COMMUNITY ORGANIZING AND DEVELOPMENT Man is a social being. He cannot develop unless he is part of the society.

He must work together with his fellowmen for common interests. The problems of other men are his problems. Together they must search for solutions. Thus, it is the people of community who must organize themselves. What is a COMMUNITY is a dynamic entity composed of people living in a given territory who share common culture, needs, aspirations, resources, lifestyles and the like, bounded by a feeling of belongingness and interacting with one another in consonance with its structure and institution to achieve common goals . (Norman, L.P.1998)

Community Organizing - Is transformative/liberative, collective, sustained, systematic preparatory process of building peoples organization by mobilizing and enhancing the peoples capabilities and resources for the resolution of their issues and concerns to effect change in the existing oppressive exploitative condition As a process it is described as 1. Collective. It requires the concerted effort of a significant number of people having common problem and sharing the same vision. 2. Participatory. It emanates from the bottom-up and not top-down. 3. Systematic. It is a strategy with a set of tactics planned by an organizer to mobilize the poor or unempowered 4. Sustained. It is dynamic, never static; lasting not short lived. 5. Tranformative/Liberative. The changes it seeks to effect are not simply palliative or cosmetic in nature. It should result in deemed self-worth, in knowing the truth. 6. The development process should be community-driven, community led and community owned. Goals in Community Organizing Peoples Empowerment - Building relatively permanent structures and peoples organization Improve quality of life. - Popular democracy - Social transformation - Leaders in development

People-centered development is the aim of CO which adhered to the ff. principles. 1. Sovereignty resides with people. They are the real social actors of positive change. 2. To exercise their sovereignty and assume responsibility for the development of themselves and their communities, the people must control their own resources, have access to relevant information, and have the means to hold the officials of govt accountable. 3. Those who would assist the people with their development must recognize that it is they who are participating in support of the peoples agenda, and not the people. Approaches in Community Organizing 1. Issue-based approach this refers to an organizing approach which revolves around issues or problems that: a. are felt by a significant number of people in the community. b. require the people to negotiate form a position of strength in number with a target group, usually outside the community. c. have a high probability of being resolved if collectively acted upon it. 2. Socio-Economic-Projects Based Approach this approach centers around the introduction of socio-economic projects, such as healthcare, income generating projects, enterprise devt, credit/marketing/multi-purpose cooperative formation, etc. that are identified by the CO based on the perceived needs of the community. 3. The Church/Faith based approach- is used within the structures of the church or within the components of Church based programs. Unity among the children of God is stressed in addressing common issues, needs and aspirations. The process usually starts with the shared reflections on passages of the Bible or with the performance of common rituals and other forms of worship.

Principles of Community Organizing 1. It is rooted in the local indigenous leadership, the local organization and agencies and in short the local people. 2. It aims at not just towards helping communities to solve their day-to-day problems, but ultimately towards national social transformation 3. It recognizes and respect the primary role of the people in the task of social transformation.

4. It recognizes the genuine transformation can be effected only through the peoples collective strength 5. It involves learning through praxis, i.e. the continuing refinement of theory and understanding through experiences. 6. Using the peoples felt needs as a starting point for organizing 7. Using the collective process in most important problem-solving, decision-making, and planning activities with the people. 8. Developing local leaders who will eventually perform the tasks of community organizer. Steps in Community Organizing