State and explain the elements in community empowerment.

An element may be defined as the factors, attributes, activities that are involved in the entire process of community empowerment which calls for the unification of this factors / activities for the goals of empowerment to be achieved.
-Those elements include:

a) Change in attitude.
-An attitude is a long term indication to perceive, interpret and evaluate events and issues in a certain manner.
-It involves feelings
-In community empowerment we need to facilitate the emergence of more human values and attitudes among our people such as deliberate action for the power in our target.
-We need also to change from the outright tendency to condemn those affected (blaming the victim as an easier way / option than taking the time to and the pain to understand their circumstances.
-We also need to change from attitude of competition for individual gain to that of common good, from the spirit of selfishness and individualism to the spirit of collective sharing.

b) Promoting and consolidating organizations
-This entails creation of community based organizations as instruments of decision making and community actions as opposed to individual farmer contact which tend to promote individualism.
-We need to create parish development community instruments to monitor and ensure all relevant projects are started with the potential to make a difference in their life of the people, to coordinate parish development initiative and to ensure proper accountability in their management.

c) Capacity building.
-This is the enhancing and strengthening the ability of an individual group and organization to effectively manage all their development activities.
-It entails instilling self- confidence among the people and cultivating sense of dignity and self-worth.
-It involves training people in skills which can enable them play a measure of autonomy or independence from perpetual dependency .e.g. training in management skills such as leadership, accounting, conflict, business management etc.
-It also entails training in social skills for awareness and self-defense such as paralegal skills, HIV/AIDS awareness, and lobbying and advocacy skills.
- This may call for business and market survey to establish physical and alternatives such as ‘saving clubs’ (saving credit and credit schemes) consumer co-operatives that helps consumers to acquire their services.
-It also entails initiating in the income generating projects which are profit and have the potential income for surplus that can be shared among members’ dividends.
NB: Groups are hereby advised to close only those economic initiatives which are profitable and tend to attract ordinary business people.

d) Improving the living standards.
-Empowerment provides control of one’s destiny in decision making and ken creation. Ultimately good and development should be measured by how it has improved the living standards of the communication.
-Improved living standards is measured when schools, water resources, health facilities and other amenities are nearer to home and are accessible by all the members and affordable.

e) Networking and linkages
-Networking involves promoting vertical and horizontal linkages among community organization and among those who promote these organizations (community members).
-It is through these networks that the power in number is realized and a collective vision for a better society is articulated.
-Empowerment program should be linked to the outside world on jobs, opinion activities and official duties that are of great help to the society.

f) Participatory Evaluation
-A good development process will ensure continuous and participatory review as regular as possible towards excellence.
-This could be in form of participatory evaluation as well as external facilities reviews.
-In fact, every development undertaken that is not undertaken is a resource wasted so it is from such interview that a management team will not only establish the world on that they do but also justify of cost involved in the right of the result and their effectiveness.
-Reviews also provide opportunity for collective learning because it enables people to take a chance and explore possibilities of what exists on their way.

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Kavungya answered the question on August 11, 2021 at 06:07