Importance Of Community Participation Essay

Community Participation: What Is It?
A community's members are a rich source of knowledge about their community and of energy and commitment to that community. When public health professionals envision a program to address health issues in a particular community, tapping into the community's expertise and enthusiasm is frequently an essential issue. Genuine participation by community members, including youth, is the key. Community members control the project at the same time that professional partners build the community's capacity to make informed decisions and to take collective action.

Human rights and international development organizations are increasingly promoting community participation as a critical component of successful programmes. Not all methods of participation are equal. Some might be misleading or downright harmful. But these practices remain widespread and for their proponents, full of emancipatory promise. This article joins the debate on community participation by casting critical attention on one of the most easily overlooked acts of community participation: the act of gathering people for a community meeting. Who gathers ‘community’? How do they understand their activities? What consequences does

They are universal because everyone is born with and possesses the same rights, regardless of where they live, their gender or race, or their religious, cultural or ethnic background. Inalienable because people’s rights can never be taken away. Indivisible and interdependent because all rights – political, civil, social, cultural and economic – are equal in importance and none can be fully enjoyed without the others. They apply to all equally, and all have the right to participate in decisions that affect their lives. They are upheld by the rule of law and strengthened through legitimate claims for duty-bearers to be accountable to international