities to map their issues, capacities, and decision-making processes; helping to strengthen the spaces, platforms, and fora where those physical and identity communities gather to consider, discuss, debate, and decide the best way forward on the key issues; strengthening rights including child rights; creating processes for negotiation between "rights holders" such as governments and development organisations (which will have their priorities and debates) and "duty bearers", including geographic and identity communities (which will have their priorities and debates); providing substantive support for the people and voices that are marginalised in any context; and monitoring, observing, and providing substantive input and guidance on issues related to rights and equity.

Investment Argument Implication: That the compelling evidence demonstrating the direct impact of participatory SBC action across some core, high-priority development issues - for example, related to the crucial issues of nutrition (up 12%), immunisation (up 11%), and neonatal mortality (down 14 percentage points) - are advocated to funding organisations as further input to their data-driven investment decision-making.