Jordan Times
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Princess Basma urges
local civil society organisations to play major part in reform process
By Mahmoud Al Abed
AMMAN — HRH Princess Basma on Monday said Jordan
has succeeded in developing an environment for a new form of community
development where the prevailing trend is towards greater decentralisation of
planning and decision making to ensure wider participation at the grassroots
level.
In her address at the opening of an international conference hosted by the
Jordan Hashemite Fund for Human Development (JOHUD), the Princess noted that His
Majesty King Abdullah “has taken the lead in promoting a new agenda for social,
political and economic change.”
The “International Civil Society and Community Development Conference” is
organised by the International NGOs Training and Research Centre (INTRAC).
More than 80 delegates from 34 countries are attending the three-day conference
at the Queen Zein Al Sharaf Institute for Development (ZENID).
Princess Basma urged local civil society organisations to play a major part in
the reform process under way.
“This is where large intermediary NGOs like JOHUD can work as a catalytic force
for change,” she said, noting that the credibility and legitimacy these
organisations have earned in the country's local communities would be a great
help for them in this mission.
INTRAC's conference this year revolves around the theme of community development
and civil society. It seeks to open up debate around the interface between civil
society development and “the resurgence of interest on the part of international
bilateral and multilateral agencies in community development.”
According to the organisers, in recent years there has been a growing trend
among institutions like the World Bank and the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) to attempt to engage directly with communities in order to
implement small infrastructure projects as part of larger community-driven
development programmes. As these multilateral agencies implement these plans,
they eliminate the role of traditional intermediaries of international and
domestic NGOs. This change in policy carries a challenge for workers in the
community development sector, the organisers said.
INTRAC's third conference in Amman will focus on the debate that ensued from
these emerging realities.
Key actors involved in community development efforts, NGOs, governments and
multilateral organisations, among other bodies, will examine the link between
the support for community development initiatives and broader aims of
strengthening civil society.
Topics to be covered include external mobilisation versus empowerment from
within and community identity and social capital. In addition, an array of
papers will tackle the various aspects of this year's theme.
In his speech at the opening ceremony, INTRAC Executive Director Brian Pratt
said, “the origins of the present conference lie in the emerging or reemerging
debate around the nature of community... and ways in which development
cooperation should or could engage with communities.
In more specific terms, a background paper on the conference by Lucy Earle said
the event hopes “to promote discussion of the link between development
interventions at the grassroots and continuing efforts to strengthen civil
society in developing and transition countries.”
In his remarks at the opening ceremony, Professor Alan Fowler from South Africa
stressed the need to “look beyond participation,” and seek to achieve a genuine
combination between community development plans and efforts made to enhance
civil society organisations.
Princess Basma, JOHUD chairperson, took part in the conference's first plenary
panel session, which addressed the basic concepts related to the theme of the
meeting.
INTRAC is a nonprofit organisation working in the international development and
relief sector. It supports non-governmental and civil society organisations
around the world by helping explore policy issues, and by strengthening
management and organisational effectiveness.
Since the early 1980s, JOHUD has built a network of more than 50 community
development centres throughout Jordan. The only network of its kind in the
country, it works in partnership with local organisations, societies, and
councils.