PLA Notes 32: Participation, Literacy and Empowerment

This edition features five general articles as well as a special theme section on participation, literacy and empowerment. This issue includes:~ ~A paper on participatory approach to community assessment and planning in Ethiopia and Zambia.

A report on a study by the International Childcare Trust after the ethnic clashes that took place in the early 1990s in Western Kenya

A report on introducing community participation in Bangladesh at the stage of programme formulation.~ ~A report on the use of participatory methods to understand indigenous approaches to soil conservation in Bolivia.

Guidelines on how to get reliable yield estimates from farm trials on terraces.

An introduction to the REFLECT process, followed by 21 articles looking at the REFLECT approach in practice. The articles highlight that literacy, in its broadest sense, impacts upon the ability of different groups to communicate and participate. The articles also explore some concerns such as the role of manuals and training in promoting standardisation and/or diversity, how to develop strengthened local-level networks of practitioners, and how to scale up a participatory process from the local to regional, national and international levels.

A paper on using participative techniques with people with disabilities.


A brief guide to the principles of PLA (II)