Global Programs

NCBA CLUSA Joins The Hunger Project and Others to Support the Movement for Community-Led Development

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With more than 60 years of experience implementing its community-led approach, NCBA CLUSA is joining the Movement for Community-led Development to seek a formal policy shift toward enabling communities to take charge of their own development.

Along with individuals and organizations committed to the successful implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), NCBA CLUSA is calling for a focus on building the capacity of the community as a system as the means of achieving these cross-cutting goals.

Every human being has the inalienable right to participate in governance. For most of those living in hunger and poverty, this means governance within walking distance. People deserve the right to know that their voice and energies can make a difference.

“NCBA CLUSA believes that the core of sustainable development is providing people access to the skills and tools that empower them to articulate, promote and manage sustainable, locally-generated solutions,” said Amy Coughenour Betancourt, NCBA CLUSA COO of International Programs. “Real development is about equipping communities with the power and capacity they need to affect change and achieve their goals.”

Community-led development is more than participatory projects. It requires a long-term process that empowers citizens and local authorities to take effective action. Participatory local governance is the only pathway through which most people will have this opportunity. Building up that local governance and providing greater access for communities’ voices is a large part of NCBA CLUSA’s work.

In Senegal, NCBA CLUSA links local governance groups to entrepreneurs, called Community-Based Solution Providers, who can bring quality products and services that address community needs in real time.

In Niger and Burkina Faso, NCBA CLUSA helps villages develop annual land and natural resource management plans that govern the use of water, land and other resources to reduce conflict, improve planning and protect local assets. As of 2015, communities across the Sahel had developed 46 community-level plans as well a five water resource management committees.

In Indonesia, at every point in the process the community is mobilizing themselves to construct, plan and fix the water systems. The Water Management Committees organize labor during the construction phase, and then maintain the systems once they are built.

NCBA CLUSA joins 35 other organizations committed to promoting community-led development and sharing best practices. To learn more about the Movement for Community-led Development, visit their website.

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