What is Community Mobilization?
Community mobilization is a process whereby a community comes together to bring about an action be it to change a pre existing situation or to improve another. The process can be instigated by an individual, group or an organization and is usually on a sustained participatory basis.
Steps to Community Mobilization.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) there are four basic steps to community mobilization (2010).These are as follows;
- Bring people together.
- Raise awareness.
- Assist in delivery of resources and services.
- Facilitate and strengthen community participation.
The four named above are aimed at meeting the goal of self reliance and sustainable programmes. One of the examples is community based rehabilitation(CBR) in Kenya. In the rural area where epilepsy is considered as witchcraft, a community was brought together to be educated. The main aim of these gatherings was to change the attitude of the community members. This is since the negative attitude surrounding the illness had very many dire effects. One of these being stigmatisation which led to families hiding their sick or disabled children from the public. Baraza’s which are gatherings were conducted where the Kenya Medical and Research Institute(KEMRI) had its officials explain the causes thus demystifying the former beliefs. CBR helps the community to jointly address disability issues and create inclusive development (Khasnabis et al.).
Approaches to community mobilization.
As the saying goes, there are many ways to kill a cat so it is that there are different methods through which community mobilization can be realized. The approach used by the Global Communities is more or less the same as with the community based rehabilitation in Kenya except with a little more focus on the details. They start off with a transparent community selection, this is whereby they choose their target community often in regards to their donor requirements. This step is not necessary if the mobilization is being called for by members of a certain community. The next is to identify community priorities and get to know their leaders. This step is done through community assessment. This step in my opinion is very important especially if the ones instigating the project are outsiders. It is important for them to understand the nature of their target community so they can be able to engage with them. The leaders are then gathered together so they can enlist their support for the mobilization. Together with the community leaders the very first community assembly is planned and carried out. During that first session representatives are selected to help coordinate future program activities. From then on the community can now select projects to undertake (Global communities).
Since community mobilization requires constant participation by the community, it is important that the first project be a short term project. That way the results can be realized sooner. This will act as an incentive for further or increased local participation. Another approach is through family based mobilization. Among the countries that the Global Communities run their programs is Rwanda. The program in Rwanda is called Twiyubake which means ‘Let’s build ourselves’. It focuses on improved services for vulnerable populations. They engage individual families in the community who have members with disability and sensitize them on how to provide better care for their vulnerable ones (Routray et al.).
There is also the promotional approach. This is whereby incentives are set and communities are asked to attain a certain level of standard such as with their sanitation so they can receive the ‘price’.This was used in India to help improve sanitation. While this worked for India a different method was used in Zimbabwe for their Community Led Sanitation. Community health clubs were set up by the community members for them to promote proper sanitation to the others(Routray et al.).
In conclusion it is important to note that there are very many different approaches towards community mobilization. They are also not static, any of them can be modified to fit the context. As well new approaches can be set up as the need calls for. Lastly we have to keep in mind that community mobilization is not without fault and loopholes. These we need to be aware of and keep filling them as we go along.
