Decentralisation for community development - a Rwanda Case study

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: A community-centred development which can be qualified as authentic developmentleads to the sustainability of the community. This must be understood as a process ofeconomic, political and social change springing from the efforts of people themselvesworking for the benefit of themselves, their families and, hopefully, their communities,which process can be referred to as a self-reliant participatory development. This calls foractive mutual self-help among people working together in their common struggle, at thegrassroots level, to deal with their common problems.It is also acknowledged that if development efforts are to be effective, then theparticipation of problem-affected groups is necessary, with support from localgovernment, NGO's, local resource people and donors, willing to live and work amongthem. The success of this self-reliant participatory development approach accompaniedby inner conviction, a shared understanding, and awareness or consciousness-awakeningthat people have of their common problems, and finding ways of mobilising resources,planning, implementing and eventually controlling their own development activities.Against this background, however, the roles of government as well as of NGOs, infighting against poverty and social transformation that leads to the development of thecommunity, remain indispensable. Government roles should be enabling and supportive,and create a space for communities' needs.This study aimed to explore the decentralisation process to boost the community effortstowards participation in local development management. As the public participationprocesses in local government do not yield the outcomes that reveal a fully optimisedprocess, the role of the community developer is merely to create an environment offreedom within which the latent development potential of the community can bloom (Schutte, 2000:5). This Rwandan case study offers an overview of its decentralisation andcommunity development policies.The literature review provides the definitions of key concepts regarding the topic, in boththe international context as well as Rwandan context. It discusses the topic and highlightsdefinition, objective, different forms of decentralisation, community development and itsdelivery framework.The findings show that community development depends on the political will thatestablishes effective and favourable institutions to sustain the self-reliance of thecommunity as well as the awareness of the community of its daily problems and itsparticipation in planning and implementing solutions. The SWOT analysis provides asituation from which to adopt new alternatives and strengthen the existing one in order toface challenges.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University