Princess Basma urges local civil society organisations to play major part in reform process
By Mahmoud Al Abed
HRH Princess Basma, INTRAC Executive</SPAN> Director Brian Pratt and Professor Alan Fowler at the opening of the International Civil Society and Community Development Conference on Monday (Petra photo) AMMAN — HRH Princess Basma on Monday said Jordan has succeeded in developing an environment for a new form of community development where the prevailing trend is towards greater decentralisation of planning and decision making to ensure wider participation at the grassroots level.
In her address at the opening of an international conference hosted by the Jordan Hashemite Fund for Human Development (JOHUD), the Princess noted that His Majesty King Abdullah “has taken the lead in promoting a new agenda for social, political and economic change.”
The “International Civil Society and Community Development Conference” is organised by the International NGOs Training and Research Centre (INTRAC).
More than 80 delegates from 34 countries are attending the three-day conference at the Queen Zein Al Sharaf Institute for Development (ZENID).
Princess Basma urged local civil society organisations to play a major part in the reform process under way.
“This is where large intermediary NGOs like JOHUD can work as a catalytic force for change,” she said, noting that the credibility and legitimacy these organisations have earned in the country's local communities would be a great help for them in this mission.
INTRAC's conference this year revolves around the theme of community development and civil society. It seeks to open up debate around the interface between civil society development and “the resurgence of interest on the part of international bilateral and multilateral agencies in community development.”
According to the organisers, in recent years there has been a growing trend among institutions like the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to attempt to engage directly with communities in order to implement small infrastructure projects as part of larger community-driven development programmes. As these multilateral agencies implement these plans, they eliminate the role of traditional intermediaries of international and domestic NGOs. This change in policy carries a challenge for workers in the community development sector, the organisers said.
INTRAC's third conference in Amman will focus on the debate that ensued from these emerging realities.
Key actors involved in community development efforts, NGOs, governments and multilateral organisations, among other bodies, will examine the link between the support for community development initiatives and broader aims of strengthening civil society.
Topics to be covered include external mobilisation versus empowerment from within and community identity and social capital. In addition, an array of papers will tackle the various aspects of this year's theme.
In his speech at the opening ceremony, INTRAC Executive Director Brian Pratt said, “the origins of the present conference lie in the emerging or reemerging debate around the nature of community... and ways in which development cooperation should or could engage with communities.
In more specific terms, a background paper on the conference by Lucy Earle said the event hopes “to promote discussion of the link between development interventions at the grassroots and continuing efforts to strengthen civil society in developing and transition countries.”
In his remarks at the opening ceremony, Professor Alan Fowler from South Africa stressed the need to “look beyond participation,” and seek to achieve a genuine combination between community development plans and efforts made to enhance civil society organisations.
Princess Basma, JOHUD chairperson, took part in the conference's first plenary panel session, which addressed the basic concepts related to the theme of the meeting.
INTRAC is a nonprofit organisation working in the international development and relief sector. It supports non-governmental and civil society organisations around the world by helping explore policy issues, and by strengthening management and organisational effectiveness.
Since the early 1980s, JOHUD has built a network of more than 50 community development centres throughout Jordan. The only network of its kind in the country, it works in partnership with local organisations, societies, and councils.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
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