Building Capacity

Training Manual for

Caribbean Civil Society Organizations

Building Capacity

Caribbean Coalition for Development and Reduction of Armed Violence Training Manual

Caribbean Coalition for Development and the Reduction of Armed Violence (CDRAV) is a coalition of Caribbean-based civil society organizations founded in 2006 to address the crisis of armed violence and its effects on development in the region. CDRAV is researching the causes and impact of armed violence, mobilizing civil society around the issue of armed violence, and advocating for policy measures to alleviate and prevent armed violence across the region. Member organizations come from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks and Caicos Islands.

Secretariat Women’s Institute for Alternative Development (WINAD) 11 Meyler StreetBelmontTrinidad and TobagoTel (868) 621-2495Fax (868) 621-2495www.cdrav.org

Women’s Institute for Alternative Development (WINAD) is a women’s organization committed to strengthening the capacity and social consciousness of women and girls to lead social transformation in Trinidad and Tobago. WINAD has led the effort to raise awareness about small arms and armed violence in the Caribbean. WINAD is a founding member of CDRAV and serves as its Secretariat.

WINAD11 Meyler StreetBelmontTrinidad and TobagoTel (868) 621-2495Fax (868) 621-2495winadtt@yahoo.comwww.winad.org

Project Ploughshares is a non-governmental organization that works with churches, nongovernmental organizations, and governments, in Canada and abroad, to advance policies and actions that prevent war and armed violence and build peace.

Project Ploughshares57 Erb Street WestWaterloo, Ontario N2L 6C2 Canada519-888-6541 Fax: 519-888-0018plough@ploughshares.cawww.ploughshares.ca

Acknowledgment

The preparation of this manual was undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada provided through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Table of Contents

Foreword iv PreFace vii

IntroductIon xiovervIew Gun Violence and Crime in the Caribbean O-1

Module I Leadership Development M1-1

Module II Building & Retaining Membership M2-1

Module III Communications M3-1

Module Iv Practical Reflections on Gender M4-1

Module v Advocacy, Negotiation and Social Marketing M5-1

Module vI Project Management M6-1

Module vII Violence Reduction and Conflict Resolution M7-1

aFterword A-1

iv

Project Ploughshares is pleased to have supported the Caribbean civil society organizations that produced this training manual. Based on the experiences of some of these organizations, the manual offers advice to organizations on how they can be more effective in stopping gun violence in their communities.

The work of Project Ploughshares includes evidence-based research and participation in international policy processes that contribute to building peace and advancing disarmament. These include the UN Programme of Action on Small Arms and the soon-to-be negotiated Arms Trade Treaty, which establish the framework for a global response to debilitating violence. In working with partners in the Caribbean and East Africa, Project Ploughshares is learning how the goals of these international agreements connect to the concrete realities of armed violence at the community level.

No two conflict zones are the same. Episodes of gun violence in the urban areas of the Caribbean are different in many ways from the civil wars and insurgencies in Africa. But both result in a staggering loss of life and lost opportunities to advance social and economic development. The work of the Caribbean Coalition for Development and the Reduction of Armed Violence (CDRAV) and the Women’s Institute for Alternative Development (WINAD) shows how local solutions can be found to problems with international ramifications.

We are grateful for the financial support of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), which paid for local staffing and workshops in different parts of the Caribbean. Without this practical support, the conversations—and this manual, which resulted from them—would not have been possible.

John Siebert

Executive Director

Project Ploughshares

Foreword

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The regional challenges of crime and gun violence have given birth to the Caribbean Coalition for Development and the Reduction of Armed Violence (CDRAV). In 2006, the Women’s Institute for Alternative Development (WINAD) of Trinidad and Tobago initiated the formation of CDRAV with the intention of mobilizing and organizing Caribbean civil society to impact public policy on armed violence across the region.

CDRAV has been nurtured and influenced by the collective genius of Caribbean civil society. Its contribution to public policy and social programming is evident in the foreign policy and disarmament agendas of several CARICOM Member States and the grassroots campaigning of its member organizations.

This manual is intended to strengthen leadership capacity in the not for profit sector by acknowledging and celebrating the rich experiences and expert knowledge that reside in the sector.

The manual is a product of local knowledge, expert training, and the wisdom of CDRAV founding member, Ms Nelcia Robinson who is a Caribbean treasure.

We are grateful to Nelcia for coordinating the preparation and production of the manual.

Folade Mutota

Executive Director

WINAD

Foreword

vii

The Land of CounterpaneBy Robert Louis Stevenson (from A Child’s Garden of Verses)

When I was sick and lay a-bed,I had two pillows at my head,And all my toys beside me lay,To keep me happy all the day.

And sometimes for an hour or soI watched my leaden soldiers go,

With different uniforms and drills,Among the bed-clothes, through the hills;

And sometimes sent my ships in fleetsAll up and down among the sheets;

Or brought my trees and houses out,And planted cities all about.

I was the giant great and stillThat sits upon the pillow-hill

And sees before him, dale and plain,The pleasant land of counterpane.

“The Land of Counterpane” has long been a favourite poem for many children in primary school. This picture of a child peacefully imagining while lying in a comfortable bed topped with a counterpane or bedspread is deeply eroded by rising crime and violence. “Toys” are now guns, cutlasses, knives, alcohol, and music espousing violence. Various illegal drugs, all of which are used to excess, promote violent behaviour, and loss of innocence in childhood.

Preface

Building Capacityviii

On the other hand it may also be argued that toy soldiers and war ships socialize children to accept the violence of war from a tender age. There is a searching for answers to address root causes of the violence that is overtaking communities.

The Caribbean Coalition for Development and Reduction of Armed Violence (CDRAV) is a Caribbean civil society group effort to address the crisis of armed violence in the Caribbean and its effects on development. The Caribbean region is plagued by an escalating problem of armed violence. Besides the obvious consequence of the violence on human life, there are also major consequences to the different aspects of development throughout the region.

CDRAV’s vision is, therefore, to provide civil society leadership in the prevention and alleviation of armed violence and the pursuit of development in the Caribbean, guided by the principles of a rights-based approach.

The goal of CDRAV is to mobilize civil society partners throughout the region around the issue of armed violence. A key objective is to enhance the capacity of partners through training in development and reducing armed violence.

The point of departure for this regional training activity, which resulted in the production of this Training Manual, is based in part on the outcomes of WINAD’s 2009 research Women’s Conversations: Empowering Women and Girls to Prevent and Address the Impact of Small Arms in Communities across Trinidad & Tobago —the findings of which held important implications for the region.

The format of the conversations facilitated the identification and definition of forms of violence that the women were forced to confront at the personal, household, community and state/institution levels. Recurrent and common themes emerged during this component of the discussions. These included, at the personal level, guns, rape, fear, grief, denial, household violent language, domestic abuse, incest and abuse of children; at the community level, robberies, guns and boys loitering on the block; and at the level of the state and other institutions, police brutality and corruption.

The pertinent distinguishing characteristics that emerged from this component of the discussions include:

The introduction of the theme of domestic violence;

The introduction of an example of state planning which contributes to the creation of an insecure space within a community;

The introduction of the issue of incest and abuse as a major problem affecting youth and causing them to resort to violence;

The identification of the absolute trauma and intense fear that were caused by the sound of gun shots.

The outcomes of the conversations at a corrective home for girls infused the discourse with extensive new knowledge and were responsible for introducing the following into the definitions of violence: Unwanted pregnancy, parry shots (gang rape), statutory rape, school violence and the killing of informers. In further discussion around forms of violence, the topic of rankings emerged. Ranking created much insight into the hierarchical nature of the social existence of these young persons. The inherent violence that goes with establishing oneself at the top of the ranking system, and the much gendered nature of the system of rank were pertinent and noteworthy themes in the discussion. Ranking is a position in the hierarchy of existence among young persons. The individual becomes more popular, acceptable or is generally looked upon favourably by their peers, the higher he/she is ranked.

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Preface ix

Ranking is started in Standards 4 and 5 (ages 9-11), on average.

In the discussions on the causes of violence, the absentee father was established as a persistent cause of violence. The sentiment that persons had moved away from God, the growing number of single parents, corruption within the protective services, coupled with low self-esteem and the socio-economics of poverty, proved to be the most identified themes.

In the discussions on the “Impact of Violence,” the following common themes emerged: the fear of going out and returning late, the fear as single mothers of having relationships with men (fear of incest and other violent activity), experiencing the trauma of being an eyewitness to fatal armed violence, the fear of intervening in situations of violence, the loss of the right to be free, feelings of hopelessness, the disruption of daily routines, the reality of children becoming orphans, the stigmatization of communities, increasing incidents of both young persons and the elderly being forced to lie face down on hot pitch during law enforcement initiatives, high-risk communities not being served with simple amenities, the creation of order lines because of gang conflict, political and institutional inability to deal with the issue, and the loss of confidence in the capacity of the systems to protect victims.

These findings are very instructive for the regional Partners within CDRAV, where issues of violence are discussed at the national level.

Gun violence occurs at an unacceptable level in communities, and the reality of it was best captured in a graphic poem, “Mortgaged Prisons,” written by a participant in the Turks & Caicos Islands workshop and found on page ix of this manual.

In Grenada, the project approach was emphasized, and the link was made between poor housing and development planning, and crime.

St. Lucia dealt beautifully with the conflict that arises from power struggles and the paths to peaceful resolution.

Jamaica was strong on how easily the pursuit of one’s goals could result in blindness to other people’s need, and lead to violence.

The St. Vincent & the Grenadines workshop showed the value of working with the police and community.

The manual is intended to provide material for capacity-building initiatives that will build skills in organizational management within civil society organizations and their members that would allow them to work effectively on violence reduction and peacebuilding programmes. Each module of the manual addresses a key area of organizational development and project management. Users of the manual are encouraged to begin with the module that best meets their need, and to make it truly their own.

This manual is the collective product of CDRAV, WINAD, Project Ploughshares, and the facilitators and participants in the workshops held in five Caribbean countries between December 2010 and March 2011. The financial support of Project Ploughshares and the Government of Canada provided through the Canadian International Development Agency is gratefully acknowledged.

Nelcia Robinson

Committee for the Development of Women, Kingstown, St. Vincent & the Grenadines

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Introduction

MORTGAGED PRISONS

Just a few years ago we could leave our doors unlocked, we could leave windows open wideWe didn’t even have to bother about anybody coming inside,But now our homes are mortgaged prisons, in which we have to hide,People robbing you in big broad day lightThey don’t even care about who is in sight,Holding you up with all kinds a gun,Lord what is happening in these islands in the sun.Our children are not safe they just can’t play free,They’ve become housed-up kids in what is supposed to be paradise, man this can’t be,We got to fight against this scourge that is destroying our landWe’re known for our beautiful beaches with turquoise waters and powder white sand,We can’t let the criminal elements take over this gift so divinely given,Sending us straight to hell when we’re supposed to be a piece of heaven,We need to stand strong and fight for what is right,A peaceful society where our citizens can delight,Delight in the fact that all is safe and soundNot fearful that they live in a land where fear and discord abound,We are here today to make a start to work in unityTo make our communities safe again so our children can once more play free.

By Angela Freitas

Participant at the CDRAV-WINAD-Project Ploughshares Training Workshop March 1-2, 2011, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands

Building Capacityxii

1. About the training manualThis manual is an output of Building Peaceful Communities in the Caribbean, a joint project of the Women’s Institute for Alternative Development (WINAD) and Project Ploughshares, which aimed to increase community safety and reduce armed violence in the Caribbean by building the capacity of the civil society coalition, Caribbean Coalition for Development and the Reduction of Armed Violence (CDRAV). The project was undertaken with the financial support of Project Ploughshares and the Government of Canada provided through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

CDRAV seeks “to mobilize civil society partners throughout the region around the issue of armed violence and to enhance the capacity of partners through training on development and armed violence.” The contents of the manual are a direct response to capacity building needs expressed by CDRAV members in a membership survey conducted in August 2010 by WINAD. The members identified the ability to establish strong relations with funders as the most challenging area in their operations. The needs identified included: aligning programming to target audience’s needs, project management leadership development, and communications.

The manual was prepared for use in five training workshops in Grenada, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Turks and Caicos Islands conducted by the project between December 2010 and March 2011. Altogether, close to 150 participants from a diverse range of organizations, including the public sector, attended the training. The workshops were organized by CDRAV members in the respective countries and used local trainers; the manual served as the main training material resource.

While the preparation of training material was centralized, the training design was flexible enough to accommodate modifications, additions made by local organizers to meet their particular requirements and/or to utilize more local material in terms of examples, stories, and training activities, etc. Nelcia Robinson of the Committee for the Development of Women (from St. Vincent and the Grenadines), a veteran community educator, prepared the manual in close coordination with WINAD, which served as CDRAV’s secretariat. She and Project Ploughshares staff attended each workshop to provide guidance and to monitor the training. Improvements and modifications were made as each workshop progressed. After the workshops were completed, the manual was revised to incorporate new material introduced during the workshops.

1.1. Objectives This manual aims to build skills in organizational management within civil society organizations and their members so that they could work more effectively on violence reduction and peacebuilding programmes. Specific objectives are as follows:

to present practical approaches to leadership within community-based organizations;

to transfer skills/techniques in conflict mediation and negotiation applicable for intra-group and inter-organizational problem solving;

to provide tools for effective communication within organizations and to the public;

to introduce basic tools in program and project planning and sharing of responsibilities within organizations.

This manual provides information and tools you can use to design or enhance training initiatives in your organization. This manual can be used by:

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Introduction xiii

participants in the training, so that after the Workshops, they can continue to work on their own;

an individual facilitator offering training in this area to use as a resource; and

a group that wants to strengthen its capacity.

1.2. How the manual is organizedThe core of the training material is divided into modules with learning objectives and expected outcomes spelled out at the beginning of each module. The manual is organized as follows:

Introduction (this section) provides guidance on how to prepare for undertaking a training workshop. A step-by-step guide to planning a workshop – covering both the design of the workshop content and the logistical aspects – is included for the use of individuals involved in organizing and facilitating training workshops.

Overview provides a regional context to the problem faced by civil society organizations working on the reduction and prevention of armed violence Basic concepts and definitions related to violence and crime are introduced. An overview of the problem of armed violence in the region is provided: its extent, causes, who is involved, and its impacts.

Module I Leadership Development examines the concept of leadership, different leadership styles, the functions of a leader, and what are considered as the qualities of a good leader.

Module II Building and Retaining Membership introduces team dynamics, the stages of group development, and the key elements needed in leading effective teams. Common problems in building teams are examined. It concludes with pointers for recruiting members to an organization.

Module III Communications presents the basic principles of effective communication, the different types of communication and factors that hinder communication. This module emphasizes effective oral communication.

Module IV Practical Reflections on Gender deals with the cross cutting theme of gender and the different forms of gender-based violence.

Module V Advocacy, Negotiation and Social Marketing provides an overview of these concepts. The emphasis is on the “nuts and bolts” of specific tools. These include those for advocacy and negotiating such as the influence tree, negotiation planning grid, and those for connecting with the media – media advisory, press release, and media interviews. Tools relating to new media such as websites, Facebook, and Twitter are also introduced. Tools for monitoring and evaluating advocacy efforts are also introduced.

Module VI Project Management deals with the basics of project management. The stages of the project cycle are introduced. Participants learn to prepare a project proposal and become familiar with monitoring and reporting tools.

Module VII Violence Reduction and Conflict Resolution equips participants to better understand the nature of conflict, the different types of conflict, and the different stages. Participants go through an exercise of managing conflict.

The Afterword is a reflection on how we work together to build peace.

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Building Capacityxiv

Read through the entire manual first, and then decide if you are going to use everything or just pick sections. The modules were designed for workshops of two to three hours in each session. Treat the manual as a guide; there is room to add or subtract information, particularly using participants’ own experiences. Talking and doing things together is saying that we all have something to share, and that we learn from each other.

2. Designing the training contentAnyone who has ever planned a workshop will tell you that it’s a big job. And planning a good one? Well, that takes organization, focus, and a lot of creativity.

So how do you prepare for a workshop that will be not only relevant and productive, but memorable?

Some people HATE going to workshops. Done wrong, they can be a huge waste of time and money. However, if they’re planned well, they can be incredibly valuable for everyone involved. Workshops are great for brainstorming, interactive learning, building relationships, and problem solving. Design the training in advance; advance planning is critical.

2.1. Before the workshopStart early. Plan several months ahead of time; preferably start planning this year for next year especially if you have to apply for funding in order to carry out the workshop. At a minimum plan for at least four to six months in advance.

Gather information to decide what type of workshop you will have. Training usually tries to influence participants’ knowledge, skills and attitudes. Knowledge is information, usually an overview of a concept or background about the topic. Skills are the abilities people need to perform tasks. Attitudes are feelings and beliefs. While it is harder to immediately evaluate the impact of training on someone’s attitudes, training and experience together can shift a person’s attitudes over time.

Step 1: Conduct an assessment

Conducting an assessment before designing training always pays off. A needs assessment can reveal what knowledge people need, skills they want to develop, and attitudes they wish to examine. This will help you design effective content for your training. See the sample assessment worksheet on the next page.

FACILITATOR TIP: Assessment Leads to Better Training

If you can speak directly with some participants you will be training, you will learn a great deal that you can use in designing the session. If at all possible, observe

the participants in action, doing something that the training will help them to do better. Assessment helps you to design the training based on what the participants need to learn, rather than based on what you need to teach.

Talking and doing things together is saying that

we all have something to share, and that we learn

from each other.

Introduction xv

Sample Assessment Worksheet

1. Topic. What is the topic of your session?

2. Direct Assessment Questions. What are at least three open questions you will ask a small number of people who will be participating in the session so that you can assess the knowledge and skill areas that need development and the experiences they will bring to the training? (An ‘open’ question cannot have a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. It allows participants to draw openly from their experiences and invites conversation. Closed questions lead participants to a more narrowly defined, less illuminating conclusion. For example, an open question is as follows: What is most unclear to you about your responsibilities as a Board member? An example of a closed question is: Are you clear about what your responsibilities are as a Board member? (see more sample open questions, below.)

3. Training Participants. Who is coming to the training? Record any important, relevant details. For example, are they new staff? Experienced members of the organization? What is their age range? How many people in total do you expect?

4. What They Need to Learn. Why are they coming to the session? What do they want to learn about the topic? (The answer to this question frames the goal of the training.)

5. Using the Information. How will they use the information they learn?

6. What You Know about the Topic. What are three things you know about the topic from your own experience, study and observations?

Sample Open Questions

What was the most valuable part of this for you? What surprises you about this new direction? What really interests you about this topic? What is the best thing that could happen now? How has this situation affected you? What do you need to know to better understand this? How can you remember this? What does this remind you of? How are these ideas different? What would you change? How could you improve this situation? What are your questions about this? How does this topic relate to your work? Can you tell me more about…

Source: Minieri, Joan. 2010. Training for Trainers. Research Centre for Leadership in Action.

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Building Capacityxvi

Step 2: Define the goal of the training

Every workshop must have a goal. Many workshops are a waste of time because there’s no clear goal kept at the centre of the discussion. Without this clear goal, there’s really no point in getting people together.

Based on the assessment, what is the goal of the training? What do the participants need to learn? Do you need to improve your organization’s budget preparation procedures? Do you want to teach staff how to be better organizers? Do you need to do some team building with a newly formed team? Do your members need to know how to use the media in your advocacy efforts?

Many workshops are a waste of time because there’s no clear goal kept at the centre of the discussion. Without this clear goal, there’s really no point in getting people together.

Step 3: Decide who will attend

Knowing who will attend directly relates to your goals and objectives. For example, if your workshop’s goal is to impart specific skills, then you probably want 20-25 key attendees so that they benefit from discussions and practical work. If your goal is centred on education, then you might have a much larger group, which divides into smaller groups for discussion. Develop criteria for trainees. Make a list of who or what kinds of people need to be there. Try to be as specific as possible, but leave a few openings for last-minute additions.

Step 4: Create an agenda

Now that you know your goal and who will attend, you can start to develop an outline (agenda) of how you’ll achieve the workshop’s goal by listing the topics to be covered in the time you have available. When you break down the training, consider what participants need to do in each part of the training in order to be able to move to the next part with confidence and understanding.

FACILITATOR TIP: Breaking your topic into parts

The following is a suggested method for visually breaking the topic into its parts. It is useful to do this with a piece of large chart paper, a marker and either Post-its or index cards and tape.

Using a dark marker, divide a piece of chart paper into four squares.

Across the top of the chart write the goal and a draft title.

Assign a chronological number to each square.

Using Post-its or index cards and tape, and referring to your needs assessment, write down the main points to discuss that you can cover in the time available, and then break down each larger point into details that you think you can communicate to your audience in the time you have available, and assign a block of time to each square.

Make allowance for a warm-up and a close-out/wrap up activity at the beginning and end of the session.

Place the Post-its or index cards in each of the squares of your chart, in the order that seems to make the most sense. This simple method offers you the freedom to step back, look at the parts and their order, and move them around as needed. You can do this both at this step in the design process and as you further develop the training.

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Introduction xvii

For a sample design worksheet, see page xvi.

Step 5: Define objectives

Specify the objective for each part of the agenda you have worked out above. Write at least one objective for each part of your training. Place each objective in the corresponding square on your chart. In writing training objectives, you can ask the following question:

By the end of this part of the training, what will learners HAVE DONE with the information that allowed them to make personal meaning of it?

Thinking of objectives as actions the participants will take moves you away from presenting or discussing the topic and instead allows them to do something. Using action verbs when you write objectives is a tool for creating action-oriented objectives and outcomes.

Step 6: Design discussions and activities

Take time to list exactly which plenary discussions, group discussions and activities (sometimes referred to as “exercises”) you’ll have at which point in the workshop. Activities enable participants to make information their own and move to deeper levels of understanding. It is helpful to break down the specific tasks the participants will move through so you can see each part of the activity. This helps you to determine how interactive the activity will be and how much time it will take. Make sure your activities are appropriate for the size of the group and ensure that you have the materials needed and that your venue has the resources (for example, seminar rooms) needed to run sessions. There are various Training Activities throughout this Manual.

Remember: incorporate activities that are fun, make people laugh, and provide opportunities for participants to get to know one another. These will likely keep everyone interested and participating.

After Completing the First Six Steps… Your chart (design worksheet) should include the following:

The goal. A draft title that indicates the topic. In addition, each square on the chart should include the following: The name of the session. Draft activities and tasks. At least one objective for each part of the session.

The following shows how goals and objectives connect with activities in which participants demonstrate their learning.

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Goal objectIve deMonstrate learnInG

The purpose of the training What participants need to learn What participants do to show that they learned

Prepare members for action How to engage the press In small groups, discuss sample press releases that they have brought along: what is good? What is wrong? What can be improved?

Leaders conduct recruitment How to do a script for a recruitment drive

Say 10 things in 60 seconds about the organization and why you are involved

Building Capacityxviii

SAMPLE DESIGN WORKSHEET

Project Name:

Country:

Name of Organization:

PART 1:

Activities/Tasks:

Objective: By the end of this part participants will have:

(action verb)

PART 2:

Activities/Tasks:

Objective: By the end of this part participants will have:

(action verb)

PART 3:

Activities/Tasks:

Objective: By the end of this part participants will have:

(action verb)

PART 4:

Activities/Tasks:

Objective: By the end of this part participants will have:

(action verb)

Introduction xix

Step 7: Put it all together

Once you have a draft design, it’s time to put all the pieces together and make it flow. The following describes a method for putting it all together..

Go through your draft and create a final design. Move the parts around if you think it will help the flow. Review the activities and tasks to make sure people are moving around, talking with one another and practising what they are learning.

Write titles.

Bold the action verbs.

Make charts and handouts.

Gather the materials you will need.

Establish the training environment.

Check the flow of information and activities for relevance to the needs assessment.

Identify the facilitator, clarify the role of each co-facilitator if you are training in a team.

Review everything one last time.

Run through the activities and, where needed practise on your own or with a colleague.

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FACILITATOR TIP:

Effective Charts and Handouts

Charts and handouts don’t have to be fancy. Like everything in a training design, they fulfill a clear purpose. Here are a few guidelines:

Print. Use large print (not script)—at least 1.5 to 2 inches high and across.

Write titles. Always write a title at the top of the chart.

Use colours. Use varied coloured markers. For example, write the title in red then underline it in black. Write one line of text in green, the next in blue.

Match the handouts. Ideally, have handouts to match the prepared charts so the participants are free to listen, engage and jot notes that help them make the information more personally meaningful.

If you need to make charts during a session, have a co-facilitator do the writing. If that isn’t possible, be sure to stand to the side of the chart when you write, not directly in front of it. Write only as much as you need to write, for a clear purpose, and as noted above, use titles and colours to make the points clear. Use lined chart paper, if available, to keep the print readable. If you will send the notes on the charts to them at a later time, tell the participants so they know what kind of notes would be most useful for them to write down.

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Building Capacityxx

2.2. During the workshop Once you have a solid advance plan, figure out how to bring some excitement into your event. You know the topics that you want to cover, but how will you make the information fun and memorable for your participant’s. It is important to set a positive, conducive learning environment, both physically and emotionally.

Pay attention to light, temperature and acoustics. A training site where people can sit and move comfortably and see and hear clearly brings the best results. Learning improves when people can see each other’s faces—circles and parallel tables are better than rows. Please refer to the checklist for Workshop Logistics when choosing a training venue in section 3.3, beginning on page xxvi of this module.

Participants need to feel safe and respected; therefore a positive emotional environment is also essential. When new information competes with fearful emotions for the brain’s attention, the emotions usually win. It is important to intentionally demonstrate that the training environment is a space where they can talk freely, exchange ideas and just listen when they so choose.

Organize registration prior to the start of the workshop proceedings so participants can pick up their Workshop Kit (if any is to be distributed), name tags, etc. If possible, arrange that other persons help out with the registration and give information on housekeeping, e.g. bathrooms and meal breaks ,at the same time. Persons helping with the registration should look carefully to make sure that any special needs are being met, such as people with disabilities, or persons with young children.

Establish ground rules at the start, stress the importance of asking questions, and explain the use of storytelling and how it helps us to share. Everyone has a story to tell. Examples of ground rules:

Please put all cell phones on SILENT.

Feel free to ask questions.

Everyone participates but speak in turns.

Start the meeting with a few icebreakers to get everyone relaxed and comfortable or “warm up” the participants to the content to come (see the Training Activity: Warm up and Clarifying Expectations next page).

Sometimes, not everyone has to stay for the entire workshop. For instance, the head of your organization might be too busy to attend the whole session. Identify which sections your busiest participants need to attend, and suggest in advance when they might want to arrive and leave. They’ll appreciate your consideration and it will also be less disruptive for other participants.

Getting everyone involved is key to a successful workshop. If you stand up and talk for three hours, you’re just giving a lecture – not facilitating a workshop. Everyone needs to participate.

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Getting everyone involved is key to a

successful workshop.

Introduction xxi

TRAINING ACTIVITY

Warm Up And Clarifying Expectations

TIME

15-30 minutes, depending on the size of the group~ 2-3 minutes working in pairs

~ 10-15 minutes sharing

~ 5-10 minutes discussion

OBJECTIVE To bring everyone into the training space and clarify how the training will or will not address their expectations

MATERIALS FlipchartMarkers

INSTRUCTIONS

Everybody finds a Partner and works in pairs. Each person has 2-3 minutes to find out as much about his/her partner, why he/she is here, and what he/she expects to get out of the training.

Each person tells the group about his/her partner and his/her expectations of the training. No one talks about him/herself.

Facilitator jots down information on a flip chart that will be used to discuss questions

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QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

What are the differences, similarities among us?

What do we consider important about each other?

Did your partner get the information about you right?

What are the key expectations about the workshop?

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CONCLUSIONThe Facilitator reviews what the workshop will cover so participants get a sense of how the training will or will not address their expectations.

Building Capacityxxii

2.3. After the workshop You need to find out f your workshop was a success. One way is to ask participants to complete a simple, written evaluation. Although this can be a bit scary, it’s the only way to get important information to improve your training for the next time. It also shows the participants that you value their feedback.

If you are going to be sending the participants any notes or other information (for example, copies of speeches or presentations, lists of additional resources) following the training, be sure to let them know about it. Will you send out a mass email to everyone with the details? Will you put it on your organization’s website? Make sure you have correct contact information.

3. Organizing workshop logisticsDesigning the content is only half of the task. Conducting the workshop involves a lot of organizational details. Arrangements become even more complex if you have participants coming from other countries or you have to provide for special needs such as childcare as in, for example, you have a training program for young mothers.

3.1. Preparing the budgetA budget is a detailed plan of your income and expenses for the training. If you are looking to apply for funding from other organizations to support your training, a budget will be required in your application. In addition, preparing a training budget well in advance of the training helps you to:

• control your money;

• monitor your expenses and income;

FACILITATOR TIP: Carrying out Group Exercises

Many people are nervous about speaking up in an unfamiliar group. If you plan group exercises, keep the size of each group small, so people are more comfortable talking and interacting.

Mix up different types of people in each group. For example, if several members from the same organization participate in your workshop, don’t put members of the same organization in their own group, unless the topic at hand really calls for it. By encouraging people to interact with others, they can learn to look at things from different perspectives.

Determine how you’ll record the ideas from each group. Will participants shout them out while you write them down? Or will they write down their own ideas and then give them to you? Should the group designate a rapporteur from among them to take down the notes? This is a small, but important, detail that’s often overlooked.

If you have five or fewer groups, spend time allowing the entire team to evaluate the ideas from each smaller group. This is a great way to narrow down your list of ideas, and let the good ones really shine.

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Introduction xxiii

• plan in advance how much money you need to spend and how you can generate income to cover your expenses;

• make decisions about your spending;

• account for any funds you have received from a funding organization.

The following steps are involved in preparing a budget. You can use the sample budget template that is provided in page xxiv. If you have access to a computer you can set up the template in a spreadsheet program such as Excel. You can use formulas to calculate the total amounts. This will make it easier for recalculations when numbers and costs change.

Step 1: Identify training expensesIdentify the main categories of expenses you will incur; examples are listed below.

• Venue costs: expenses relating to the hire of the workshop venue and related equipment.

• Meals/Catering costs: expenses related to meals and refreshments served during the training itself such as coffee breaks and lunch.

• Ground transportation: transport costs between accommodations and the workshop venue.

• Printing, stationery and other supplies: expenses for photocopying workshop materials, supplies for use during the workshop such as pen, paper, markers, flip charts, folders, etc.

• Facilitation/Consultancy fees: fees paid to trainers/consultants, honoraria for resource persons.

• Translation/interpretation costs: fees paid to translators for simultaneous interpretation during the training,

• Travel costs: expenses relating to air tickets, airport transfers, bus or ferry tickets, mileage costs if reimbursing out-of-town participants for use of their own vehicles.

• Accommodation costs and per diems: expenses for lodging and participant per-diems to cover meals outside the workshop and other incidental expenses.

• Administrative support: expenses related to staff hired to provide administrative support during the preparation stage and at the workshop itself.

• Communications costs: long distance telephone/fax, internet costs.

When you have identified your expense items, list them in Column A in the Expenses section of the template. Provide a brief description of what the item refers to in Column B of the template.

Step 2. Calculate budgeted expenses You need to estimate the cost of your budgeted items. If you are applying for funding, donors would like to see clear explanations of how you arrived at your cost estimates. Whenever possible, get pro forma invoices or written quotations for items you need to purchase so you know in advance exactly what you will have to pay for items. A pro forma invoice is an estimated invoice provided by a seller or service provider to a buyer before goods or services are provided. It specifies the kind and quantity of goods or service to be provided and their cost. See sample on page xxii. This will help ensure that costs do not exceed budgeted expenses.

Building Capacityxxiv

To calculate your budgeted expenses:

• find the unit cost for each expense item and enter this into Column C of the budget template;

• determine the exact quantities required for each expense item and enter this into Column D of the budget template;

• calculate the cost for each expense item by multiplying the unit cost by the quantity required. Enter this amount in Column E.

Quantity required x unit cost = total budgeted expense

Column C x Column D = Column E

Hastings Bay Caterers Hastings, Christ Church

Telephone: (246) 123-4567 Fax: (246) 789-1011

PROFORMA INVOICE

Invoice To: TAX INVOICE

ABCD Community Organization VAT # DateInvoice

No.

#40 Roebuck Street 20064181 March 24/2011 Proforma # 12/11

Bridgetown

Attention: John Doe

Description Qty. Unit Rate AmountCatering Services To Be Provided on Monday, 18th April, 2011

Full Morning Break 30 Each $23.00 $690.00

Buffet Lunch 30 Each $50.00 $1,500.00

Sub Total $2,190.00

TOTAL: $2,190.00

VAT @ 17.5% $383.25

TOTAL DUE in BDS: $2,573.25

Introduction xxv

Step 3. Identify your sources of incomeIdentify potential sources of funding for your training; these can include:

• trainees fees or registration fees;

• general budget of your organization;

• donations or grants from funding organizations.

Step 4. Calculated budgeted incomeGo to the income section of the budget template. To calculated your budgeted income:

• enter your sources of income;

• calculate income for each;

• add up the amounts from each source to determine total budgeted income.

Step 5. Compare your budgeted expenses with your budgeted incomeSubtract your total budgeted expenses from your total budgeted income to determine whether you:

• break even – your income covers your expenses,

• have a profit – your income exceeds your expenses, or

• you have a loss – your expenses are more than your income.

What if your budget shows a loss? You will need to decide how you will cover your costs. You can either reduce expenses or increase income. Go over your budget again and see where you can cut costs; for example, can you have a sandwich lunch instead of a buffet so that the cost per person will be lower? Can you get a lower priced hotel to house the participants? Alternatively, you can identify other sources of funding that you can approach for grants.

BuDGET TEMPLATE FOR A TRAINING WORkShOP

Training Course Duration Number of participants

Column A Column B Column C Column D Column E Column F Column G

Category Description Unit cost # of Units Total Cost Actual Cost Budget vs. Actual Cost

EXPENSES

1. Workshop Costs

Venue Workshop room(s) rental rent/day # of days

Equipment rentalProjector, screen

(specific equipment) rental rent/day # of days

Meals and snacksMorning/afternoon

coffee break and lunch for X days cost/person # of persons

Ground transport Bus hire to and from hotel 2X a day cost/trip # of trips

Sub-total Workshop costs

2. Material Preparation

Trainer feesBreak down fees if there are different rates/trainer fee

# of hours or days

Printing costsCopying, binding of workshop material cost/page # of pages

Supplies Purchase of folders, pens, paper (itemize list) cost

# of units needed

3. Travel and Accommodations

Air faresObtain quotes from

travel agencies.Breakdown by country cost/flight # of persons

AccommodationsAccommodation cost per night, will vary on travel

timescost/night/

person# of persons X

# nights

Per diemMay vary according to

time of arrival/departure of participant

cost/person/day

# of persons X # days

Sub-total Workshop costs

4. Administrative expenses (if applicable)

Administrative supportBased on wages of

support staff or a lump sum amount

cost/person/day # of days

Communication Lump sum estimate

Total All Expenses

INCOMERegistration fees

Regular budget

Grant from UNDP

Total All Expenses

Income less Expenses

Introduction xxvii

3.2. Monitoring your budget The budget is your guide. Remember the budget contains your best estimates of what your expenses and income are going to be. Use it as you proceed with the training to monitor your actual expenses and income.. To monitor your budget:

• keep receipts and invoices;

• record income as you receive it and expenses as you spend in Column F of the budget template

• compare actual income and expenses with budgeted income and expenses.

You will need to keep accurate records of all income and expenses. If you have received funding from a donor you will likely need to submit a financial report. You need to make sure that the receipts and invoices you have to document your expenses are acceptable.

You should make sure you get a receipt for every purchase you make and keep the original. What is an acceptable receipt? See the checklist below for what is a good receipt.

If you buy something from a shop you should get a receipt printed from the cash register. If you can’t get a cash register receipt you should write the details of the purchase on a piece of paper and get the seller to sign it. The receipt must still include all of the details on the checklist.

An invoice is a request for payment form a business or individual for a product or service you have purchased. What is an acceptable invoice? The same characteristics as an acceptable receipt apply to an acceptable invoice.

3.3. The workshop checklist The workshop checklist, overleaf, covers the logistics management of the workshop. The checklist assumes that you have already picked a workshop topic; set workshop goals and objectives and designed the content, investigated the available resources and secured funding for your workshop.

Receipt Checklist □ The receipt is readable.

□ The receipt identifies the date of the transaction.

□ The receipt identifies the business or individual selling the product or service (name and address).

□ The receipt itemizes all purchase items and the amount for each.

□ The receipt records the total amount spent.

Building Capacityxxviii

Workshop Planning ChecklistPublicize workshop (2-6 months in advance)

Information about the workshop is communicated as early and as widely as possible. Consider all the avenues of media that your potential participants, facilitators and supporters might access and set up an application process.

□ Set a date that doesn’t conflict with any major workshops, conferences or other major activities (e.g., Carnival) in your community.

□ Decide the maximum number of workshop attendees. Consider how you want participants to apply and how you will collect and collate the information you receive.

□ Determine cut-offs or deadlines for applications to allow for enough time to process and respond to participants and finalize venue, travel, and accommodation arrangements.

□ Prepare your course announcement, which should describe clearly what the training aims to accomplish and who will benefit from it. The material should include information on:

name of the organization responsible for organizing the course

aims of the training

number and characteristics of participants being sought; what kind of pre- requisite skills participants should have, if required

outline of the course content

date of the course and where it will be held

accommodation, travel and financial arrangements (cost of the workshop to the participants, if any and costs that will be paid for by workshop organizers)

how to register and deadlines, including a registration response form. On the response form, include space for participants’ office addresses, phone & fax numbers and email addresses for workshop follow-up, and information on any special needs such as dietary or mobility restrictions

information on how respondents will be notified if they have been successful or not in gaining a place on the workshop.

□ Get a mailing list for organizations you are targeting and e-mail or distribute the course announcement to your target organizations, or post them on relevant listserve(s).

□ Post the course announcement and the registration form on your website and other social media that you might be using, e.g., Facebook., Twitter.

□ Send press releases about the workshop to relevant publications such as newsletters, professional magazines and newspapers, as well as to other related conferences and seminars.

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Introduction xxix

Select participants, establish contact

You will be communicating back and forth with your participants prior to the workshop, especially if the workshop organizers have to arrange travel and accommodations. Make sure you have correct contact information and establish a participants database.

□ Select participants. Establish a waiting list if you have more respondents than the space available.

□ Send a confirmation to participants that they are signed up for the workshop.

□ In the confirmation materials, include:

name(s) and contact information of the person(s) in your organization that participants should communicate with. If there is more than one contact person, make clear what matters are to be directed to each.

the agenda

material to bring (if any)

clear directions to the location, the date and time, and how to get to the workshop

if the workshop involves participants from out of town or out of the country, details on how travel and accommodations are going to be arranged

a health information sheet if vaccinations or other medication are required/recommended for the country

information on what costs the workshop organizers are paying for and what costs are to be paid by the participants

request participants to confirm phone and e-mail contacts to facilitate communications while travel is being arranged.

request participants to indicate if they will require accommodations (some people may want to stay with family or friends) and ask them if they have any special needs such as health conditions, dietary restrictions, and mobility needs that organizers need to be aware of.

□ Create a central list (your participant database) of your confirmed participants. The database will contain participant contact information and details of travel and accommodation arrangements for each participant. If you have access to a computer, this is best done on a spreadsheet program such as Excel, since you can sort and manipulate information easily. It also allows you to produce different lists for different purposes from the single central list. An example of a Participants Database is shown in page xxxiii.

□ When all arrangements have been confirmed (at least a week in advance of the workshop), send out a final memo to participants that includes:

confirmation of travel

confirmation of reservations for accommodations, including contact information for the hotel/lodging

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Building Capacityxxx

instructions on how to get to the accommodations/workshop venue from the airport

information on what costs the workshop organizers are paying for and what costs are to be paid by the participants

final agenda for the workshop

any other material you might wish to distribute in advance of the workshop.

Guest speaker(s)

If your workshop agenda includes a keynote speaker and/or other official guests (not resource persons or facilitators), make sure you invite and confirm their availability well in advance.

□ Send letter of invitation to keynote speaker and/or other official guests.

□ If there is more than one speaker, pay attention to protocol in determining the order that they will speak.

□ Obtain a brief bio on each guest so that they can be properly introduced.

□ Once the speaker(s) has/have accepted, send a letter confirming dates of workshop, time slot for their speech and the topic, and directions to the workshop venue.

Select appropriate venue

The appropriate venue will depend on the objectives of your workshop and your available budget. Planning in advance allows you to investigate a wider range of venue options; there will be a better chance that a facility will be available on your preferred dates.

□ Make a list of what you consider is an appropriate venue for your workshop. You can use this as a guide when reviewing prospective sites. Possible items to look out for:

location of venue in relation to public transport, accessibility

hours of operation (opening and closing times)

availability of parking

size, number of meeting rooms required (for how many people), availability of breakout rooms or spaces for small group discussion

availability of areas set for food and eating, quiet space, communications spaces, display materials

simultaneous interpretation facility, if needed

adequate lighting

ease of ventilation and temperature control

acoustics, presence/absence of noise from surrounding areas

microphones

overhead projector, LCD projector and screen for presentations, if needed

TV, VCR or DVD player if needed

Internet access, if needed

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Introduction xxxi

lectern, podium, pointer

flip charts, white boards, black boards, markers

access to electrical outlets

flexibility to rearrange seating

other considerations: safety, security.

□ Investigate venue options. If your participants have to be provided accommodations, approach hotels, conference centres, or retreat houses and check on a package deal of meeting rooms, meeting meals, and accommodations. You can often negotiate a deal that will cut costs and simplify logistics as you will be dealing with fewer suppliers.

□ Check availability during the preferred dates.

□ Request a pro forma invoice or price quotation from the venue options that you would like to seriously consider. A pro forma invoice is an estimated invoice provided by a seller or service provider to a buyer before goods or services are provided. It specifies the kind and quantity of goods, their cost and other information (for example, if a deposit is required, how much, deadline for confirming orders, etc.).

□ Confirm venue reservation (and accommodation if it is provided by the same facility).

□ Arrange to borrow or rent equipment needed if this cannot be provided by the facility.

□ If simultaneous translation is required during the workshop itself, arrange for the service (this is usually expensive; make sure your budget allows for it).

□ Keep receipts of any rental charges for expenditure report.

Travel and accommodations for participants (if workshop organizers are paying for travel costs)

Arranging travel and accommodations requires a lot of work and can be complicated if participants are coming from different countries. Work with a reliable travel agency to handle the flight reservations, but you retain authority over final approval of travel arrangements. The majority of airlines issue tickets electronically, which can be sent by e-mail to participants. Make sure that information for each participant’s arrangements is recorded in the participants database and that the information is updated as things progress.

□ Confirm that participants who are coming from outside the country have the appropriate travel documentation, including a valid passport and entry visa to the country where you are holding the workshop, if applicable. For participants who might have to go through the United States (U.S.) for connecting flights, U.S. visas are required for some nationals even if they are only transiting through the U.S.

□ Prepare a list of participants who need airline reservations, the city/airport of origin, and their proposed travel dates. Get the full names of participants as they appear on their identification. For participants involving international travel, it is important that you get their names as they appear on their passport and passport details (number, place of issue, expiry date).

□ Determine if any of the participants need to get a visa to enter the country where the workshop is being held and provide them with workshop invitations needed to apply for a visa.

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Building Capacityxxxii

□ Provide the travel agency with the list of participants and their contact information. Ask the travel agent to find the most direct, lowest cost economy flight. Participants’ schedules can change at the last minute; book flights that have the flexibility to be changed without incurring big penalty fees. For routing via the U.S. have the travel agency allow for a longer interval in between flights as increased security procedures in U.S. airports often lead to delays and can result in missed connecting flights.

□ Before finalizing reservations, have participants confirm that they are okay with the arrangements.

□ Make a list of participants who will require accommodations. Determine how many nights will be required (this will depend on the day/time of their arrival and the day/time of their departure).

□ Most hotels include breakfast as part of the accommodations. Obtain hotel pro forma invoice for accommodations (if the accommodations are booked separate from the workshop venue).

□ If per diem is to be provided, work out the per diem for each participant. The amount will depend on your funding and may vary according to the date/time of their arrival and departure.

□ Confirm flight reservations with the travel agency.

□ Confirm accommodations with the hotel or conference centre.

□ If appropriate, arrange ground transport between the accommodations and workshop venue.

Meals during the workshop

□ If your budget allows it, a typical arrangement is to provide for two coffee breaks and lunch.

□ Mid-morning coffee break: tea, coffee, water and light pastries: Danish, muffins or cookies. If you have many participants who are arriving just that morning consider offering refreshments earlier.

□ Lunch: boxed lunch, sandwiches, or buffet.

□ Mid-afternoon: usually a just a liquid break of coffee, tea, juice, soda.

□ Have water available in the workshop rooms throughout the day.

□ Request menu samples and a pro forma invoice from the provider.

□ Inform caterers about any food allergies and other special dietary needs of the participants that need to be provided for.

□ If meals are to be catered by another vendor (not the venue facility), review how they will set up delivery so as to minimize disturbance to the workshop proceedings.

□ Confirm meal reservations and advise vendor in advance of any special dietary requirements that participants might have, adjust numbers if needed.

□ Keep receipts for the expenditure report.

Resource material development (six weeks in advance)

□ Review workshop materials lists and purchase or gather supplies.

□ Obtain copies of materials to be used by other facilitators.

Introduction xxxiii

□ Photocopy workshop materials for attendees. Print extra copies for other workshop facilitators.

□ Send copies of materials to other workshop facilitators.

□ Keep receipts for the expenditure report.

Materials preparation (one week in advance)

□ Assemble the workshop kit – folders or binders of the workshop activities and resources for each participant, including supplies (pen and paper).

□ Nametags for guest speakers, participants, and workshop facilitators.

□ Prepare signage if needed.

□ Include a participant list in each kit for networking purposes.

□ Prepare workshop evaluation questionnaire to be included in the kit.

□ Prepare participant registration/sign-in sheet.

□ Send a final memo to all participants and facilitators summarizing arrangements (see page xxvii under “Select participants, establish contact” for details.

□ If you want media coverage of your workshop, send out a media advisory to relevant media outlets (see Module V for how to prepare a media advisory).

□ Prepare a press kit to be handed to media if they attend.

Day of the workshop

□ Arrive at the workshop site early to set up.

□ Post signage where needed.

□ Be familiar with the location for light switches, controls for blinds or curtains for when you need to change lighting as when doing a Power Point presentation.

□ Test all equipment needed and ensure that they are functioning (it is better if you can do this a day earlier).

□ Make sure all the supplies you require are available (e.g., newsprint, markers, pens, tape, scissors)

□ Set up the registration/check-in table(s):

registration/sign in sheet.

name tags (arrange alphabetically facing those approaching the table for convenience)

workshop kits.

□ Have participants sign Photo release forms if photos are going to be publicized (e.g. in a publication, on your website).

□ Set aside some seats at the back of the room for the media.

□ Digital camera and/or a camera and film. Check batteries.

□ At the end of the workshop, ask participants to fill in Workshop Evaluation questionnaire and have a box ready in the room where participants can drop them.

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Building Capacityxxxiv

After the workshop

□ Gather all receipts.

□ Gather photographs and make a selection for use in the report and /or in your website.

□ Sum up expenses and fill out the amount you actually spent for items in your budget. This information is useful for your own planning purposes.

□ Prepare expenditure report and other required documentation (e.g., receipts) as required by your finance department and/or funder.

□ Within a month of the workshop, send any material that you have committed to send to participants after the training.

Sources

Mind Tools. Planning a Workshop. http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/PlanningAWorkshop.htm.

Minieri, Joan. 2010. Training for Trainers: A Guide to Designing Interactive Trainings Using Popular Education Techniques. Research Centre for Leadership in Action, New York University. http://wagner.nyu.edu/leadership/reports/files/TrainingForTrainers.

pdf.

Introduction xxxv

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Overview

Gun Violence and Crime in the Caribbean

O-1

1. What is gun violence?Gun violence includes crime committed with firearms, as well as the use of firearms in settings of war and politically motivated armed conflict. In the Caribbean, a region not engaged in armed conflict, gun violence includes the use of a firearm to commit crimes such as murder, assault, rape, robbery, burglaries and suicide. Guns are also a prominent feature of organized crime, and in the Caribbean are especially linked with narcotics trafficking. People who do not possess firearms can still kill or harm others, and possession of a firearms does not in itself cause one person to harm another; however, the presence and availability of firearms can make settings where other crime-causing factors are present especially volatile.

Guns are closely associated with police and military forces in the public imagination. However, it is estimated that of the 875 million guns circulating the globe today, 74 per cent are owned by non-state actors or civilians. This means that weapons in private hands outnumber government arsenals.

Small arms and light weapons (SALW) are the weapons of choice in most of the world’s conflicts, and in most gun crime across the globe, as they are small, cheap and easy to carry and maintain. SALW account for 60-90 per cent of direct conflict deaths each year and are indirectly responsible for many more. Guns can remain in society for a long time after conflicts ends, and can contribute to high levels of interpersonal violence.

Gun violence is not just numbers and statistics. Real people are killed and injured. They leave behind loved ones who never stop mourning.

Gun Violence and Crime in the Caribbean

“Impose a curfew on yourself and get home by 8 pm, fasten the burglar-proof doors and windows and you are

likely to avoid becoming a murder statistic.” ~Trinidad & Tobago Guardian 2009

Building CapacityO-2

Crime Definitions*:

Intentional Homicide is a death deliberately inflicted on a person by another person, including infanticide.

Assault is a physical attack against the body of another person, including battery but excluding indecent assault.

Rape is sexual intercourse without valid consent.

Robbery is the theft of property from a person, overcoming resistance by force or threat of force.

Theft is the removal of property without the property owner’s consent.

Automobile theft is the removal of a motor vehicle without the consent of the owner of the vehicle.

Burglary is unlawful entry into someone else’s premises with the intention to commit a crime.

Kidnapping is unlawfully detaining a person or persons against their will (or national equivalent, e.g. using force, threat, fraud or enticement) for the purpose of demanding for their liberation an illicit gain or any other economic gain or other material benefit, or in order to oblige someone to do or not to do something.

*Definitions used by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in their biennial Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems

What are Firearms, Small Arms and Light Weapons?

Firearms include any lethal barreled weapon of any description from which any shot, bullet or other missile can be discharged and includes any prohibited weapon, whether it is a lethal weapon or not, any component part of any such lethal or prohibited weapon, or any accessory to any such weapon designed or adapted to diminish the noise or flash caused by firing the weapon.

Small Arms are hand-held, small-calibre firearms. They include handguns, rifles and shotguns; manual, semi-automatic and full automatic firearms; and man-portable machine guns.

Light Weapons are medium-calibre firearms and small explosive devices. They include man- and vehicle-portable rockets, missiles, grenade launchers, rocket launchers, landmines, anti-aircraft guns, mortars, hand grenades and rocket-propelled grenades.

Overview O-3

2. What is the scope of the problem in the Caribbean?Crime rates in the Caribbean are among the highest in the world, and the prevalence of guns in committing these crimes is on the rise. The following statistics and graphs illustrate the scope and nature of the problem in the region:

In 2002, there were 30 homicides per 100,000 people in the Caribbean, giving the Caribbean the highest per capita homicide rate globally.

Homicide rates by region, 2002 (UNODC)

Between 2005 and 2008, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) registered 9,733 homicides. Homicide rates in the Caribbean are 34 per cent higher than in countries with comparable macroeconomic conditions.

In 2000, firearms were responsible for less than one-third of all homicides in many CARICOM states. By May 2006, however, it was estimated that over 70 per cent of homicides involved guns.

Between 1982 and 1997, the homicide rate more than doubled in Jamaica; from 2003 to 2005 alone the rate rose from 36 to 58 per 100,000, before falling to 49 per 100,000 in 2006. Jamaica has the highest homicide rate in the Caribbean, and one of the highest rates in the entire world.

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South AmericaEast/SE Asia

Central AmericaEast EuropeCentral Asia

East AfricaNorth America

South AsiaSoutheast Europe

OceaniaWest/Central Europe

North AfricaMiddle East/SW Asia 1

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Building CapacityO-4

Per capita homicide rates: Caribbean v. other regions (2004) 1

The homicide rate varies quite a bit from country to country in the region. However, there has been a noticeable and sometimes drastic upward trend across the region in the last decade.

Homicide Rate in Five Caribbean Countries, 1999-2005 (UNODC)

1. The year 2004 is the most recent for which comparable data from multiple Caribbean countries is available.

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55.5JamaicaBelize

St. Kitts & NevisHaiti

Trinidad &TobagoSt. Lucia

St. Vincent & The GrenadinesGuyana

BahamasSurinameBarbadosDominica

United StatesGrenada

TurkeyCanada

England & WalesGermany

Japan

28.6122.68

21.819.72

18.9517.5117.18

13.699.328.71

5.925.364.89

3.951.721.64

0.980.5

x xx x

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1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

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Overview O-5

Assault rates, robberies and incidents of rape in the Caribbean are also significantly higher than the global average. Three of the top ten recorded rape rates in the world are from Caribbean countries. Assault rates are also significantly above the world average. Robbery rates are 26 per cent higher than in countries with comparable macroeconomic conditions.

The Caribbean region does not manufacture firearms domestically. However, the proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW), which is linked to narcotics trafficking, has drastically increased the availability of weapons in the Caribbean. According to the Association of Caribbean Police Chiefs, there are as many as 1.6 million illegal guns in the English-speaking Caribbean.

Measuring Crime in the CaribbeanWhile the statistics in this section give the best possible snapshot of the crime situation in the Caribbean, it is important to note that crime data in general is extremely problematic, and data in the Caribbean can be especially deceptive and potentially misleading. First of all, the best source of crime data most often comes from household victimization surveys, but very few Caribbean countries have participated in surveys of the precision necessary to glean comprehensive statistics. As a fall-back, police statistics are often used, though these numbers represent only incidents reported to police. In the Caribbean there is good reason to believe that a high amount of crime goes unreported. Indeed, studies have shown that reporting rates are often the lowest in the most crime-affected areas, as the level of faith in law enforcement and justice institutions is often also very low. An additional issue to bear in mind is that crime rates in very small countries tend to stand out in global comparisons, because a relatively small number of incidents can result in high rates. The small size of many Caribbean nations also makes interpreting rates over time difficult, as trends may appear to be erratic – the difference between 0 and 2 murders a year in an island of 10,000 people makes the homicide rate per 100,000 inhabitants erratic indeed.

Source: UNOCD and World Bank (2007)

3. What causes gun violence and crime?The causes of gun violence are complex, and vary from region to region and across time. Different criminologists also offer different explanations for the prevalence of gun crime across the world and in the Caribbean specifically, highlighting both macro- and micro-level causes for gun crime. Globally, studies have shown a link between urbanization, underdevelopment and rising crime levels, and have argued that crime is a development issue – to tackle crime, then, we must focus on development. Other criminologists suggest that urbanization and modernization have led to a disintegration of traditional communities and social norms, which in turn has facilitated the development of a culture of violence. Others still draw attention to more micro-level factors, such as unhealthy family relationships, a lack of positive role models (especially for young males),

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Building CapacityO-6

and lack of other opportunities. In some places, including the Caribbean, the construction of masculinity has come to be associated with such things as wealth, violence, and guns, to the degree that there is a perception that to be a ‘man’ one must pick up a gun, and leading young men into a life of crime.

The causes of gun violence that help to explain this crime elsewhere in the world also apply to the Caribbean, yet there are other factors specific to the region that have contributed to the rise in gun crime. For example, there is relative consensus that the narcotics trade – and accompanying trade in illicit firearms—has contributed to rising crime rates in the region. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that at least 50 per cent of all cocaine smuggled from South America to the United States and Europe transits the Caribbean. Illegal weapons follow the trade in narcotics, and have increased the availability of weapons in the region. In the presence of a variety of other factors – such as unemployment, corruption, and weak criminal justice systems – has contributed to a troubling rise in violence crime in the last decade.

A recent United Nations Report (Harriott 2002) gives a succinct summary of the diverse causes of crime in the Caribbean:

poverty;

unemployment;

social marginalization and inequality;

the illegal drug trade;

corruption;

the trafficking of firearms;

the deportation of criminals;

the ineffectiveness of the existing criminal justice systems and consequent waiving of sanctions.

4. Who is involved in gun crime, and where does it occur?While gun-related crime may be committed by people of varying demographics, in the Caribbean the overwhelming majority of offenders are males between 15 and 30 years of age, to the extent that theft, burglaries and assaults are considered youth-related problems. Youth are disproportionately represented as both victims and perpetrators of crime and violence across the region. Studies have shown a correlation between the high concentration of young males and incidents of crime, and contemporary research in the region also links young men of low incomes and low literacy rates with incidents of violence.

A striking feature about crime in the Caribbean is that it affects citizens of nearly all backgrounds—crime affects both poor and wealthy members alike. The poor, however, are more often victims of violent, gun-related crime, and the general consensus is that although crime affects both rich and poor, the impacts of crime are felt more heavily among the poor living in deprived areas. Household-level victimization surveys conducted by UNODC in Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic found that poorer households in poor communities face higher risks

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Overview O-7

of violent crime, but property crime most often occurs in wealthy neighbourhoods. In all three of these countries, crime is highly concentrated in urban areas, and usually in areas with a high population density. In Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, higher levels of both property crime and violent crime were found in communities with a large population of young men.

5. What are the impacts of gun violence and crime?Gun violence affects our lives and communities psychologically, physically, economically and emotionally. A recent UNODC/World Bank (2007) report captures the far-reaching impact of gun violence and crime by noting that it is “undermining growth, threatening human welfare, and impeding social development.” To begin, gun violence has severe public health repercussions (including death and injury), and has direct psychological effects on the victims of violence. Gun violence causes psychological effects on adults and children, leaving them with lasting emotional scars, including anger, withdrawal, post-traumatic stress, and feelings of insecurity. The psychological effects of violence also extend outwards to entire communities, causing people to feel less secure, engendering fear among the citizens of a country. This fear manifests itself in people feeling unsafe and afraid to go out at night, and may in turn lead people to become anxious, angry and frustrated with the way in which crime erodes their lifestyles.

Gun violence also has a negative social impact. It can affect the delivery of social services – such as education – and burdens the health care system. Increasing gun violence also diverts scarce resources away from social and health programmes toward fighting crime. Furthermore, rising incidents of gun violence also have the effect of making communities more armed – fear of crime and low detection rates often translate into people feeling pressured to acquire guns for self-protection.

Gun violence also has grave economic repercussions, and greatly hampers economic growth. Rising crime negatively affects businesses, which are forced to spend more and more of their budgets on security. High crime rates also negatively impact foreign direct investment and hampers economic growth, which in turn leads to high unemployment and a weak economy. High crime rates also negatively affect the tourism industry, which is the lifeblood of many Caribbean countries. The economic impact of crime is so great that the UNODC/World Bank Report (2007) estimates that if the Caribbean were to reduce its homicide rates by one third, economic growth rates could more than double.

6. RecommendationsSerious intervention and prevention methods are required to deal with the scourge of gun violence. NGOs and community organizations can play their part, through the following types of activities:

1. Conduct workshops for members of NGOs, community-based organizations, religious leaders, and other professionals from communities in which gun violence has had a significant impact in order to discuss ways by which they should respond to this growing tragedy, and to determine what role each should take in facilitating dialogue to address the issue of gun violence and its impact on communities.

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2. Educate the community (parents, children, and youth) on gun violence prevention, and adult responsibility around gun violence prevention.

3. Identify other community-based organizations (CSOs) working on the issue of gun violence, and seek their assistance to design education and prevention workshops around the issue of gun violence.

4. Support research and other initiatives that pay attention to the links between underdevelopment and crime. Advocate for crime-prevention policies that account for the link between crime and development in their approach.

5. Develop support groups with local congregations and other NGOs and CSOs to advocate for stricter gun control measures that will help limit the availability of guns in society. These groups can be linked to legislators, the Attorney General’s Office, and law enforcement agencies working on gun and violence issues.

6. Support legislation to impose stiffer penalties on the illegal importation and unlawful possession of guns and ammunition by the general public, and all persons entering our borders.

7. Call upon the print, broadcasting and electronic media, as well as the entertainment industry, to refrain from promoting gun usage by youth, and to assist in reducing gun violence by way of advertisements.

8. Discourage the graphic depiction and glorification of violence by the entertainment industry, which greatly influences our society, and recommend that these issues be addressed through education and consciousness-raising.

9. Recommend that annual conferences make evident public witness to the crime of gun violence, and to the hope of community healing.

10. Call upon the Caribbean community (CARICOM) and the member states to advance the implementation of international and regional instruments against the proliferation of SALW such as the UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects (UN PoA), the Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, and Other Related Materials (CIFTA), and the International Instrument on Marking and Tracing.

11. Engage the CARICOM and member states to promote support for a legally binding Arms Trade Treaty.

Sources:

Epps, Kenneth. 2008. Addressing small arms violence in the Caribbean. The Ploughshares Monitor, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 3-6.

Harriott, Anthony. 2002. Crime Trends in the Caribbean and Responses. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica.

Montoute, Annita & David Anyanwu. 2009. A Situational Analysis of Gun Related Crime in the Caribbean: The Case of Trinidad & Tobago; Antigua & Barbuda; St. Vincent & the Grenadines and St. Lucia. Trinidad & Tobago: Coalition for Development and the Reduction of Armed Violence.

Swift, Richard. 2011. Gangs. Toronto: Groundwood Books, House of Anansi Press.

Trinidad & Tobago Guardian. 2009. Philbert fails crime test. April 18.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the Latin America and the Caribbean Region of the World Bank. 2007. Crime, Violence and Development: Trends, Costs and Policy Options in the Caribbean. UNODC Report No. 37820.

Overview O-9

Additional Resources

module I

Leadership Development

M1-1

1. What is leadership?A leader is one who leads or conducts, one who serves as a guide or point of reference. The leader must serve as a model to follow, as a guide and teacher, so that the group can accomplish its tasks.

Leadership is the effort to influence the behaviour of individuals or members of a group in order to accomplish particular organizational goals. Leadership has to be:

Gender-Inclusive: Ideally, men and women become partners in defining, working for, and achieving goals that benefit all.

Communicative: Everyone has something to contribute and every instance of contribution becomes an instance of leadership.

Purposeful: To define and elaborate a purpose is to engage in a learning process.

At the same time, it is engaging in exercising power.

Democratic and Egalitarian: In a communicative, participatory society, participants respect and value each other as whole human beings.

Means-Sensitive: “The ends do not justify the means” is a well known principleof ethical behaviour across the world. This principle means that ethical people do not use

unethical means to achieve goals, regardless of their importance or immediacy (Afkhami, et al 2001 p.34).

Learning Objectives

Main Objective:

To explore definitions of leadership and the characteristics of good leaders.

Expected Outcomes: Participants will be able to:

1. Share their perspectives on leadership.

2. Describe leadership and identify the relationship between leadership and management.

3. Identify the functions of a leader.

4. Examine styles of leadership and their impact on organizations.

5. Consider the qualities of a good leader.

Leadership Development

Building CapacityM1-2

OBJECT LESSON 1

Learning from the antsAn Ant Colony has a high degree of social organization. There is a Queen and there are workers who carry out different tasks. They work collectively to support the colony and have tasks similar to human tasks.

Livestock Farming: herd aphids and milk them for nectar-like foodCultivation: grow underground gardens for food

Child Care: feed young, and provide intensive nursery care

Education: teach younger ants the tricks of the trade

Climate Control: maintain a strict 77°F for developing ants

Career Specialisation: change and learn new careers

Civic Duties: respond with massive group projects

Armed Forces: raise an army of specialized soldier ants

Security: ward off other ants, insects and animals

Earth Movers: move at least as much soil as earthworms

Social Planning; maintain ratio of workers, soldiers and reproductives

Engineering tunnel: from two directions and meet exactly mid-way

Communications: complex tactile, chemical communication system

Flood Control: incorporate water traps to keep out rain

Watch ants move in a line. The leader slows down when the follower lags behind, speeds up when the follower gets too close!

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OBJECT LESSON 2

Learning from Anansi and other folk heroes/heroines “Anansi and Common Sense”Anansi the tricky Spider Man came up with a plan to gather all the common sense in the world, so that anyone who wanted common sense would have to come to him to buy.

So Anansi gathered all the common sense in the world and put it in a big “Bowlie”. Then he looked for a place to hide it.

Anansi chose a high high tree. He put the Big Bowlie of Common Sense on his Belly and began to climb the high high tree. It was difficult with this big Bowlie on his Belly. He climbed two steps and slipped back three.

As he was struggling, he heard a laugh, and looking down saw a small boy at the foot of the tree. The boy was laughing and pointing to Anansi.

The small boy said to his friends – “Look at that fool fool man! Imagine trying to climb the tree with a Bowlie on your belly! Put the Bowlie on your back!”

Anansi was shocked. Here he was thinking he had all the common sense in the world, and this small boy talk such a big junk of common sense!

Anansi was so shocked that he dropped the big big Bowlie! It was so heavy with common sense that when it hit the ground, it broke into pieces and all the common sense fly out!

That is why you and I have common sense today!

EVERYONE HAS COMMON SENSE.

Building CapacityM1-4

TRAINING ACTIVITY Brainstorming LeadershipTIME

OBJECTIVE To get participants views on leadership

MATERIALS FlipchartMarkers

INSTRUCTIONS

Discuss the following topics.

Write participants’ responses on newsprint as they speak, and then compare with the Facilitator’s Lists below which would have been already written beforehand on newsprint.

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QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. What is the difference between leadership and management?

2. What are the functions of a leader?

3. What are the characteristics of a leader?

Lead:Guide or conduct by showing the way.Direct and Govern.

Show the method of attaining an objective.Influence.

Go before and show the way.

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Manage:To handle.To have under control.Conduct, carry on, guide.To move or use in the desired manner.To be cautious and use good judgment with people.To be concerned with all aspects of the organization.

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• Policy Maker• Planner• Executive• Expert

• Group Representative• Controller• Giver of Rewards or

Punishment

• Organized• Respects the work of others• Promotes the interest of

subordinates• Knowledgeable • Understanding • Accessible • Guides • Genuine • Informed

• Fearless• Induces a feeling of satisfaction• People oriented • Predictable • Honest and transparent• Provides opportunities • Willing to listen • Discreet • Has authority

Module One: Leadership Development M1-5

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

What type of leadership takes place in the ant colony?

What type of leader is Anansi?

What do you think of the small boy’s self-esteem?

What do you think of Anansi’s self-esteem?

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Brainstorming Leadership: Notes

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2. Leadership stylesPeople generally fall into two categories:

Those who want to lead and take responsibility, i.e., the leaders and managers;

Those who want to be directed, and do not want to take responsibility.

Leaders have been classified as follows:

Autocratic leaders who exclude subordinates from the process of decision-making. They assign work without consulting subordinates or knowing their inclinations or desires.

Democratic or participative leaders are effective and more productive because they consult subordinates on various matters, and include them in the process of decision-making. Tasks are assigned on the basis of interests and preferences of subordinates.

Laissez-faire leaders have little or no self-confidence in their leadership ability, do not set goals for the group, and do not enhance group inter action and communication. In fact, the laissez-faire types of leader do little supervision. Consequently, the group has to make many on-the-job decisions.

2.1 Theory ‘x’ of leadershipAssumptions:

Man is inherently lazy, dislikes work, and avoids it whenever possible.

As a result, leaders must use strong measures to control the behaviour of subordinates, so that they work toward organizational goals.

Most human beings are incapable of self-direction and control. They prefer to respond to orders rather than to accept responsibility for their own actions.

Here management assumes complete responsibility for organizing, planning, important decision-making, directing and motivating people. Employees are not trusted with important decisions.

2.2 Theory ‘y’Assumptions:

Work can be enjoyable.

People will work hard and assume responsibility if they have the opportunity to satisfy their personal needs, while simultaneously achieving organizational goals.

People have a great deal more ability and potential for imagination and creativity than credit is given to them.

Given proper conditions, individuals want to do a good job and will work hard to do so.

Performance of an individual is actually based on internal rather than on external controls.

Management trusts employees and delegates important decisions to lower levels. It fosters an environment conducive to the growth of both organization and subordinate. This makes work inherently satisfying and invokes participation.

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The team type of leadership style influences group members into a vibrant effective, problem solving and decision-making team, which is essential for organizational effectiveness. This is the most effective style of leadership, since it has concern for both production and people.

HOW TO BE TRUE TO YOURSELF

Keeping your integrity means walking a straight lineby

Denis Waitley

My grandparents believed you were either honest or you were not. There was no in between. They had a simple motto hanging on their living room wall: “Life is like a field of newly fallen snow; where I choose to walk every step will show.”

They understood instinctively that integrity means having a personal standard of morality and ethics that does not sell out to expediency. Integrity is an inner standard for judging your behaviour. Unfortunately, integrity is in short supply today—and getting scarcer. But it is the real bottom line in every area of society. And it is something we must demand of ourselves.

A good test is to look at what I call the Integrity Triad, which consists of three key principles:

Stand firmly for your convictions in the face of personal pressure. There’s a story told about a surgical nurse’s first day on the medical team at a hospital. She was responsible for ensuring that all instruments and materials were accounted for during an abdominal operation. The nurse said to the surgeon, “You’ve only removed 11 sponges and we used 12. We need to find the last one.”

“I removed them all, the doctor declared. “We’ll close now.”

“You can’t do that, sir,” objected the nurse. “Think of the patient.”

Smiling, the surgeon lifted his foot and showed the nurse the lost sponge. “You’ll do just fine in this or any other hospital,” he told her.

When you know you’re right you can’t back down.

Always give others credit that is rightfully theirs. Don’t be afraid of those who have a better idea or who might even be brighter than you are.

David Ogilvy, founder of advertising firm Ogilvy & Mather, made this point to his managers by sending each a Russian doll with five progressively smaller figures inside.

His message was contained in the smallest doll: “If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we will become a company of giants.” And that is precisely what the company became—one of the largest advertising organizations in the world.

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Source: Waitley, Dennis. 2006. How to be True to Yourself. http://uoachicago.org/TheNewOutlookMay2006.htm.

Be honest and open about who you really are. People who lack genuine core values rely on external factors—their looks or status—in order to feel good about themselves.

Inevitably they will do everything they can to preserve this façade, but they will do very little to develop their inner value and personal growth.

So be yourself. Don’t engage in a cover-up of areas that are unpleasing in your life. Be adult in your responsibilities to life’s challenges and face reality.

Self-respect and a clear conscience are powerful components of integrity and are the basis for enriching your relationships with others.

INTEGRITY means you do what you do because it’s right and not just fashionable or politically correct. A life of principle, of not succumbing to the sirens of an easy morality, will always win the day. It will take you forward without having to check your tracks in a rear-view mirror.

THE TOP 10 LEADERSHIP QUALITIES

by

David Hakala

Leadership can be defined as one’s ability to get others to willingly follow. Every organization needs leaders at every level. Leaders can be found and nurtured if you look for the following character traits.

A leader with vision has a clear, vivid picture of where to go, as well as a firm grasp on what success looks like and how to achieve it. But it is not enough to have a vision; leaders must also share it and act upon it. Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO of General Electric Co., said, “Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.”

A leader must be able to communicate his or her vision in terms that cause followers to buy into it. He or she must communicate clearly and passionately, as passion is contagious.

A good leader must have the discipline to work towards his or her vision single-mindedly, as well as to direct his or her actions and those of the team towards the goal. Action is the mark of a leader. A leader does not suffer “analysis paralysis” but is always doing something in pursuit of the vision, inspiring others to do the same.

Integrity is the integration of outward actions and inner values. A person of integrity is the same on the outside and on the inside. Such an individual can be trusted because he or she never veers from inner values, even when it might be expeditious to do so. A leader must have the trust of followers and therefore must display integrity.

Module One: Leadership Development M1-9

Honest dealings, predictable reactions, well-controlled emotions, and an absence of tantrums and harsh outbursts are all signs of integrity. A leader who is centreed in integrity will be more approachable by followers.

Dedication means spending whatever time or energy is necessary to accomplish the task at hand. A leader inspires dedication by example, doing whatever it takes to complete the next step towards the vision. By setting an excellent example, leaders can show followers that there are no nine-to-five jobs on the team, only opportunities to achieve something great.

Magnanimity means giving credit where it is due. A magnanimous leader ensues that credit for successes is spread as widely as possible throughout the company. Conversely, a good leader takes personal responsibility for failures. This sort of reverse magnanimity helps other people feel good about them and draws the team closer together. To spread the fame and take the blame is a hallmark of effective leadership.

Leaders with humility recognize that they are no better or worse than other members of the team. A humble leader is not self-effacing, but rather tries to elevate everyone. Leaders with humility also understand that their status does not make them a god. Mahatma Gandhi is a role model for Indian leaders, and he pursued a “follower-centric” leadership role.

Openness means being able to listen to new ideas, even if they do not conform to the usual way of thinking. Good leaders are able to suspend judgment while listening to others’ ideas, as well as accept new ways of doing things that someone else thought of. Openness builds mutual respect and trust between leaders and followers, and it also keeps the team well supplied with new ideas that can further its vision.

Creativity is the ability to think differently, to get outside of the box that constrains solutions. Creativity gives leaders the ability to see things that others have not seen and thus lead followers in new directions. The most important question that a leader can ask is, “What if…?” Possibly the worst thing a leader can say is, “I know this is a dumb question….”

Fairness means dealing with others consistently and justly. A leader must check all the facts and hear everyone out before passing judgment. He or she must avoid leaping to conclusions based on incomplete evidence. When people feel that they are being treated fairly, they reward a leader with loyalty and dedication.

Assertiveness is not the same as aggressiveness. Rather, it is the ability to clearly state what one expects so that there will be no misunderstandings. A leader must be assertive to get the desired results. Along with assertiveness comes the responsibility to clearly understand what followers expect from their leader.

Many leaders have difficulty striking the right amount of assertiveness, according to a study in the February 2007 issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, published by the APA (American Psychological Association). It seems that being under-assertive or over-assertive may be the most common weakness among aspiring leaders.

A sense of humour is vital to relieve tension and boredom, as well as to defuse hostility. Effective leaders know how to use humour to energize followers. Humour is a form of power

Building CapacityM1-10

that provides some control over the work environment. And simply put, humour fosters good camaraderie.

Intrinsic traits such as intelligence, good looks, height and so on are not necessary to become a leader. Anyone can cultivate the proper leadership traits.

Source:

Hakala, David. 2009. The top 10 leadership qualities. Focus.com, May 26. http://www.focus.com/briefs/human-

resources/top-10-leadership-qualities/

To sum up, the basic objective of leaders is to ensure that the group accomplishes its goals. Leaders’ functions depend on the group being led, with actions adjusted to different situations. Therefore, they have to:

develop a feeling of mutual interest among the group members;

provide cooperation and effective communication to ensure maximum efficiency of the group;

foster a feeling of team spirit among the group members; and

manage strife and dissension efficiently and constructively.

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Module One: Leadership Development M1-11

Training Exercise Notes

module II

Building & Retaining Membership

M2-1

Building & Retaining Membership

1. What is a group? What is a team?“… must be a team player.” Roger Cartwright, British author and consultant, comments that “it seems as though nearly every time one looks at a job advertisement, teamwork appears as part of the job requirement.” He adds that “the ability to work as an effective member of a team is very important in the modern world of work” (Cartwright 2002).

So what exactly is a team? What is the difference between a group and a team? And why are teams so important in the modern world? How can teams effectively achieve their purpose? Let’s begin our search for answers by first learning what a group is, and what a ‘team’ is.

Cartwright (2002) makes the following distinction:

“A group…is a collection of individuals operating within the constraints of mutually accepted rules and values who perceive that…they are clearly distinct from other collections of individuals.…” For a collection of people to be defined as a group, the members must:

Interact with one another;Be socially attracted to each other;Share goals or objectives; andHave a shared identity which distinguishes them from other groups.

A team on the other hand “is a small group engaged upon a specific task for which group members have a clearly defined role.…”

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Learning Objectives

Main Objective:

To get the participants to understand team dynamics

so that they would be able to maximize the value of a team.

Expected Outcomes:

Participants will be able to:

1. Define what is a team.2. Understand the purpose(s) of teams.

3. Know the stages of Group/Team Development.4. Identify advantages and disadvantages of working in teams/groups.

5. Know the some key elements in leading effective teams.6. Know how to effectively approach problem solving.

Building CapacityM2-2

Barbee (2009) makes this distinction: “A group in itself does not necessarily constitute a team. Teams normally have members with complementary skills and generate synergy through a coordinated effort which allows each member to maximize his or her strengths and minimize his or her weaknesses.… Teams are especially appropriate for conducting tasks that are high in complexity and have many interdependent subtasks.”

2. Stages of group development People exhibit some characteristic behaviour patterns in groups. Given the diverse, yet common occurrence of groups, what is the nature and pattern of such group experiences? The social dynamics which occur within groups over time vary from group to group, but also illustrate some commonalities.

Groups change over time. Bruce Tuckman (1965) developed a model of group development to describe the evolving experience and organization groups. The stages are:

1. Forming: The group comes together and gets to initially know one another and form as a group.

2.Storming: A chaotic vying for leadership and trialing of group processes, there is heightened tension associated with competition for status and influence.

3. Norming: Eventually agreement is reached on how the group operates.

4. Performing: The group practises its craft and becomes effective in meeting its objectives.

5. Dorming: Cartwright has added this as a stage some groups go through where performance plateaus either after it has reached full potential or has stalled in its growth.

6. Re-forming: Some groups that ‘dormed’ can, after making some changes, actually be re-formed.

Tuckman added a final stage 10 years later:

7. Adjourning: The process of “unforming” the group, that is, completing the task and letting go of the group structure and moving on.

3. Team or no team?The Weakest Link (often simply called Weakest Link) is a popular television quiz show that first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000.

The original format featured a team of nine contestants who take turns answering general knowledge questions. The object of each round is to create a chain of consecutive correct answers to earn an increasing amount for a single communal pot within a certain time limit. Just one incorrect answer wipes out any money earned in that chain. However, before their question is asked, a contestant can say “BANK” and the money earned thus far is safely stored and a new chain is initiated from scratch.

Module Two: Building and Retaining Membership M2-3

Banking money is the safe option, however, not banking, in anticipation that one will be able to correctly answer the upcoming question, allows the money to grow as each successive correct answer earns proportionally more money.

When the allotted time for each round ends, any money not banked is lost, and if the host is in the middle of asking a question, or has asked a question but the contestant has yet to answer, the question is abandoned (and on certain versions, gives the correct answer whether or not the contestant is able to answer the question correctly). The round automatically ends if the team successfully reaches the maximum amount for the round before the allotted time expires, and the next person says, “Bank”.

At the end of each round, contestants must vote one player out of the game. While the contestants work as a team, they are encouraged at this point to be ruthless to each other. Voting presents somewhat of a tactical challenge for canny players seeking to maximize their chances of winning, and maximizing the payoffs if they do. Voting off weaker players is likely to increase the payoff for the winner, but stronger players may be more difficult to beat in a playoff. After the revealing of the votes, the host will interrogate the players on their choice of voting, and the player with the most votes takes the ‘Walk of Shame’.

This goes on until two players remain for a head-to-head round where the contestant with most correct answers at the end of the Head to Head wins the game.

Although this group of contestants was referred to throughout the show as ‘Team’, a team in fact, was the last thing that they were. Although they would discuss strategy between rounds, and certainly had a common objective, the fact that they voted members off (sometimes the strongest link, who was thought to be a threat), is not the behaviour of a team working together to achieve a specific goal.

The group in this case might be described as a ‘pseudo-team’ – exhibiting some of the attributes of a team but driven by individual agendas.

It is important to realize that group dynamics take place regardless of group size and, ultimately, it is the dynamics rather than the actual number in a group which is most likely to affect psycho-social outcomes.

4. Why join a team?

Teamwork Snip My supervisor told me that teamwork depends on the performance

of every single member on the team. I had trouble understanding it until my supervisor showed me how the office typewriter performs when just one key

is out of order. All the other keys on our typewriter work just fine except one, but that one destroys the effectiveness of the typewriter. Now I know that even though I am only one person, I am needed if the team is to work

as a successful team should.

Building CapacityM2-4

More often than not, being a member of a team calls for some measure of sacrifice of some measure of individuality. There must therefore be good reasons for persons to want to join with others. Below are some advantages and disadvantages of team work.

Advantages of team work:Team members have the opportunity to learn from each other.Potential exists for greater work force flexibility with cross-training.Synergy, an opportunity provided for synergistic combinations of ideas and abilities.New approaches to tasks may be discovered.Communication and information exchange may be facilitated and increased.Teams can foster greater cooperation among team members.Interdependent work flow can be enhanced.Potential exists for greater acceptance and understanding of team-made decisions.Greater autonomy, variety, identity, significance, and feedback for workers can occur. Team commitment may stimulate performance and attendance. Support from team members both for task at hand and external events.High-risk goals are easier to achieve in a team than by individuals.

Disadvantages of working in a team: Some individuals are not compatible with team work.Workers must be selected to fit the team as well as requisite task skills. Some members may experience less motivating jobs as part of a team. Conflict may develop between team members or other teams.Teams may be time-consuming due to need for coordination and consensus.Teams can stymie creativity and inhibit good decision-making if “group think” becomes prevalent.Evaluation and rewards may be perceived as less powerful.

“Free-riding” within the team may occur.Less flexibility may be experienced in personnel replacement or transfer.Risky decisions gone bad affect the entire team.A longstanding successful team can perceive itself to be invulnerable.

5. key elements in leading effective teams There are a number of elements that help to create a team. Teams learn and demonstrate behaviours that represent the essential elements of an effective team. A team will not normally form by itself; rather there is almost always someone who is the catalyst for bringing the team together. This someone is the leader.

While teams may be made of individual leaders, one person must critically assume leadership responsibility of the specific team. The leader is responsible for moving the other members of the team in the direction of the goals/objectives, which are clearly fixed in that leader’s mind as a vision. Below are some factors for the leader to consider.

5.1 Keep goals and objectives relevant and meaningful Start by initially looking for a quick problem to be solved. Most teams trace their advancement

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Module Two: Building and Retaining Membership M2-5

TRAINING ACTIVITY Helium Stick

TIME

25 minutes~5 minutes briefing and set up ~10-15 minutes of active problem-solving (until success) ~10 minutes discussion

OBJECTIVE To learn how to work together and communicate in small to medium groups (8 to 12 is ideal but may be done with 6 to 14)

MATERIALS 10 foot light-weight pole

INSTRUCTIONSForm two lines facing each other.Introduce the Helium Stick─any long, thin, lightweight rod.Ask participants to point their index fingers and hold their arms out.Lay the Helium stick on the group’s index fingers. Get the group to adjust their finger heights until the Helium Stick is horizontal and everyone’s index fingers are touching the stick.Explain that the challenge is to lower the Helium Stick to the ground.The catch: Each person’s fingers must be in contact with the Helium Stick at all times. Pinching or grabbing the pole in not allowed─it must rest on top of fingers.Reiterate to the group that if anyone’s finger is caught not touching the Helium Stick, the task will be restarted. Let the task begin.... Warning: Particularly in the early stages, the Helium Stick has a habit of mysteriously ‘floating’ up rather than coming down, causing much laughter. A bit of clever humoring can help─e.g., act surprised and ask what are they doing raising the Helium Stick instead of lowering it! For added drama, jump up and pull it down! Participants may be confused initially about the paradoxical behaviour of the Helium Stick.The facilitator can offer direct suggestions or suggest the group stops the task, discusses their strategy, and then has another go.

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HOW DOES IT WORK?

The stick does not contain helium. The secret (keep it to yourself) is that the collective upwards pressure created by everyone’s fingers tends to be greater than the weight of the stick. As a result, the more a group tries, the more the stick tends to ‘float’ upwards.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

How difficult was the task? How did the group eventually achieve its desired goal? What roles did people play? Did anyone assume leadership of the group? Why did the others follow?

Source: http://wilderdom.com/games/descriptions/HeliumStick.html

Building CapacityM2-6

Helium Stick: Notes

Module Two: Building and Retaining Membership M2-7

to key performance-oriented events that forged them together. Potential teams can set such events in motion by immediately establishing a few challenging, yet achievable goals.

Although your team might have a number of goals, one of them must stand out. Everyone must know, agree upon, and be committed to accomplishing the team goal.

The team’s objectives derive from its goals. The objectives are a breakdown of the team’s goal. These objectives must be SMART, or according to Cartwight (2002), C-SMART:

Customer (or constituency) focusedSpecificMeasurableAgreedRealisticTimely (refer to specific timelines or deadlines).

For example, an objective may be“to reduce the rate of juvenile delinquency in St. Vincent and the Grenadines by 25 per cent within three years.”

All teams must shape their own common purpose, goals and approach. While a leader must be a working member of the team who contributes, he/she also stands apart from the team by virtue of his/her position as leader. A team expects their leader to use that perspective and distance to help them clarify and commit to their mission, goals, and approach. Do not be afraid to get your hands dirty (lead by example), but always remember what you are supposed to do (get the job done and grow your organization).

5.2 Develop a sense of urgencyTeam members need to believe the team has an urgent and worthwhile purpose. Establishing a sense of urgency and direction will help them know what their expectations are. The more urgent and meaningful the need to reach a goal, the more likely it is that a real team will start to emerge. The best teams define their performance expectations, but are flexible enough to allow changes to shape their own purpose, goals, and approach.

5.3 Build commitment and confidenceWork to build the commitment and confidence level of each individual and the team as a whole so they can productively participate in the team. Effective team leaders are vigilant about skills. Their goal is to have members with technical, functional, problem-solving, decision-making, interpersonal, and teamwork skills. To get there, encourage them to take the risks needed for growth and development. You can also challenge them by shifting their assignments and role patterns. Get them out of their comfort zone and into the learning zone, but not so far that they go into the fear zone.

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NE

FEAR ZON

LE

ARNING ZO

COMFORTZONE

Building CapacityM2-8

Staying in our comfort zone makes change and learning difficult as we have nothing pushing or pulling us (motivation). However, if we go too far out of our comfort zone, we enter the fear zone where no learning takes place because of the extreme discomfort. When we enter the learning zone, we become slightly uncomfortable as we are slightly out of place; therefore we change in order to fit in.

5.4 Set clear rules of behaviourTeams develop rules of conduct to help them achieve their purpose and performance goals. Some rules you might want to consider:

attendance−no interruptions to take phone calls discussion−no sacred cows confidentiality−personal revelations must remain among the team analytic approach−facts are friendly constructive confrontation−no finger pointing the most important−everyone does real work.

5.5 Keep them informedChallenge your team with fresh facts and information. New information causes a potential team to redefine and enrich its understanding of the objectives, thereby helping the team to set clearer goals.

5.6 Create opportunities for others One of the challenges is providing performance opportunities, assignments, and credit to the team and the people within it. You cannot grab all the best opportunities; you must share it with your team. This will help you to fulfil one of your primary responsibilities as a leader

−growing the team.

5.7 Grow togetherTeams must spend a lot of time together (bonding), especially in the beginning. Yet potential teams often fail to do so. The time spent together must be both scheduled and unscheduled. Creative insights as well as personal bonding require impromptu and casual interactions.

5.8 Reinforcement works ondersExploit the power of positive feedback, recognition, and reward. Positive reinforcement works as well in a team context as elsewhere. For example, being alert to a shy person’s initial efforts to speak up allows you to encourage continued contributions.

5.9 Manage relationships with outsidersTeam leaders are expected by people outside of the team, as well as the members within, to manage much of the team’s contacts and relationships with the rest of the organization. You must communicate effectively the team’s purpose, goals, and approach to anyone who might help or hinder it. In addition, you need the courage to intercede on the team’s behalf when obstacles that might cripple or demoralize the team get placed in their way.

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Module Two: Building and Retaining Membership M2-9

5.10 Create a vision A vision is the most important aspect of making a team successful. Teams perish when they don’t clearly see the vision−why they are doing what they do and where they are going. You must motivate the team toward the fulfilment of the goals. Workers want to be successful and they know the only way to do that is by following and achieving great goals.

6. Common problems in building teams Leaders select too many members in their own image. As a result, teams become unbalanced with too many people overlapping in the same areas, while there are skill gaps in other areas.

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Step 1 Define the goal. A team needs to know what to focus on. You can lay out the basic goal, “reduce the incidence of crime in the community,” for

example, but it is important to let the team define and expand the goal.

Step 2 Not only must the “what” be solved, but also the “why.” The team should identify what’s in it for both the organization and the team.

This is best accomplished by asking, “What is the benefit?” In addition, creating a specific target that builds enthusiasm helps to make the

objective appealing.

Step 3 Define the obstacles that will prevent the team from achieving what it wants. Focus on internal obstacles, not on the external environment. It becomes too easy to say, “We can’t do anything about it.” Internal

factors are within their reach.

Step 4 The team now plans its actions or objectives. Lay out four or five concrete steps, and write them down. Not “we’ll try” actions, such as “We’ll try to make public spaces safer.”. Rather, you want actions that

can be tracked and monitored. You cannot measure a “try” action. You want observable behaviours, such as “We will install street lighting in park areas” or “Large shrubs that obstruct the view will be removed.”

Step 5 Formulate actions to address.

Step 6 Take action now! This is the most critical step. It is what differentiates an effective team from a group. Groups have lots of meetings before, if ever, taking action−teams get it done! Get commitment from individual

team members to take action on specific items.

STEPS TO TEAM PROBLEM SOLVING

Building CapacityM2-10

Leaders do not understand their own strengths, abilities, and preferences. Individuals in unbalanced teams feel their talents and abilities are not being used. Leaders feel they do not know how to motivate people. This is because they do not know them and their individual needs. Team members feel that the team does not work smoothly. They believe individual work preferences conflict rather than complement each other. It’s time to do some rebuilding if you are facing any of the following problems:

Loss of productivity or outputComplaintsConflicts between personnelLack of clear goalsConfusion about assignmentsLack of innovation or risk takingIneffective meetingsLack of initiativePoor communicationLack of trustEmployees feel that their work is not recognizedDecisions are made that people do not understand or agree with.

Beware!!!

7. Recruiting membersRecruiting new members to an organization should be done on an ongoing basis. The reason for this is that volunteers cannot be expected to join an organization for life. Therefore, as the time comes for people and the organization to part ways, new members need to be attracted to fill their places. The organization should be clear on its expectations of new members when it goes out to recruit.

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hOLDING A RECRuITMENT DRIVE1. Hold a meeting to identify the purpose of recruiting.

2. With the need in mind, brainstorm who the recruits should be.3. List places where they can be found.

4. Come up with ways to attract their attention.5. Aim for an average number of new members.

6. Set a deadline by which the activity/activities should take place.7. Make sure that once new members are recruited, there will be enough to

keep them occupied.8. Do an evaluation of the recruiting drive and revise if necessary, so that the

next one is even more productive than the previous one.9. Provide ongoing training to deal with issues of conflict, anger management,

and Stress Management.

DO NOT MAKE PROMISES THAT CANNOT BE KEPT!!

Module Two: Building and Retaining Membership M2-11

This will reduce the chances of losing people who have a genuine interest in wanting to belong to an organization that has similar interests to their personal ones. Well organized recruiting drives designed to bring current and prospective members together in an informal setting of sharing should be held.

Sources

Cartwright, Roger. 2002. Mastering Team Leadership. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Davis, Barbee. 2009. 97 Things Every Project Manager Should Know: Collective Wisdom from the Experts. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly

Media, Inc.

Tuckman, Bruce 1965. Developmental sequence in small groups. Psychological Bulletin 63 (6): 384–99.

module III

Communications

M3-1

Communications

Learning Objectives

Main Objective:

To become familiar with the basic principles of effective communication.

Expected Outcomes:

Participants will be able to:

1. Distinguish among different types of communication.2. Become aware of the factors that interfere with communication.

3. Learn the essential elements of effective oral communication.

1. What is communication? 1

Effective communication skills are vital in any organization. Communication involves:

sending information, transferring understanding or meaning.

conveying or discerning the significance of language.

a process which includes content, form and destination.

Figure M3-1 Communication Process

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Message

Medium

Interpretation

Feedback

The means or instrument for communicating information.

The core of communicationtransmitted by words, signals, etc.

from one person or group to another.

Occurs when one hasmental idea or image of thesignificance of the message.

Returning information about the results, through a response, reply or answer.

1. Material presented in this section is drawn from a presentation by Luke George Cooke at the CDRAV Capacity Building

Workshop February 26, 2011 in Kingston, Jamaica. The material was prepared by Andre McCarthy, Capacity Development

Coordinator, Social Development Commission Government of Jamaica.

Building CapacityM3-2

2. Types of communicationThere are different types of communication among humans. Here we discuss three types: verbal, non-verbal and written communications.

Verbal communication involve conveying information using words, usually in a face-to-face situation. The sender translates his/her thoughts into words in a language understood by the receiver. In speaking, the words used should mean what the sender intends to say. Words have different meanings according to context and culture so meaning has to be clarified. It is important to keep the communication simple and clear and to say exactly what we mean and keep conversation focused. In short, communication needs to get to the point. The sender has to be concise without being boring.

Non-verbal communication involves physical ways of communication like body motion, touch, and tone of voice. Meaning is influenced by non-verbal cues that individuals give. For example:

visual, such as body language, facial expression, eye movement, posture, and gesture.tactile, such as touching as in a handshake, a pat on the back, or hugs.vocal, such as altering the meaning of words by changing the tone of one’s voice.

Written communication is writing the words that you want to communicate. This can be done in various ways such as e-mails, memos, articles, and reports. To communicate effectively in writing, one must:

think of the reader and use tone and content appropriately.structure words in sequence, moving from beginning through the middle to the end.include key information and be factual.use short messages that are easily understood by the receiver.

3. Barriers to communicationThe activity below indicates certain barriers to communication:

language—the process of knowing and being known through the use of words. We need to be clear on what we want to tell our peers.

anxieties—more often than not, what prevents us from communicating effectively is either our anxieties about the people we are about to meet, or about the subject matter we have to discuss.

defensiveness—all of us function with certain well-established defences in the interest of our personal and professional well-being. Part of our communication is also the ability to listen to and understand the other. Self- justification, projection, prejudice, compulsive talking prevent us from listening and understanding the people with whom we work.

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Module Three: Communications M3-3

TRAINING ACTIVITY Rumour ClinicTIME One hour

OBJECTIVETo see how misunderstanding can arise in communicating with othersTo learn to avoid misunderstanding and to communicate more effectively

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MATERIALSFlip ChartsMarkers

INSTRUCTIONSDivide participants into groups of five members each. Assign each participant in the group a number and have each sit in sequence about a metre away from the person next to him/her. Each group should be a distance away from the other groups.Have participant #1 in each group leave the group and gather in one corner.The Facilitator joins the number 1s and explains the scenario, then reads the message to them twice (please see message below). They are not allowed to question the facilitator. They are not allowed to write notes.All participants #1 rejoin their respective groups. Each relays the message in a whisper to No. 2. No. 2 whispers the message to No. 3, and so on.The last person to receive the message (No. 5) in each group writes it down and reads it out.The facilitator reads out the entire original message.

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THE SCENARIO AND MESSAGE

The scenario and message below are samples. Facilitators are encouraged to come up with their own messages.

The Scenario: An eviction notice was served to a community living in a slum area. A petition letter was written by members of the community and Navin was asked to deliver it to the Mayor’s Office.

The Message: “When Navin arrived at the Mayor’s office, he was approached by the guard who told him that he needed to go to the 4th floor of the building where the Mayor’s office was. Upon arrival at the 4th floor, the secretary said that the person to see was the Mayor’s personal secretary who had his office on the 9th floor.. When he got to the 9th floor, he was told that the secretary was having a meeting on the 2nd floor, but was told to wait. One hour later, the Mayor’s personal secretary returned, and Navin was informed that this matter did not fall under his jurisdiction, and was sent to see the secretary in charge of land acquisition on the 7th floor. Upon meeting with the secretary-in-charge, Navin was told that he needed to fill in a form to accompany the petition letter. That form could only at the Mayor’s Office on the 4th floor and the form required the signature of the Mayor.”

Building CapacityM3-4

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

What has been transmitted accurately and what has been distorted?

How did you feel throughout the activity, especially when the message was being relayed to you?

What made it easy for you to carry the message?

What made it difficult?

Rumour Clinic: Notes

Module Three: Communications M3-5

Listening, the active ability to receive, attend to and assign meaning to both verbal and non-verbal stimulus, is critical in effective communication. We listen in order to understand. Listening prevents the receiver from missing an important word in the message, and the sender from misunderstanding the feedback. Listening is not a passive task but an active one. Errors in communication take place because some hear but do not listen. We can hear whatever is spoken, but we listen only to what we want.

Careful listening implies trying to relate to the other in as personal a way as possible. There is a need to see the message from the speaker’s point of view and to try to understand his/her background and mentality.

Listening can take another form. One of the biggest forms of oppression is that the poor are never listened to. How well people, especially the marginalized, are listened to, and how well that listening is translated into action is an issue for governance, and relates to incidents of violence in communities. Listening in this situation needs to lead to understanding the conditions of the poor, and not speaking on behalf of the poor. If we were to listen to the poor, we would be taking the first step to helping them break out of their culture of silence.

Our communication style needs to seek to understand and to be

understood.

module IV

Practical Reflections on Gender

M4-1

1. understanding gender“GENDER” is often confused with “SEX.” The words are related, but they have different meanings. We are born female or male. This is our biological sex. “Sex” refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women. This usually does not change. We learn to be masculine and feminine. This is our gender. “Gender” refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women. (World Health Organization 2011). Aspects of sex do not vary substantially across different societies, but aspects of gender may vary greatly.

We take on our gender roles based on what we learn to be appropriate for a woman or man. Gender roles are determined by our society and culture, which influence:

how we think women and men should behave;

the activities we consider appropriate or inappropriate for women and men;

how we think women and men should relate.

These ideas about gender, femininity and masculinity can change over time. Nowadays women can drive trucks and be corporate executives – our grandmothers could not. Men can choose to be stay-at-home dads while their wives work – our grandfathers would not.

Gender Socialization starts early….

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Practical Reflections on Gender

Learning Objectives

Main Objective:

To reflect on the significance of gender and sex.

Expected Outcomes:

Participants will be able to:

1. Understand the difference between “sex” and “gender.”

2. Learn the different forms of gender-based violence.

Building CapacityM4-2

Society influences how we raise our children. Learning our gendered roles begins in childhood; this is a process called gender socialization. What are we teaching our

girls, when we give them dolls as toys? To be nurturing and responsible.

boys, when we give them cars, trucks and guns? To be independently mobile and aggressive.

Don’t boys also need to learn to be caring and responsible? Should girls not learn to be independent?

What toys can we give to teach these qualities?

Gender roles are learned through interaction with people in our

family, where our earliest ideas are formed;

school, as girls or boys, we may be encouraged to behave and to learn differently;

church, where we learn morals and values that differ for women and men;

media, which influences our thinking about what it takes to become an ‘ideal’ woman or man;

community and workplace, where friends and role models validate our ideas of what it means to be masculine or feminine.

A given society’s cultural traditions often determine what behaviours are considered appropriate for women and men. Peer pressure also often influences our gender behaviours.

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TRAINING ACTIVITY Gender RolesTIME 20-30 minutes

OBJECTIVETo identify different gender roles and how these are influenced by institutions in the society (e.g. family, school, etc.)

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MATERIALSFlip ChartsMarkers

INSTRUCTIONSDivide participants into small groups Have each group list roles that are seen to be traditionally male or female on the flip chart

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QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

How do family, church, school, media and community reinforce these roles?

Module Four: Practical Reflections on Gender M4-3

Gender Roles: Notes

Building CapacityM4-4

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

“HE VS. YOU” *

He records everything

Never praises the good

But delights in throwing

The ‘bad’ in your face

He is beyond reproach

You are the Schemer,

Liar, Deceiver, Thief

He is the epitome

Of a good husband

You are the lowest level

Of a despicable wife

Does not carry out

Wifely duties of

Sweeping, Cooking,

Washing, Mending, Talking

Listening, Agreeing

That is, when he tells you to!

He is perfectly groomed

You are shoddy

Old-fashioned

Without glitter

No geri-curl, make up,

Bare-armed dress

or bikini

How dare you dress

as if you are thirty two?

He is well rested

You are ‘workaholic’

Rushed, Nervous, Sleepy

With disgusting

Belch

He has money

To meet his needs

Module Four: Practical Reflections on Gender M4-5

You are

Hand-to-Mouth

Catching up

On Debts

Can’t buy Food

Much less Suits

He is Bored

Fed Up

Great Expectations

Unfulfilled

And Moving On

You are left behind

Battered!

by Nelcia Robinson

* This poem was used in the Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines workshops.

2. What is gender-based violence?Gender-based violence is any act directed at someone because of their sex and gender, which results in physical, sexual, and/or psychological harm or suffering, whether occurring in public or in private life. Gender-based violence is predominantly inflicted by men on women and girls, but men and boys can also be victims. It is recognized by the international community as a violation of human rights, rooted in women’s subordinate status.

Gender-based violence includes sexual and psychological forms of abuse such as:

rape (forced or unwanted sex),

incest and carnal abuse.

domestic violence and spousal abuse,

sexual harassment,

forced prostitution (and trafficking), and

threats of carrying out the above sexual violence.

Gender-based violence also includes harmful practices, such as female genital mutilation/cutting and extreme manifestations of the low social value placed on girls such as prenatal sex selection and female infanticide.

The abuse of gender power such as depriving a woman of having friends, restricting a woman’s movement, and preventing a woman from having her own life choices can lead to gender-based violence. Whether the victim is female or male, violence is mostly initiated by males. Men who are violent are often motivated by their need to enforce male power through dominance, control, coercion and fear.

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Worldwide, an estimated one in five

women will be a victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime.

UN Millennium Project. 2005

Building CapacityM4-6

Sources

Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action. 2009. Caribbean Training Manual on Domestic Violence Intervention: A

two-day Training Program for Police and other Front-line Professionals.

UN Millennium Project. 2005. Taking Action: Achieving Gender Equality and Empowering Women. Task Force on

Education and Gender Equality. London and Sterling, Virginia: Earthscan.

World Health Organization. 2011. What do we mean by “sex” and “gender”? http://www.who.int/gender/whatisgender/en/

Discuss the poem and share incidents of domestic violence that you know about.

Domestic violence is a crime, requiring appropriate police response. It is also a violation of human rights.

To appreciate why domestic violence is a crime, one needs to understand why it is perpetrated, and how it is experienced. A realization of the true nature of the crime and of the victims’ needs helps us to develop sensitive and appropriate responses.

Our attitudes, values, expectations, and behaviour are shaped both by our culture and society. Cultural and social norms, which promote violence, need to undergo fundamental change if we are to reduce and eventually eliminate domestic violence. Extensive research and experience in the field of spousal abuse reveal that a deeper understanding of the victims’ experience will move society toward positive change. Listening to the victims enables us to mount an effective response to the crime of domestic violence.

“Any response to domestic violence requires a consistent, planned approach across all sections of the community and at all levels of government. Individuals and agencies that need to be involved include the survivors, medical personnel, public health agencies, child protective service agencies, the legal fraternity and the judiciary, as well as law enforcement and crisis centres” (UNIFEM Protocol of Cooperation between Crisis Centres and Police Departments, May 1999).

Such an approach is taken in the Caribbean Training Manual on Domestic Violence Intervention: A two-day Training Program for Police and other Front-line Professionals (Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action 2009).

Discussion Idea

Module Four: Practical Reflections on Gender M4-7

Discussion Idea: Notes

module V

Advocacy, Negotiation and Social Marketing

M5-1

1. Advocacy and lobbyingAdvocacy means to speak up and fight for a cause. It is a process in which persons, acting individually or in groups, strategically use information to influence opinions, policies and practices of those in positions of power or authority to achieve positive social change. For civil society organizations, advocacy involves speaking up for the mission of the organization and the people they serve. It can include a range of activities and methods such as face-to-face meetings, public speaking, media campaigns (print, radio, television and Internet), telephone calls, faxes, letters, presenting briefs to the legislature, and commissioning reports or research.

Why engage in advocacy? Development and emergency work alone are unlikely to produce sustained improvements in the lives of poor people if there are gross inequalities in power and wealth. Advocacy is linked to empowerment. There is a need for participative advocacy, a process wherein people, by articulating their own needs and desires, gain the confidence and ability to influence decisions that will affect their own future. For example, the high incidence of crime and violence demand decisions to bring about change to improve safety for citizens.

Advocacy is not the same as lobbying. Lobbying always involves advocacy but advocacy does not always involve lobbying. Lobbying is a specific form of advocacy in which targeted strategies are directed toward decision-makers, such as public officials or legislators, for the purpose of

Learning Objectives

Main Objective:

To explore basic concepts and tools of advocacy, negotiation, and social marketing.

Expected Outcomes:

Participants will be able to:

1. Understand the steps involved in the advocacy process.

2. Consider how to be persuasive when advocating or negotiating with others.

3. Be familiar with the use of some advocacy and negotiation tools.

4. Learn how to prepare a press release.

5. Learn how to prepare for a media interview.

Advocacy, Negotiation and Social Marketing

Advocacy is linked to empowerment.

Building CapacityM5-2

convincing the decision-maker to make a change to a policy over which he/she has decision-making power. Lobbying relies a lot on power, or the ability to have an effect. Knowing where your power lies will help you to confidently lobby, as will the preparation prior to getting your message across.

Lobbying is often undertaken with other forms of influencing such as media work, popular campaigning and networking. When these are employed simultaneously using the same message more impact is made on the decision-maker. This is known as the co-ordinated approach; each strand builds on the other.

Advocacy involves three phases: preparation, influencing, and monitoring and evaluation/impact assessment.

2. Preparing for advocacyIn developing advocacy strategies, clear goals and outcomes and logical steps to achieving them are a prerequisite at the outset. The preparation phase of advocacy involves the following steps:

identify aims, objectives and outcomes;

identify inputs (the resources you will be using), outputs (the activities you will be carrying out), outcomes (the impact you expect to achieve from each of your outputs), and indicators (the evidence you will collect to show that the outcome has been achieved); these elements make up your action plan;

conduct research;

identify and consult with allies/stakeholders;

plan;

identify resources (people, financial, and material);

clarify individual roles and responsibilities;

set timetables;

build relationships;

fine tune internal and external communication, and

produce materials.

In advocacy, timing is crucial. Too late, you might as well not bother. Know your timetable from the beginning. If you are trying to influence the outcome of a meeting it is no use to just attend the meeting, especially if your position is unknown to your target(s). Your timetable will have both

external and internal components. The external timetable is set by the events (e.g., meetings) or decisions that affect the cause that you are trying to influence. The internal timetable is what you or your group has to do and by when to have impact on the issue. A key question is do you have sufficient resources so that you can have an impact? If you do not have sufficient

time to complete all your preparation and begin influencing prior to a decision being made, reevaluate your work. It may be possible to adjust your work accordingly.

Advance preparation is best. Begin months before. Send documents with an attached sheet covering your key points, then arrange face-to-face meetings with contacts, follow up on this and then remind them of your discussions at the decision-making meeting. If you have a good relationship with the decision-maker it may be possible to reduce this slightly (see further discussion on relationship building in the next section). The more time you have the more influence you can have.

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Timing is crucial

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2.1. Relationship building and advocacyRelationship building is one of the key activities in the preparation phase of advocacy. Relationship building allows you easier access to decision-makers. Second, it builds up your reputation as an informed individual/group. And finally, it keeps constant pressure on the decision-maker. Decision-makers include anyone who can make a decision to change an issue that is of concern to you. It is worth considering not just current decision-makers but developing relationships with future decision-makers. This work is long-term, requiring persistence, professionalism and perspective. However, with these traits your advocacy work will become more effective, allowing you to target your message to the correct person, in the correct tone, with the correct information at the correct time.

This practice is not solely for decision-makers; it should be used for all contacts relevant to your cause: decision-makers and targets, allies, networks, and the media.

Building relationships with elected officials follows the same basic pattern, but you have added leverage. The officials are elected and therefore make promises, which you can try and ensure they keep. During an election campaign you can seek to get the candidate to sign up to a declaration or statement which contains your position and what needs to be done to resolve the issue. Following the election you can take the signed declaration or statement or take something from their election manifesto and thank them publicly for their support for this issue. If the issue is resolved, thank them again, and further develop the relationship. If the issue gets forgotten due to other priorities, gently remind them before you do anything publicly. It will not do a relationship any good if you publicly attack them, though sometimes it is the only way to achieve change. Just realise that if you do anything publicly the relationship you have built will likely be destroyed.

Buildng relationships with governments is crucial as it can give you far greater access to decision-makers. You will usually be able to develop at least one good relationship within a government. If your attempts to influence government policy fail, become more vocal in your disapproval, again giving reasons for your disagreement and providing an alternative way forward. Do remember, however, that as Saul Alinsky says in his Rules for Radicals ,“The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative,” so think carefully before launching any vocal campaign against the government.

TIPS: BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH GOVERNMENT

1. Do not begin your stand from an antagonistic position that can come later if necessary. This approach can have surprising results.

2. Acquire thorough knowledge of their policies, manifestos, interests, past actions. Encourage them to meet promises and provide them with information that backs up your position.

3. Keep in regular contact with them. Do not try to approach them all; go for quality, not quantity.

4. If they do something that is good, tell them. They don’t get much appreciation and this will build an impression of your being fair when you criticize them.

5. Always put forward a constructive alternative; this enables them to know that you can develop well-reasoned alternative trains of thought. Present your arguments in language they understand.

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Collecting information about your contacts is critical in building relationship. You need to build up a profile of the different stakeholders.

2.2. Knowing your targets To get to know your advocacy targets you need to collect information on them personally and professionally. Their contact details, their job title and work areas, their work and personal interests, their positions on issues that are important to you, any committees on which they serve, which clubs or associations they are members of, any pervious contact with them and their response etc. Be sure to update this data regularly as information, especially related to work, can quickly become out of date.

The purpose of collecting the information is to be able to better target your advocacy work. It allows you to send the relevant information to the correct people and know the level at which you need to pitch your meetings with decision-makers and other contacts. You also get to know with whom to raise which issues.

If you target documents correctly and pitch your meetings to your priorities with alternative solutions you will develop a professional image. As your relationship develops it will become more two-way, with the targeted contact asking your opinion.

Keep an ongoing record of your contact with decision-makers and other contacts. This does not have to be elaborate. It could just be a record of issues discussed, the response of the decision-maker, any documents disseminated, name of the main contact, and all follow-up actions. This will allow you to:

build on your previous discussions;

follow up on the agreed actions;

avoid duplication in the dissemination of documents;

know when to make contact again within a specified time;

know who will be undertaking the contact and therefore not duplicate effort;

look professional.

By keeping these records you will also see how the relationship develops over time, the content of the meetings and what you have achieved/impact you have made.

3. Influencing, lobbying, and negotiatingInfluencing is the effect of one person (or group) on another. It involves using power to achieve an effect. People have power that they often do not recognize. Sometimes this power is real and at other times perceived; both are important. You should determine what sort of power you have and also what power the other person you are targeting for advocacy has.

It is the perception that others have of your power, not necessarily your actual power that influences the behaviour of others. External power includes such perceptions about:

reward—the ability to deliver positive to remove negative things;

coercive—the ability to give negative things or remove positive ones;

legitimacy—others accept you have power over them because of your position;

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interpersonal—others identify with you, or want to be like you, or you can affect them because they like you;

expert—others see you as having some special knowledge or skill;

information—others believe you have resources or information, which will be useful to them.

Internal or personal power comes from within the individual. It is important because others cannot take it away. It can include:

positive thinking;

belief and commitment;

ability to make choices;

dealing with stress;

finding room to manoeuvre;

listening, and

engaging with people.

The following sections introduce influencing currencies and styles, some advocacy tools to be used in influencing, tips for lobbying one-on-one, and negotiating.

3.1. Influencing currencies and stylesThere are many reasons why people are influenced by you; some are due to your position, style, and method of influencing, while others are due to reasons which you do not know about or do not value. Or they may be due to very personal reasons of the decision-maker. It is worth spending some time assessing what these influencing currencies are.

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Influencing Currency Reasons for being influenced

Ability to increase someone’s organizational power

increased visibility within the organization;

contact with people in ‘critical’ jobs or departments;

access to information and resources;

involvement in current issues;

opportunity to improve their reputation.

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Ability to increase someone’s job power

additional resources, or access to resources they do not have;

opportunity to reward others;

acquisition of authority.

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A boost to their personal power

recognition, appreciation of help given, associating their name with the work;

a chance to tackle new challenges;

opportunity to develop new skills;

opportunity for feedback from others.

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Figure M5.1 Types of Influencing Currencies

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There are also many different ways to influence others. Each person has a more prominent influencing style. Your style of influence describes the way you use your power to have an effect. When you are influencing people the key is to determine their prominent style and influence them using that technique. They will be more responsive to this and therefore more likely to really listen to you. It is also useful to discover your own natural influencing style, as this is the manner in which you will most comfortable influencing people. Figure M5.2 summarizes four influencing styles.

Figure M5.2 Influencing Styles

Style key Characteristics

Common vision

Appeals to the emotion and ideals of others through the use of forceful and colourful words and images.

Talks in pictures with enthusiasm, passion, and vision. Sets the mood. You will have to take care of the detail.

Identifies a common purpose, areas of agreement, shared goals, and ways of doing things better.

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Logical persuasion

Uses clear, logical arguments, supported by facts.

Outlines clear steps.

Does not appeal to emotions.

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Bridging

Focuses on the other person and how the other person perceives the situation by listening, encouraging the other person and by expressing what he/she is saying.

Open and non-defensive, admits not knowing, gives credit to others, good listener.

Does not exert pressure.

Uses participation and trust to influence decisions.

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Bargaining persuasion

Trades concessions in order to reach a mutually acceptable conclusion.

Uses emotion or pressure.

Direct, positive and honest.

Thinks ahead and prepares.

Clear, strategic, quick, and competent.

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3.2. The “Influence Tree”An influence tree is a visual representation of the target of your advocacy work and the influences on that target. It allows you to break down who is the target and who are the relevant players to influence that target. You can then consider how to influence the target.

Influence trees change with each strategy and more than one may exist for a strategy, for example, one for each of the different ambits in which you are working. The target is the final decision-maker. As a strategy progresses the influence tree can be adapted and developed.

INFLUENCE TREE TIPS

1. Always consider who the final decision-maker is. Sometimes there is more than one person; therefore several influence trees will have to be drawn up.

2. When you have decided who the target is, consider who actually influences this person, either professionally or personally. If you have been working on contact management (who influences whom, their responsibilities, interests, etc.) it will be easier to complete this section.

3. Depending on who the target is, influencers can include the following: general public, consumers, local groups, bureaucrats, educators, media, governments, and international legislation or norms.

You can do the same exercise with those you have identified as the influencers to determine the channel to the influencer. An influence tree can be as many layers as you wish, but it is always a minimum of three layers.

3.3. Power MatrixThis advocacy tool allows you to plot the amount of power a target has against their stand with respect to your position. You can then make a judgment on the type and amount of influencing you will invest in a target.

For example:

Target number one is already on-board with your work and has a considerable amount of power. You could build up a relationship with them, provide them documents, and they would probably see you as helpful to their career.

Target number two is against your position and has a lot of power. I would start by sending them very focused summary documents and try to meet them face-to-face. If they won’t meet you or you can’t change their minds, at least they have the documentation and it may well be worth trying to influence their adviser.

Target number three is only really worth sending summaries to. They do not agree with you and do not have any power. By sending them information you are laying the foundations in case their status increases.

Target number four is worth cultivating; they may be on their way up or be able to influence those more powerful than themselves.

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Therefore it is worth pursuing relationships with targets one and four, target three probably will not want to talk to you and sending information to target four allows them to read it, they probably do not have as much reading as target three.

3.4. Influencing versus negotiatingInfluencing and negotiating are not the same. In negotiating, parties discuss with a view to mutual settlement. Negotiation is about give and take—trading with a view to a mutually agreeable outcome. You have rights and do not have to accept the others’ stand. You both have to give way a little and therefore need to know what is negotiable, non-negotiable, or not important. Influencing on the other hand, is about having an effect on the other position. They do not have to listen to you. You have to be persuasive. You have to move your influencing to a negotiation and consider what you have to negotiate and what power you have.

When negotiating it is useful to keep the following questions in mind:

what are the sources of power?

what else can be offered?

what is the other party’s natural negotiation style?

what phase of negotiation are you in?

what are the entry and exit points, yours and theirs?

All negotiations have a common structure. Negotiations are always in one of the four phases. If you can identify the phase you are in, it will help you move the negotiations forward.

Figure M5.3 Phases of Negotiation

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Phase of Negotiation Tips

PrepareWhat do you want?

Decide what you want and prioritize your wants. •

Debate

What do they want?

Disclose what you want but not the terms on which you might settle.

Ask open questions and listen to the answers.

Listen for signals which indicate a willingness to consider movement.

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Propose

What could you trade?

Use “if…then” language (if they meet some of your wants, then you might consider meeting some of their wants).

Keep quiet and wait for a response.

Do not interrupt proposals.

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Bargain

What will you trade?

Agree to specific solutions.

Always conditional “if…then”

Record what has been agreed.

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3.5. Negotiation planning grid The negotiation planning grid is a tool that can help you plan your negotiation. Firstly, under the “Wants” column put what you want in relation to “Time”, the “Subject” or issue and “Quality.” For time, input what you want in terms of days, months or years; for the issue or subject state what you want to happen; and for the “Quality” express usually as a percentage. Then complete the “Importance” column. You have to determine what importance your wants have. Prioritize them according to high, medium, or low importance, but ensure that you only have one high. In the “Entry” column you need to put what you are asking for as you go into the negotiation. Remember negotiation is about give and take and so your entry and exit columns cannot be identical. Your entry column is often the same as your wants column; however, sometimes it is good to ask for more than you actually want, especially in pay negotiation and therefore they would be different. Finally in the “Exit” column put what you are prepared to live with. This usually has one cell the same as the Wants column and the others are different.

By completing the grid you will be more equipped to undertake meaningful negotiation.

negoTiaTion griD: an example

3.6. One-on-one lobbyingAs stated previously, lobbying is a specific form of advocacy in which targeted strategies are directed toward decision-makers, such as public officials or legislators, for the purpose of convincing the decision-maker to make a change to a policy over which he/she has decision-making power. Often civil society groups engage in lobbying to promote new policies or to advocate changes in an existing policy. Lobbying for legislative change requires preparation (see lobbying tips below).

Wants Importance Entry Exit

Time Now Low Now In two months

Subject Replace burnt out bulbs in lamp posts, and add 10 new lampposts, trim some bushes

Medium Replace burnt out bulbs in lamp posts, and add 15 new lamps, trim all bushes

Replace burnt out bulbs in existing lamp posts, trim bushes in dark areas

Quality Two out of three demands (66%) met

High All three (100%) demands met

Two out of three demands (66%) met

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LOBBYING TIPS

Prepare your plan of action.

Build a strong case for the proposed change.

Identify precise policies which need changing.

Contact like-minded organizations for potential collaboration and support.

Formulate the proposal and request a meeting with targeted individual.

Prepare a strategy to get yourself and your issue heard.

Locate the crucial person(s) (i.e., the decision-maker) and the people who influence them.

Locate key officials who are sympathetic to your proposal and try it out on them. Seek guidance on how best to influence the decision-maker.

Seek advice from influential people on how to influence the decision-maker.

Invite influential officers to visit your organization to familiarize themselves with your work.

Use the media to create a favourable climate for your proposal.

Have a contingency plan to implement if your proposal is rejected. For example, persuading the person to reconsider the proposal, or waiting until the staff member has moved on and trying again with their replacement.

Follow through if your proposal is accepted.

Suggest that a drafting committee be established, with a representative from your organization, to bring about the proposed change

Offer your organization’s services to assist the officer responsible for implementing change.

If these formal offers are rejected, keep informal contact.

Follow through all procedural levels until the policy change becomes reality at all levels.

Remember to thank everyone who had anything to do with bringing about the policy change—even those who were reluctant collaborators. You may need their help again in the future.

4. Connecting with the media Mass media refers to media channels that reach large audiences. There are the traditional media like newspapers, magazines, radio, and television. With the advent of the Internet, there are the new media such as websites, blogs, and social networking sites like Facebook. The mass media play an important role in advancing discussion around policy debates. Getting media coverage is one of the best ways of

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getting the attention of key decision-makers. Access to media is important in advocacy because it provides community groups with the means to provide information, make people decide in your favour, change perception, and change behaviour. There are many tools that will help you deal with the media—several are discussed in this section.

Sending out news releases is only half the story; it makes a big difference if you can build rapport with individual journalists. Identify the key people most likely to cover your stories, then phone and introduce yourself. Remember that they should come to regard you as an important source of information. The ideal is for them to need you as much as you need them.

Study the media

Before you contact anyone make sure you’re familiar with the style and content of their work, who their audience is and when their paper is published/programme is broadcast. Check by-lines and note down programme presenters’, researchers’ and reporters’ names. Find out which journalist is covering what kind of stories. If you do a bit of research you will be seen in a much better light.

Make contacts

Write to journalists by name, and try to follow up your letter at quieter times in their schedule, say 10.30 - 11a.m. for a morning paper or early morning for an evening paper. E-mail is often more effective than phone calls. It is better to do both, but avoid phoning just before their deadlines. If you’re not sure, ask them when the best time to phone is. The more you talk in person to the people covering the news, the better your ‘feel’ for the kinds of stories they want. Personal contact is one of the fastest routes to positive coverage. For coming events, find out who keeps the forward planning diary and make sure your plans are noted.

Build working relationships

Keep a list of friendly journalists and develop a working relationship by offering good ‘exclusive’ stories or access to information they need. If you are consistently reliable, journalists will come to depend on you and ask your advice on stories related to your field of expertise. They are also more likely to answer your calls.

keep notes of conversations

Most journalists keep notes of work-related conversations to refer back to when writing their story. You should try to do the same. If you feel you have been misquoted you can check back on the details of what was said. This puts you on firmer ground and shows journalists they are dealing with a professional.

keep up contacts

Having made initial contacts, do not let them drop—it is easier to offer stories to journalists you know. Keep a record of their name, number, e-mail address, job title and the kind of stories they cover; offer them access to useful information; and do not hesitate to tell a journalist that you liked one of their stories.

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Mailing lists

To build up a mailing list for a local area, look up ‘broadcasting organizations’, ‘news and photo agencies’ and ‘newspapers’ in your local Yellow Pages. Give the listed organizations a ring to find out names of people you want to reach.

Allies

Allies are by definition people or organizations that have similar beliefs, interests or visions. However, this does not mean that we should become complacent about how we deal with them.

4.1. The media advisoryA media advisory is used to send newsworthy information, usually events, to the media. It is like a press release but it is more highly specific and has a different purpose. A press release is sent to the media prior to an event in the hopes that journalists will raise awareness about the event by mentioning it to the public, and therefore will lead to greater public turnout at the event.

On the other hand, media advisories alert the media about a forthcoming event and invite the members of the media to attend your event, with the goal of having the event, or the information released during the event, covered by the news media.

A media advisory’s job is to tell journalists the Who, What, When, Where, and Why, and any additional details relevant to them (such as where they can park and set up equipment prior to the event, if recording will be allowed, and where they can pick up materials and press releases). Media advisories are usually not released to the public.

Communicating with Allies

Communication is key to developing good relationships with allies.

1. If you agreed to do something, keep people informed of the progress.

2. Tell people if you are delayed and when you can complete the activity.

3. Inform people of achievements as it motivates.

4. Share things that have worked and those which have not so you can learn from each other.

5. Clarify roles, responsibilities, and timetables to avoid misunderstandings.

6. Ensure you have minutes or at least the action points of meetings; you will then know what has to be done and by when.

Image by Kevinsendi (Wikimedia Commons)

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4.2. Preparing a press kit Media events like press briefings and news conferences are useful when you want to call attention to a particular issue or you have important information to share. Material to be handed out at a media event is best put together in a press kit. A press kit typically contains:

Cover letter Each press kit should contain a personalized cover letter or letter of introduction, rather than an impersonal form letter. This letter does not have to be a masterpiece – just one page or less explanation that grabs the reader’s attention, introduces your organization, and tells them why you are sending them a Press Kit in the first place.

Sample Media Advisory:

WINAD Hosts Viewing of Documentary

“Our Story: Women, Peace and Security in Trinidad and Tobago”

Public viewing to be held Friday, April 15, 2011 at the Audio-visual Room, National Library 5:00 – 7:00 PM

The Women’s Institute for Alternative Development (WINAD) in collaboration with the Gender Affairs Division, Ministry of Planning

Economic and Social Restructuring and Gender Affairs is hosting the public viewing of a 30-minute documentary called, “Our Story: Women, Peace and

Security in Trinidad and Tobago.” The documentary tells the story of the impact of gun violence on women and families. Women from north, east and

south Trinidad share their stories of adversity and surviving after losing a direct relative (child, son, daughter, husband etc) to gun violence.

The viewing will be followed by a panel discussion with:

Prof. Rhoda Reddock, Deputy Principal, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine

Dr. Dianne Williams, Unit for Social Problem and Policy Analysis, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine

Audio-visual Room: Basement level of the National Library Corner of Hart St. and Abercromby St. Port of Spain

For more information please contact, Mary Douglas at WINAD Tel: 123-4567

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Organization informationYour press kit should include information about your organization. Include information that is most relevant and up-to-date, as well as concise material about your organization’s history and key leadership. This can include brochures, fact sheets and other materials such as financial information (funding sources), if relevant.

Information on the event Include information on the specific event you are holding, location, time and date of the event, names of speakers, brief bios.

Press release and publicity clipsInclude a copy of the current press release, any recent press releases, and photos or CDs and media stories that have been done on the organization or the issue, if relevant.

What Should A Press Release Contain?Try to keep your press release short (one or two pages double spaced). The following is a standard format for a press release:

Organization’s name—the name of your organization should appear at the top of the release on your organizational letterhead, if possible.

Contact Information—name and phone/fax number and e-mail address of the staff member the media should contact to get more information (usually this is located on the top right-hand corner)

Release date.— states when the information in the release can be published or broadcast. If it is for immediate release, you can put “For immediate release” on top. The release date is usually located on the top left-hand corner.

Headline—The headline is important. Try to use an attention-grabbing headline. It should sum up the key pont about your release. Keep it short, use simple action verbs. Use the present tense. This will run under the contact information and above the body of the release.

Body—This is where you tell the reporter/editor the who, what, when, where and why of your story. Your readers are busy people, so follow the inverted pyramid style of writing: start with the most important information or conclusion first., followed by supporting information. The first paragraph, the lead, needs to grasp the reader’s attention, and should tell the most important information so that you get the attention of your reader. Keep your sentences short and avoid jargon or acronyms. Try to use quotes as much as possible, to substantiate the lead. Finish with a “tag.” This is usually a standard description of your organization or the goals of the work highlighted in your release. At the end of the release, indicate END or #### to tell reporters or editors there is no more information.

American Public Health Association (n.d.) and Asian NGO Coalition (2010).

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4.3. InterviewsRadio and television show are ever-hungry for story ideas and guests to have on their shows. If you are going to be interviewed, make sure your story has sound bites. Typically a five-minute interview might be reduced to a 15-second quote. Make sure your story has quotable material. If you are going to be interviewed for a talk show, make sure you have your story straight. Please see the tips on preparing for a media interview below.

After the interview, follow up with the reporter, host or producer of the program by sending a thank you note. If you can, request a taped copy or written transcript of the program for your files. You can use this to learn and prepare for your next interview experience.

How To Prepare For A Media Interview

1. Do your homework. If you have time, learn more about the reporter or interviewer. Try to understand the reporter’s assignment and the context of where the story will appear.

2. Be prepared. Know your subject and your purpose. Focus on a few important points you want to cover. Write them down. Do not ramble.

3. Be honest and sincere. Do not exaggerate.

4. Be concise with your answers. After hearing a question, pause for a moment and reflect on what you’re going to say before you open your mouth. Talk in sound bites or headlines. State your conclusions first, then back them up with examples or details. Never assume that anything you say is “off the record.” Try to avoid “going off the record” at all costs, and if you do, make sure that you and the reporter agree on what the term means.

5. Acknowledge good questions, rephrase bad ones. Remember that no matter how the reporter poses the question, you are in control of the answer. Make every statement a positive one.

6. Do not expect the reporter to ask the right questions. He or she does not have as much background as you do. Take the initiative and lead the interview. Use anecdotes and concrete examples, whenever possible. Give a ‘for instance’ that states a situation in human terms.

7. Do not get flustered or go on the defensive. Learn how to make transitions and turn questions around. For example, you may say, “The real question is.?”

8. Speak with energy and vocal variety. Avoid a monotonous delivery. You should sound enthusiastic and sincere.

9. Take your time before answering questions unless you are on Live TV. All pauses will be edited out, and only your answer used.

When being interviewed for television, there are additional things to remember:

Avoid solid white or black clothing and anything with tight stripes. Solid designs in gray, blue and brown are best. Avoid clothing and accessories that will create a reflection of the TV lights.

Look at the interviewer/host unless otherwise instructed.

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Sit straight.

You’re always “on.” Even if you are not speaking, you may still be on camera. Any comments before or after the interview might be caught on tape. Be careful.

4.4. Should you go online?The possibilities of reaching large numbers of people through the Internet and the World Wide Web have a lot of groups wondering how they could make their material available on the Web and gain greater exposure. For a civil society organization, a website needs to offer more than your typical corporate site. Your web presence needs to make it easy to find out more about your cause and what you do, to donate money, and to become more involved or to volunteer. It needs to make it easy for media contacts to find the information they need and the contact information of key personnel. And it needs to do all this in a way that’s inviting to your organization’s targeted audience.

Should you go online?These questions will help you determine what barriers may exist for your organization to have an online or social media presence, and how you can overcome them.

1. Technology Infrastructure

Do you have access to a computer that is able to access the Internet?

Does somebody in your organization have access to a digital camera to take pictures?

2. Volunteer Resources

In what way is your organization currently participating online? Is there a web presence that already exists that you can build on?

Does anyone in the organization WANT to do it? Are they interested and eager and willing to take on that responsibility?

What kinds of support or training can you access to improve your online skills? Are there friends or family who could help you get the basics down?

What barriers do you regularly encounter that keep you from participating online? How can you overcome them?

3. Goals

What might your organization do better? What strategies or tools might help with this? Are those online tools?

How would you finish this statement, “What this organization really needs is....”

What “next steps” are available for relationships forged online? How will they help you meet your organization’s goals? For example, can you hold a “meetup” for your online readers?

Do you have clear goals for your foray into the Web?

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4. Audience

Is your prospective audience already engaged online?

Where is it? What information or communication request/wish do you most often hear from you intended audience?

How will these new online tools help fulfill that request?

Once you have decided to have an online presence, what next?

Be consistent about updating your webpage, Twitter feed, or Facebook page. Whether it’s only once a week or twice a day, it should be dependable if you want to retain readers.

Remember that people’s attention span online can be very short. If you present them with an intimidating wall of text in dense jargon, they will likely move on. Keep your writing style natural and engaging.

Let your layout help your writing: write clear, meaningful headings and subheadings, use bulleted lists, highlight keywords and don’t be afraid of white space.

Give something to your audience. When you’re writing about a recent meeting, for example, include photos and links to the websites of your guest speakers. You can post advocacy materials. Whatever you do, make sure the content is relevant, concise, and interesting.

Expect feedback. This is the beauty of new media. If your writing is good and strikes the right tone, you can expect readers to really engage with what you’re saying.

Be findable. The first thing that a reporter or prospective member will do is Google your organization—do you have a website that is informative, attractive and recently updated? An easily accessible online presence is the first thing many people look for, and having it will give your organization a polished, professional appearance.

4.5. FacebookFacebook is a free social networking website used by over 200 million people globally. In order to connect with people on Facebook, you sign up to create a profile, “friend” other people (yes, the noun just became a verb) and they have to “accept” you as a friend. Once you are connected, you can begin networking: see their activity, who else they’re friends with, comment back on their updates, etc. Some cool features of Facebook include the ability to post websites, images, and video right on your page so that your friends can see them.

Why Facebook? Facebook allows you to connect with large networks of people, and is a great way to share information such as news articles and photos, as well as sharing information through the creation of Groups and Events.

Once you have set up your Facebook Profile, you can join and create Groups and Events. The Group is great for creating a local Group where you can share ideas, interesting news stories, have online discussions between meetings and recruit new members. Groups (and individuals) can create Events that provide information on an upcoming event you are planning. It is an easy way to promote an upcoming event. Both events and groups are searchable, allowing you to connect with people and groups online.

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Building CapacityM5-18

4.6. TwitterTwitter is a free tool that allows you to share updates online. It is used by over 4.3 million people around the world. Twitter is short: 140 character “tweets” (updates) very similar to status updates in Facebook. Unlike Facebook, where you can only talk to “friends” who’ve accepted you, you can “follow” anyone on Twitter in order to see their updates.

A good way to use Twitter successfully is to set expectations for what your followers can expect from you – i.e., should they expect updates on club meetings, upcoming guest speakers, and/or reminders about events? This helps people use the information you give them effectively.

Twitter is also helpful for getting messages out to influential people in your community, including the media. Most columnists have Twitter and tweeting about an upcoming event or campaign opens another avenue for communication.

RESOURCES FOR WORKING WITH NEW MEDIA

InstructionalThe Basics of Twitter

www.crowinfodesign.com/downloads/twitter_beginners.pdf

This is a great guide to the basics of Twitter and will help your group get the most out of tweeting. It offers easy-to-understand information on what Twitter is, how it works, things to think about, and goal-setting for Twitter use.

Webmonkey: www.webmonkey.com

An online resource for websites. Slightly more advanced for people who would like to learn how to use HTML code to build in colours, links, and other features in their websites.

Free Online Tools

Google Sites: www.google.com/sites

A free, user friendly tool for building your own basic website. You will need to sign up for a free Gmail account to log in. You can build the site, control who accesses it, link to video and many other features.

Wordpress: www.wordpress.com

A free blog publishing tool. WordPress is an Open Source project, which means there are hundreds of people all over the world work-ing on it. (Wordpress Beginner: www.wpbeginner.com - This guide will help you build a more advanced website using Wordpress.)

Module Five: Advocacy, Negotiation and Social Marketing M5-19

Add your Website to Google: www.google.com/addurl

Add your site to Google so people can find it easily when they search.

Stock XCHNG: www.sxc.hu

A site with over 350,000 stock photos that you can use for free.

Wikipedia: www.wikipedia.com

Search for most cities in Canada and the article will list the local media outlets as well as providing links to their websites.

Flickr: www.flickr.com

A free photo sharing website that you can use to store and share your photos. Also contains a “creative commons” group of photos you can use on websites and blogs.

5. Monitoring & evaluating advocacyMonitoring is the collection of information about a project over time in order to understand what is happening. Evaluation is an assessment of the project at one point in time, including successes and failures, and is done to understand what happened and why. Many organizations have undertaken monitoring and evaluation of their development work, but doing the same for advocacy work is relatively new for civil society organizations.

There are three main reasons for monitoring and evaluating advocacy work:

the need to produce a credible funding report;

to ascertain the cost-effective impact;

to document the process in order to learn from experience and improve future work.

How then do you monitor and evaluate your advocacy work?

The inputs, outputs, outcomes and indicators that you have identified in your action plan serve as a framework for monitoring and evaluating your work. As stated in section 2 of this Module, indicators are the evidence you will collect to show that the outcome has been achieved.

While the indicators to be used in monitoring will be specific to the particular focus of the advocacy work, there are some commonalities in the areas of concern to monitoring.

Monitoring your target. Are there changes in the rhetoric (statements) of your target audience? Have they adopted any of your language?

Monitoring your relationships. How often are, and what is the content of, your contacts with targets? Have they come to you for information or advice?

Monitoring the media. How much positive and negative coverage has your issue received? Is the media adopting your language/position?

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Building CapacityM5-20

Monitoring your reputation. How many inquiries do you receive as a result of your work? Who are the sources of queries? Are you reaching the people you wanted to get to?

Monitoring public opinion. Analyse popular climate through telephone polling, conducting focus groups or through commissioning surveys.

Likewise the terms of reference for each advocacy evaluation will be specific to that piece of work, but the main questions that an evaluation addresses include:

To what extent were the original objectives achieved? Were they the right objectives in the first place?

How did objectives change and evolve throughout the advocacy project, and why?

What impact did any change have on the lives of communities (if at all)?

Sources:

American Public Health Association. Media Advocacy Manual. http://www.apha.org/NR/rdonlyres/A5A9C4ED-1C0C-

4D0C-A56C-C33DEC7F5A49/0/Media_Advocacy_Manual.pdf

Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development. 2010. How to Use Mass Media for Advocacy. http://

www.angoc.org/portal/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/19/ideas-in-action-for-land-rights-advocacy/6-How-to-Use-Mass-

Media-for-Advocacy.pdf

BOND. Monitoring and Evaluating Advocacy. BOND Guidance Notes Series 6 http://www.innonet.org/client_docs/File/

advocacy/bond_monitoring.htm

Canadian Federation of University Women. 2010. Communications and Activism: a quick guide to advocacy and media.

Caribbean Association of Feminist Research and Action. Capacity Building for NGOs.

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Notes

module VI

Project Management

M6-1

1. What is a programme and what is a project?The Programme is the overall plan within a policy framework. The programme sets the overall outcome and budget limits, defines the geographical, social and economic parameters within which the programme operates, and will be established for a number of years. It will be based on a general set of indicators (ideally identified through a ‘baseline’ exercise) that determine the need for the initiative. A programme may be made up of a set of related projects which collectively deliver the intended outcomes.

A Project is a series of activities aimed at bringing about clearly specified objectives with a defined time period and a defined budget. A project should also have:

Clearly defined stakeholder(s), the primary target group and the final beneficiaries.

Project status.

Clearly defined coordinator, management and financing arrangements.

A monitoring and evaluation system.

Financial and economic benefits.

Project benefits that exceed their costs.

Projects can vary in their objective, scope and size/scale. Examples of projects:

A community road/walkway/bridge

An emergency relief project

A skills training project.

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Learning Objectives

Main Objective:

To get an overview of the basic principles of project management.

Expected Outcomes:

Participants will be expected to:

1. Understand the different stages in the project cycle.

2. Learn to prepare a project proposal.

3. Become familiar with monitoring and reporting tools.

Project Management

Building CapacityM6-2

Irrespective of the sector focus, delivery means or geographic location, cross cutting issues must be addressed in the development of projects:

Gender and equality.

Environmental sustainability – the need to protect biological and physical systems that support life, for example, ecosystems, water cycles and climatic systems.

Good governance and human rights

– Democratization with emphasis on participation and accountability

– Promotion and protection of human rights, respect for norms and non- discrimination

– Reinforcement of the rules of law and administration of justice.

2. Project Cycle The project cycle is the logical sequence of activities to accomplish the project’s goals or objectives. Regardless of scope or complexity, a project goes through a series of stages during its life. It provides a structure that ensures:

Decision-making criteria and procedures are defined at each stage.

The stages follows each other, so the next can be tackled with success.

Monitoring concentrates on verifiable targets and identifies problems and solutions.

Monitoring and evaluation are processes of feedback.

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Programme

Identification

Formulation

Appraisal &Commitment

Evaluation

Implementation

Figure M6-1Project Cycle

Module Six: Project Management M6-3

2.1 ProgrammeAt this stage, national and local conditions as well as relevant local and national government policies and initiatives are analyzed or examined to identify problems, constraints and opportunities which could be addressed. This helps to identify the main objectives, criteria, and priorities for preparing projects.

2.2 IdentificationThe identification stage defines the problem(s) to be addressed by the project; identifies the stakeholders and their needs, interests and capacities; and explores a number of possible solutions. Local ownership of and commitment to potential projects are very important at this stage.

2.3 Formulation StageThe formulation stage assesses the relevance and feasibility of the project idea. The project proposal is prepared and reviewed for institutional capacity, costs, benefits, and sustainability. If the decision is to continue with the project then consultation is held with key stakeholders and a budget is prepared.

To determine relevance of the project, the following questions are asked:

Have problems been analyzed?

Does the project meet demonstrated and high priority needs?

Have lessons learned from experience and linkages been incorporated into the project?

To determine the feasibility of the project the following are some of the questions raised:

Will it deliver tangible and sustainable benefits to the target groups, e.g. direct benefit? Does it bring positive economic returns?

Will it improve services facilities, or increase knowledge?

Is the timeframe realistic?

Does the project design allow for changes?

Are the resource and cost implications clear?

Are the coordination, management and financing arrangements clear and workable?

Does it support institutional strengthening?

2.4 Appraisal and CommitmentAppraisal gives stakeholders a chance to review the project design in detail and resolve any outstanding issues. Project partners agree to support the project and financing arrangements are confirmed. The tools for monitoring and evaluating the project are also confirmed.

2.5 Implementation This is the most critical stage where the work of the project is carried out to deliver the results, achieve the purpose(s) and contribute effectively to the overall objective of the project. This is preceded by the appointment of the organization that will carry out the work, and a detailed work plan for the project is developed.

Once the project gets under way, the implementing organization will monitor and regularly report on project progress, outcomes and impact on beneficiaries. The reporting requirements will vary depending on the particular terms of the agreement governing the financing of the project.

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2.6 EvaluationThis is the final stage of project life which makes an assessment of the project outcomes against the original objectives and sustainability of results. The relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of the project are evaluated. The evaluation is as systematic and objective as possible so that the information is credible, useful, and can guide future projects.

3. Writing up the project: project concept note and project proposalPreparing a full project proposal can involve a lot of time, effort, and costs. The specific format and content of project proposals vary depending on specific requirements of the funding organization. Some funding organizations require prospective applicants to initially prepare a project concept note instead of a full project proposal.

The project concept note is a summary description (two to four pages) of what your project is about. Typically, a project concept note should address the following areas:

Summary of the action: a brief description of what the project proposes to do

Relevance of the proposal to needs; i.e., background that identifies the need or problem being addressed by the project, how this project adds value to what is already being done

Target groups and final beneficiaries

Overall objective of the project or the purpose to be achieved by the project

Expected outputs and results

How is the project to be carried out? What are the proposed activities? Who will be your main implementing partners, what is the length of your relationship with them and how will they be involved in the project?

Risk analysis and mitigation measures – i.e., what could go wrong in implementing the project and what could be done to minimize or alleviate the risks

Your capacity as an organization and those of other project partners to carry out the project: what is the experience of your organization in project management? What is the experience of your organization and your partner(s) of the issues to be addressed?

An estimate of resources that may be required (note: some funding agencies might not require this at this stage).

For prospective applicants it is useful to first prepare a project concept note. This allows you to present and discuss your project with potential funders with the minimum investment in the effort required compared to preparing a full proposal. It allows funding organizations to make a quick evaluation of the proposal to determine whether it can be accepted for further consideration (and therefore may proceed to the preparation of a full proposal) or it is not acceptable.

A project proposal will cover the same areas as the concept note, but each area will be developed in greater detail. A project proposal will have more information on project inputs, activities, expected outputs and results (see next page for definitons). In addition the project proposal will include a schedule of planned project activities and a budget. The schedule of activities specifies the actions to be taken

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Module Six: Project Management M6-5

and their timelines (expected dates of start and finish planned activities). The budget will estimate the cost of carrying out key activities as well as the cost of running the project (such as salaries, office rent, etc). In preparing the budget, it is important to list the inputs required to accomplish the activities, then estimate the cost of the inputs. Funding agencies generally want to see the basis of your cost estimates. As much as possible, you need to specify the details of how you arrived at your cost estimates. Make clear what the unit cost of an item is and the number of units you require. For example, if estimating the cost of accommodations for a conference you need to specify the cost of a room per night, how many nights you need the rooms, and how many rooms you will need.

Figure M6-2 is a visual way of understanding how your project works, it shows the relationships among the resources you have to run your project, the activities you plan, and the changes or results you hope to achieve.

INPUTS

↓Inputs include the human, finanrganizational, and community resources a project has available to use to do the work and produce outputs and achieve outcomes.

ACTIVITIES

Activities are what the project does with the inputs. These include processes, tools, events, and actions taken or work done through which inputs are mobilized to bring about the intended changes or results.

OUTPUTS

Outputs are the direct products or services stemming from the activities of the project or an organization.

OUTCOMES

Outcomes are describable or measurable states that can be attributed to the outputs of the project or an organization, such as specific changes in participants’ behaviour, knowledge, skills, status and level of functioning. Outcomes are differentiated by their time frame. Immediate or short-term outcomes (1-3 years) may involve a change in access, ability or skills. Intermediate or medium-term (4 -6 years) outcomes involve a change in behaviour or practice. Longer-term outcomes are referred to as impacts.

IMPACT

Impact refers to the longer-term fundamental intended or unintended change occurring in organizations, communities or systems. Often it occurs after project funding has ended. Exactly when project impacts are achieved varies from project to project but the logical progression from short-term to long-term outcomes could be reflected in impact occurring within 7-10 years.

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Figure M6-2 Putting It All Together: How Your Project Works

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4. Monitoring a projectOnce your project gets under way, you will need to monitor its progress so that you can modify and improve the project as needed. Monitoring is systematic and continuous assessment of the progress of the project (or a program) over time (Gosling and Edwards 1995). It is a tool to identify the strengths and weaknesses in the project and can help those involved in implementing the project to make timely decisions to improve the quality of the work. Monitoring can cover a range of aspects in project management – staff performance, finance and project activities. Here we focus on monitoring the progress of project activities.

The essential components of a monitoring system are:

the selection of performance indicators of each activity;

the collection of data about the indicators;

the analysis of the data:

presenting the information in an appropriate way;

using the information for planning and improving the work (Gosling and Edwards 1995).

4.1 Performance indicatorsPerformance indicators are at the core of project monitoring systems. They are what you will use to measure your actual results. A performance indicator is a quantitative or qualitative unit of measurement that specifies what is to be measured along a scale or dimension. Indicators have to be ‘objectively verifiable’ that is “two independent observers would come to the same conclusion regarding the status

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Validity: Does the performance indicator actually measure the result?Your intended outcome is: “Increased use of clean drinking water by people living in community X.” A valid performance indicator would be “percentage of households using drinking water drawn from clean source.” An invalid performance indicator would be something like “number of wells in community X,” because although this performance indicator would measure the availability of clean water (i.e., wells) it would not actually tell us whether people were using them and whether the number of people using them had increased. This would not actually measure your result.

FACILITATOR TIP

Have participants share stories of their experiences with developing project proposals and with donor agencies.

In advance of the training, request the participants to bring samples of project concept notes or proposals and narrative and financial reports.

Have participants compare their proposals with the sample project proposal presented in Annex 1.

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Module Six: Project Management M6-7

Reliability: Is the performance indicator a consistent measure over time?Your intended outcome is: “Increased access to health services for people living in region Y.” A reliable performance indicator would be “percentage of population living within a two-hour walk of a health clinic.” An unreliable performance indicator could be “gross mortality rate for region Y of country X.” This performance indicator would not be reliable because it may not change consistently along with the result: a change in access to health care is not a change in usage, and thus may not be reflected in a change in mortality rates. Similarly, mortality rates can be affected by external and unpredictable circumstances (e.g. drought, natural disaster) that can change independently of the result.

Sensitivity: When the result changes, will the performance indicator be sensitive to those changes?The example above for reliability also applies here. The performance indicator “gross mortality rate of region Y of country X” may not always be sensitive to a change in the availability of health care, or may be sensitive to other factors that are not directly linked to the result. “Percentage of population living within a two-hour walk of a health clinic,” on the other hand, is sensitive to access to health services, and will change when it changes.

Simplicity: How easy will it be to collect and analyze the data?An indicator may provide a good measure of the expected outcome but present too many challenges (such as complexity, technical expertise, local capacity, and shared understanding) for easy use. If your intended outcome is: “Increased ability to maintain wells among people living in region Y,” the indicator “number of women and men in region Y who receive a passing grade on a practical well-maintenance exam” would provide an accurate measure, but would also require a complex and time-consuming data-collection process. The indicator “Confidence of women and men who took training in their ability to maintain wells,” on the other hand, could be incorporated as pre- and post-exercises in the training activities, and be collected through a number of methods such as a written survey for training participants, a verbal response, or a response using the body (position in the room or height of a raised hand) to indicate level of confidence.

utility: Will the information be useful for investment management (decision-making, learning, and adjustment)?

If your intended outcome is: “Increased use of clean water among people living in region Y,” various performance indicators could be used to measure this result. Some may be more useful for decision-making purposes than others. A performance indicator such as “Percentage of households using drinking water drawn from clean source” would provide information that could be used to take corrective action, if need be (e.g. to make adjustments to the project during implementation to ensure that the expected results will be achieved), or for planning subsequent phases of the investment (e.g. do there need to be more wells to facilitate greater use?). A performance indicator such as “Number of times well used daily” would indeed measure the result, but wouldn’t provide a lot of useful information such as who was using it or how widespread that use was over the community.

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Building CapacityM6-8

of [achievement] and the results can be communicated in an unambiguous way to a non-observer” (Coleman 1987) However, it is neutral: it neither indicates a direction or change nor embeds a target. It is important that the stakeholders agree beforehand on the indicators that will be used to measure the performance of the investment.

4.2 Collecting informationThe table opposite shows some of the information that would be collected, their sources and how it could be used when monitoring project activities.

Table Summary of Information for Project Monitoring Information collected in monitoring will feed into the preparation of progress reports that funding agencies require. Progress reports are important because donors want to know your track record; they want to see what results are being achieved with the money they have ben asked to provide. Keeping proper project records, including financial documents is an absolute must.

Progress reports required by donors usually consist of:

narrative reports that show progress of the project relative to the planned activities, the outputs to be achieved and the attainment of objectives.

financial reports that report on project expenses made against the budget.

Most donors have a specific format that they require you to use to prepare your narrative and financial reports. Consider the sample Reports found in Annex 2 and compare them with one of your own.

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Affordability: Can the program/investment afford to collect the information?

A household-by-household survey of the inhabitants of region Y to ascertain their opinion of the new wells and the training they received on how to maintain them may provide excellent performance data on the investment, but may also be too costly for the executing agency to conduct. Choose performance indicators that provide the best possible measurement of the results achieved within the budget available, and wherever possible, use existing sources and data-collection methods. Look for a balance between rigour and realism.

CIDA (2011)

Module Six: Project Management M6-9

Information to be collected

Sources of information use of information

Results of activities, project outputs

What has been done

What has not been done but planned

What were the problems encountered

How were they addressed

Has the external environment changed

Other relevant information

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Regular records of activities

Meetings with staff, project partners, beneficiaries

Staff reports

Media reports

Observation

Surveys

Informal discussion

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Plan future work

Identify successes

Identify ways to build on strengths

Identify problems, weaknesses, plan strategy to deal with these

Review priorities

Identify training needs

Identify need for further information or research

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Project inputs

What resources are needed and where can they be found

When it is needed and when will they be available

Cost

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Monitor costs and budget

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Information to be Collected

Sources of information use of information

Progress of project according to objectives

Progress toward achieving objectives

Are objectives still relevant?

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Observation

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Feedback

Identify need for review or evaluation

Identify need for further information or improvements in monitoring systems

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Building CapacityM6-10

4.3 Improving organizational performance relative to relationships with fundersHistorically, many civil society organizations began operations on the good will of founding members. Meetings were held around the kitchen table and the first financial resources came from members dues or donations. The organization’s office would remain in borrowed space. It was when donor funding became available that issues of accountability gained prominence. There was a need to formalize operations, assign roles and responsibilities, and to be accountable for the use of resources. Good governance is extremely important if organizations are to attract the resources they need.

Sources:

Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). 2011. Results-Based Management Tools at CIDA: A How-to Guide.

http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/acdi-cida/ACDI-CIDA.nsf/eng/NAT-92213444-N2H

Coleman, G. 1987. The Logical Framework Approach to the Monitoring and Evaluation of

Agricultural and Rural Development Projects. Project Appraisal 2(4): 251-259.

Gosling, L. and Edwards, M. 1995. Toolkits A Practical Guide to Assessment, Monitoring, Review and Evaluation. London: Save

the Children

The way the project is managed, style of work

How are decisions made?

Are the people who are supposed to be involved really involved?

Do the partners/ people affected by the work/project

Do staff feel a sense of ownership of the project?

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Indicators which show degree of participation

Meetings, discussions

Observation

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Identify need to change methods to encourage more participation

Identify problems in relationship between partners/people affected by the work/staff, and address them

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Background information on target population and context

Have there been any significant political, economic, social or environmental changes affecting target population?

Have there been developments affecting the project?

How is the population changing in terms of the characteristics the project is hoping to influence?

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Surveys

Sources of information about politics, economics

Meetings with other agencies, government officials

Observation

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Response to changing situation, rapid response

Keep in touch with relevant work by other agencies, government

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Source: Adapted from Gosling and Edwards (1995), pp.# 84-85.

Name of project: Strengthening the human and institutional capacity of the National Council of Women of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Name of Applicant: National Council of Women of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Location and Address for Correspondence: St. Vincent and the Grenadines P.O. Box 2405, James Street, Kingstown, St. Vincent and the GrenadinesTel: (784) 45 31628/Cell: (784) 492 9393Fax: (784) 45 71995Email: commwomen@yahoo.com

Brief Description of the Project: This project aims to strengthen and enable the National Council of Women to celebrate and channel the collective energy, skills and creativity of women for individual and national development and thus build a relevant and sustainable organization for the advancement of women. Specifically, this will be achieved by developing and implementing a Strategic Plan for the National Council of Women for the period 2010– 2011, which will include programmes of:

Capacity building;

Social and economic empowerment towards poverty eradication;

Fundraising;

Outreach to youth, boys and men;

Advocacy and media campaigns.

Objectives:

To build a relevant and sustainable organization for the Advancement of Women.

To strengthen and enable the National Council of Women to celebrate and channel the collective energy, skills and creativity of women for individual and national development.

To develop and implement a Strategic Plan for the National Council of Women for the period 2010– 2011.

Target Beneficiaries: Direct beneficiaries are the Executive and Member organizations of the National Council of Women. Indirect beneficiaries are the population groups served by member organizations of the Council.

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SAMPLE PROJECT PROPOSAL

ANNEX 1

Building CapacityM6-12

Expected Outputs: National Secretariat equipped;

Seven training workshops/seminars conducted:

management and leadership skills workshop for Council Executive; project proposal writing seminar; two entrepreneurship development and non-traditional skills workshops; adult literacy workshop; personal development seminar for young women; sensitization workshop on domestic violence.

Sensitization campaigns on parenting skills conducted;

Committees established to delegate and utilize the various available skills;

Strategic plan for fundraising developed;

Constitution of the National Council of Women revised;

A framework for conducting national exhibitions (Recognition of Women’s Work) established;

A framework to recognize and declare outstanding women as ‘Unsung Heroes” established;

Male youth development seminar conducted;

Three sensitization workshops and a media campaign for males conducted;

Sensitization campaign (radio and print media) on women’s issues conducted;

Website developed;

Review of domestic violence laws conducted.

Expected Outcomes:Capacity of the Council and its Executive to carry out its mandate is improved;

New groups formed particularly in rural areas and existing ones strengthened.

Groups at community level well trained;

Strategic networking and pooling of resources among groups increased;

Strong alliances built with other non-governmental organizations;

A national policy on women developed;

Males better aware of their roles and responsibilities in the home and in society;

Women and girls better aware of their social and economic rights;

Protection of women and girls improved.

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ActivitiesProgramme Area A – Capacity Building

1. Buy 10 computers to facilitate continuous training on Information Technology for members;

2. Conduct training workshop to enhance the management and leadership skills of the Executive regarding their roles and responsibilities;

3. Conduct training on project proposal writing skills for developing future interventions from national, regional and international bodies;

4. Convene 2 training workshops for members on entrepreneurship development and non-traditional skills;

5. Conduct a training workshop on adult literacy and production of reference materials for reference;

6. Convene personal development seminar to address in particular, issues affecting young women-such as self-esteem, self-reliance/independence/and belief system;

7. Conduct a sensitization workshop to educate stakeholders about domestic violence in an attempt to enhance the role of the police, nurses and other social workers;

8. Conduct sensitization campaigns to improve parenting skills at the community level.

Programme Area B – Fundraising For Sustainability 1. Establish fundraising Committee to develop the strategic plan;

2. Hold a national exhibition at Independence Celebrations to showcase women’s skills, goods and traditional products;

3. Organize annual tea parties, and barbecue sale;

4. Organize a national health and fitness sponsored walk programme as part of the national wellness revolution.

Programme Area C – Youth (Male) Outreach Programme 1. Conduct youth development training seminar with emphasis on crime and violence prevention among young males;

2. Convene 2 workshops to educate men to understand their roles and responsibilities in the home and in the society;

3. Convene a national workshop and media campaign to sensitize men about their health and wellness.

Programme Area D – Advocacy/Media Campaign 1. Conduct monthly radio sensitization programme on various issues;

2. Prepare monthly newspaper article;

3. Publish a bi-annual newsletter highlighting and celebrating the achievements of women and other social issues;

Building CapacityM6-14

4. Develop, design and launch website to feature the activities of the organization;

5. Issue periodic statement on crime and domestic violence against women, children and other current issues;

6. Convene periodic workshops to educate women about their social and economic rights;

7. Advocate/lobby for review of domestic violence laws and the protection of women and the girl child, including legal measures against incest.

Amount sought in $: US$80,011 (Eighty thousand and eleven US dollars)

Budget:

Activity/ Type of Expense

Budget details(Costs in EC$)

Total Cost(ECD)

Total Cost (uS$)

A. Capacity Building 125300 42236

1 Computer procurement

$3,500 each x 10 computers 35000 12915

2 Training Workshops and Seminars

50 persons @ each workshop, variable duration, 24 days total for all workshops combined

89300 32952

2.1 Venue $1,000/day x 24 days 24000 88562.2 Meals (lunch and

snacks)$40/person x 50 persons x 24 days 48000 17712

2.3 Transportation $4/person x 50 persons x 24 days 4800 17712.4 Equipment and

supplies10000 3690

2.5 Reference materials $25/ copy x 100 copies 2500 9233 Sensitization

Campaign1000 369

B.Fundraising 21767 8032

1 Fundraising strategic plan

5000 1845

2 National Exhibition 11200 41332.1 Tents $300/tent x 10 tents 3000 11072.2 Transportation 1600 5902.3 Tables $175/table x 12 tables 2100 7752.4 Flyers & Banners 2000 7382.5 Public Address System 1500 5542.6 Awards 1000 3693 Health & Fitness Walk 5567 2054

Activity/ Type of Expense

Budget details(Costs in EC$)

Total Cost(ECD)

Total Cost (uS$)

3.1 Media advertisements 3067 11323.2 T Shirts $40 each x 35 T-shirts 1400 5173.3 Water $3/bottle x 200 bottles 600 2213.4 First Aid 500 185

C. Youth Outreach (males) 27800 10258

1 Youth Development Training Seminar

11080 4089

1.1 Venue $1,000/day x 1 day 1000 3691.2 Meals $40/person x 200 persons 8000 29521.3 Transportation $4/person x 200 persons 800 2951.4 Equipment and

supplies1280 472

2 Sensitization workshops

Three one-day workshops 14760 5446

2.1 Venue $1,000/day x 3 days 3000 11072.2 Meals $40/person x 60 persons x 3 days 7200 26572.3 Transportation $4/person x 60 persons x 3 days 720 266

2.4 Equipment and supplies

3840 1417

3 Media campaign 1960 723

D. Advocacy/ Media Campaigns

41963 15485

1 Sensitization campaign

27400 10111

1.1 Radio programmes $600/programme x 12 programmes 7200 2657

1.2 Newspaper Articles: 12 months x 2 issues x 300

$300/article x 2 issues x 12 months 7200 2657

1.3 Bi-annual Newsletter: $20/ copy x 650 copies 13000 47972 Website

Development10000 3690

3 Periodic Workshops on women’s rights 10000 36904 Review of domestic

violence & incest laws14563 5374

4.1 Research Researchers fees 5000 18454.2 Focus Groups

Discussions8563 3160

4.3 Report Production, printing and distribution 1000 369

TOTAL PROJECT COST 216830 80011

Building CapacityM6-16

Background on Applicant The National Council of Women of St. Vincent and the Grenadines is a fully registered non-governmental organization operating since1970. The Council’s main aims and objectives are to promote the removal of all aspects of discrimination against women, whether educational, legal, economic, social or otherwise, so as to promote their status and welfare to enable them to be fully involved in the development of self, family and nation building. The Council specializes on issues affecting women and girls, educating and motivating stakeholders to live a healthy, well-rounded and developed livelihood. The Council’s work and management structure are guided by a clearly defined constitution.

Mission StatementThe Mission of the Council is to promote the status of women and girls, to effectively perform their roles in the society.

Vision Statement:The Vision of the Council is the holistic development of all women and girls.

Activities of the National Council of Women of St. Vincent and the GrenadinesThe Council has existed since 1970 and is registered as a non-governmental organization, with a Constitution to guide its work. Some of the activities over the years include:

1. Support services for women (childcare, job training);

2. Observance of International Women’s Day and other days of significance to women;

3. Advocacy on women’s rights, against domestic violence and protection of the girl child;

4. Involvement in preparations for the 4th World Conference on Women (Beijing 1995);

5. Research on: the Status of Women in St. Vincent & The Grenadines, Women in Industry, Women in Agriculture, Incidence of Domestic Violence, and Women in Politics;

6. Training in domestic violence intervention/prevention strategies for police and social workers;

7. Training in development of gender sensitive policy;

8. Training on the Constitution of St. Vincent & The Grenadines;

9. Training for involvement of women in politics;

10. Member of several Advisory Boards such as: Poverty Alleviation Strategies, Constitution Review Committee, and Social Investment Fund;

11. Member of several regional organizations: Caribbean Women’s Association (CARIWA), Caribbean Association for Feminist Research & Action (CAFRA);

12. Collaborates with the Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC).

Module Six: Project Management M6-17

Management Structure:National Council of Women of St. Vincent and the Grenadines is managed by the following officers: President, 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer.

Responsible Body:The National Council of Women will be responsible for implementing this project. The Council has office accommodation at James Street, Kingstown, St. Vincent & The Grenadines.

SAMPLE PROJECT REPORT

Identification Information

Project Name:

Country:

Name of Organization:

Period covered by this report:

Start : DD/MM/ YYYY

End Date : DD/MM/ YYYY

Activities covered by this report:

Submitted by:

Name (please print):

Position:

Signature: Date (DD/MM/ YYYY):

Authorized by (please print):

Position:

Signature: Date (DD/MM/ YYYY):

ANNEX 2

INTRODUCTION

1. Number of participants:

2. Date & Place of Activity

3. Gender No. of Men: No. of Women:

4. Purpose of the Activity/ Specific Focus:

5. Target Audience:

DATA SUBMITTED

Recipients are required to confirm that information and financial records are being kept for the Grant. Recipients should ensure that each of the indicators/questions in the data-holding section has a response of either “yes”, “no” or “not applicable”. Should there be a response of “No” to any of the indicators/questions; an explanation will be required in the box provided.

Yes No N/A

Copies of all training material

Copies of agenda

Copies of evaluation forms

Copies of participants lists

Copies of minutes & reports

Other relevant documents, please specify:

Explanation:

IMPLEMENTATION

In the section below describe the implementation of the Activity and significant variances from planned schedule of activities, and the impact of variances.

1. Name of Activity:

2. Areas covered in the workshop:

3. Rate your assessment of the implementation process:

1=Very Poor 2=Poor 3=Fair 4=Good 5=Very Good

4. Lessons Learned

Were there any challenges noted during the implementation of the activities? If so, explain the problems or difficulties encountered, if any, and remedial action taken, or to be taken :

(a) If any, what were the key lessons learnt:

5. Strategic Considerations for the next Activity to be undertaken:

6. Variances (Give an explanation of any variation from original plan):

ACTIVITY RESULTS

1. Write a few sentences on your assessment of whether the activity achieved its intended results.

2. Please state the output (s) coming out of the Activity. (for example, 20 participants trained).

3. Please state the identifiable outcome(s) of the workshop (for example participants are better exposed to ways of dealing with conflict).

Progress towards Gender Equality Results:

4. How were gender issues/concerns included in the activity?

Stakeholder involvement:

5. Did you consult with stakeholders to plan the Activity?

PROJECT FINANCES

Disbursements - (use the “Receipts and Payments Report” Templates)

(Attach as Appendices – Agenda, Participants list, Activity Report)

Consider this Sample Financial Report and compare with one of your own

Address:

Phone #:

Fax #:

INVOICE

Invoice #:

Date:

To:

Address:

Phone #

For:

[Project or service description]

PAYMENT DETAILS

CATEGORY 1: VENUE

DATE SUPPLIER AMT$ local currency

Document No.

Supply

Doc.

Total Category $ 00.00

CATEGORY 2: MEALS

DATE SUPPLIER AMT $ local currency

Document No.

Supply Doc.

Total Category $ 00.00

CATEGORY 3: STATIONERY

DATE SUPPLIER AMT$ local currency

Document No.

Supply Doc

Total Category $00.00

CATEGORY 4: TRANSPORTATION

DATE SUPPLIER AMT $ local currency

Document No.

Supply Doc.

Total Category $00.00

CATEGORY 5: OTHERS

DATE SUPPLIER AMT $ local currency

Document No.

Supply Doc.

Total Category $00.00

Donors may sometimes require annual audits depending on the size of their grants (bigger grants have a greater likelihood of requiring an independent audit). Keeping precise records and reports on activities makes the audit process not one to cause alarm. You would have done the work. The auditor only has to place your information in the required format.

It must also be noted that donor funds may have restrictions on their use. The organization should not shift from its vision and mission just to obtain resources, because then the needs of the target audience will not be met. The organization must design its Strategic Plan based on the needs of its constituents and within its Vision and Mission. The Project Proposal will then be written based on the Strategic Plan. Tell your story consistently, as negotiations take place with donor.

RECEIPTS AND PAYMENT REPORTS

CDRAV GROUP:

ACTIVITY DETAILS:

ACTIVITY DATE:

REPORT DATE:

Receipts

Date Details Amt $ local currency

Bank Charges

Total $ $

PaymentsNumber Category Name Amt $. local currency

Category 1 Venue 0.00

Category 2 Meals 0.00

Category 3 Stationery 0.00

Category 4 Transportation 0.00

Category 5 Other 0.00

Total $

Surplus Local $ 0.00

module VII

Violence Reduction and Conflict Resolution

The Society of Friends

M7-1

1. What is conflict?Conflict is a disagreement through which the parties involved perceive a threat to their needs or interests.

FACILITATOR TIP:

Present the picture opposite and discuss the following questions:

Is there a conflict? What is the conflict? How did the donkeys resolve the conflict? What did you learn as a result of this conflict?

Violence Reduction and Conflict Resolution

Learning Objectives Main Objective:

To understand the nature of conflict.

Expected Outcomes:

Participants will be able to:

1. Identify different kinds of conflict.

2. Identify stages of conflict.

3. Discuss how to manage conflict.

Building CapacityM7-2

Conflicts may arise for a variety of reasons. The following illustrates some of the different types of conflicts and the factors affecting them:

Figure M7-1 Different types of conflict and factors affecting them

Source: Presentation by Luke-George Cooke.

2. Handling conflictIn all healthy relationships, there will be conflict. Responses to conflict vary. Here are some insights into handling conflict

Avoidance

The most negative approach is to avoid conflict entirely. Parties adopting this avoidance approach seem not to care about getting what they want, or about getting along with the people concerned.

Domineering

A style found very often is to control the process in a domineering way. A party using this style goes all out to get what he/she wants. He/she does not care about his/her relationship with the other party. In fact, the aim of this style is to win and to have the other party lose.

Accommodation

A directly opposite approach is to be accommodating toward the other party. In this way, a party does everything to keep up its relationship with the other party. Since it does not want the relationship to be damaged by conflict, it simply gives in to the demand of the other party.

•

•

•

Relationship Conflicts

Value Conflicts

StructuralConflicts

Interest Conflicts

Information Conflicts

Strong emotionsMisconceptions/Stereotypes

Poor communication or miscommunicationNegative, repetitive behaviour

Day-to-day valuesTerminal values

Self definition values

How is a situation set upRole definitionsTime constraints

Geographical/physical relationshipsUnequal power/authority

Unequal control of resources

Lack of informationMisinformation

Different views on what is relevant

Different interpretations of dataDifferent assessment procedures

SubstantiveProcedural

Psychological

Module Seven: Violence Reduction and Conflict Resolution M7-3

Compromise

Many people seem to think that the only option is to compromise. They do not want to dominate the process, and they do not want to surrender. They hope that a happy medium may be found. In such a way they expect to get something of what they want, and preserve something of their relationship with the other party.

Solve the Problem

By all means the best style, however, is to solve the problem frankly and effectively. When this approach is used, parties take both their interests and their future relationships seriously. They do not struggle in childish, selfish ways for what they want. They rather work together towards a solution that will satisfy the real interests and needs of each party. Relationships can be maintained and even strengthened.

FACILITATOR TIP:

The following are further ideas for stimulating discussion:

• news clippings on crime and violence triggered by conflict;

• participants give examples of the situation in their own countries;

• presentation on initiatives such as “Pan against Crime.”

In many countries and regions, violent conflicts have disabled good governance. It is important to understand the nature of conflict, and to help restore mutual trust and cooperation among communities. The following training activity examines possible actions toward resolution of conflicts.

•

•

TRAINING ACTIVITY Circle of Dreams TIME 1 hour

OBJECTIVES

To consider the impact of conflict on governance.To identify the stages of conflict.To examine possible action plans towards peaceful resolutions in areas of conflict.

•••

GROUP SIZE Any number of people. Divide them into groups of 10-12.

MATERIALS

A large room or open space

Flipchart

Markers

Building CapacityM7-4

INSTRUCTIONS

Distribute one piece of paper (A half sheet of A4 paper) to each participant. Instruct the participants to:

(a) Write their names on the pieces of paper.

(b) Write a goal or dream they wish to attain on the piece of paper – one or two words will do.

Stick their pieces of paper in any part of the room – remind them to stick their pieces of paper at chest level and no higher than that.

Divide the participants into groups of 10 – 12 people per group. Instruct them to:

(a) Form a circle with their group mates, with each person facing outward. Make sure they stand shoulder to shoulder.

(b) Have them interlock their arms with one another.

(c) Stress that this is a non-verbal exercise. There will be no talking during the activity. They may use sounds and point with their noses and lips if they wish.

(d) They must keep their arms interlocked throughout the duration of the activity.

(e) Once everyone is ready, give the signal for them to begin getting their goals that they stuck on the walls without breaking away from the group. (This would mean pulling the entire group with you to get your piece of paper.)

(f) The activity ends when everyone has gotten their goals or given up.

•

•

•

SHARING & PROCESSING

Ask the participants the following:

How did you feel pursuing your goals, given your situation?

Were you able to obtain your goals? How?

Was it difficult? Why or why not?

What made your group successful in pursuing your goals?

What hindered the group?

Do you handle situations in real life the way you handled the situation here?

How similar or different is it?

What do you think are some of the stages in the start or escalation of a conflict?

What practical steps need to be taken to stop and prevent conflict?

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

•

Module Seven: Violence Reduction and Conflict Resolution M7-5

ANALYZING & APPLYING: SUMMARY NOTES

Our interlocked hands represent our interdependence in the communities or countries where we live.

Conflict and tension can occur due to one or all of the following: differing goals and aspirations; injustice; corruption; efforts to protect vested interests; differing beliefs; misinformation, ignorance; poor skills in resolving differences.

While the ideal is that we all live in harmony and move together, many times we are pulled in different directions by different forces. Some people’s goals might be in direct opposition to or at least diminish the attainment of other people’s goals and the challenge for communities and countries is to resolve these differences through dialogue, compromise, tolerance and, in the end, the will of the majority.

In many countries and regions, these tensions have caused violent conflicts and have disabled good governance.

Violent conflicts in society cripple effective citizens’ functioning and participation. It distracts and at times destroys citizens’ pursuit of social, economic and human development.

In conflict areas there is a need to develop strategies that will bring the conflict to an end and ensure ongoing peace, but also shorter-term strategies for governance and citizens’ involvement, to the extent possible while the conflict persists. How this is done depends very much on the context and nature of the particular conflict.

•

•

•

•

•

•

Commonwealth Foundation. 2005.

Circle of Dreams: Notes

Building CapacityM7-6

Gender Roles: Notes

Module Seven: Violence Reduction and Conflict Resolution M7-7

3. Negotiation skills and conflict resolutionThe resolution of conflicting interests between various groups and sectors in society is central to moving forward in the development of good governance.

Sources:

Presentation by Luke-George Cooke, CDRAV training workshop, March 9, Kingston, Jamaica.

Commonwealth Foundation. 2005. Citizens’ Education Learning Guide. Pp. 152-154. http://www.commonwealthfoundation.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=o_hhTYz_6Jc%3D&tabid=316

A-1

Afterword

On the desk of a famous Poet there was an Inkwell. During the night, when things come alive, it was very full of itself.

It’s terrible,” it said, “how many beautiful things come out of me. A few drops of my ink are enough to fill an entire page, and then how many wonderful things can be read on it.”

But its vanity began to annoy the Pen.

“You don’t understand, you fat fool, that you are just the supplier of the raw material.

“It is I who make use of your ink and write down on paper what I have in me. There is no doubt that it is the pen that does the writing.”

The Poet came home from a concert and the music had inspired him.

“How stupid would the bow and violin be,” he wrote on a sheet of paper, “if they boasted that they alone were making the music.

“So often men are just as stupid, when we boast of doing something, forgetting that we are all instruments in the hands of God.”

But still the inkwell and the pen, which had been used to write these words, learned no lesson from them.

Let us reflect… what have I learned from Pen and Inkwell?

We Can Build Peace When We Understand Our Interdependence.

“Pen and Ink Well”