Tool 16 – Community Action Plans
Community action plans (CAP) act as a template for future planning activities by the community. A CAP records achievements during the participatory assessment and planning activities and provide the community with a set of goals, activities and timelines to achieve their development objectives. They also provide companies with a clear understanding of community priorities. CAPs are to be used after tool 9 (p102), as the action plans then need to be implemented. These exercises work well in a community workshop when a broad range of participants is invited including women, youths, the elderly and key stakeholders.
Step Guide
STEP
1
State the objective that will address the identified issue
STEP
2
List activities which will achieve objective
STEP
3
Who in the community should undertake each activity?
STEP
4
Decide an activities deadline
STEP
5
Decide what resources and budget will be required, and who will be contributing
STEP
6
Name who will take responsibility for plan implementation. The CAP then becomes the management tool for community development activities and should be managed by the community with support from company, government and NGO partners
Further Reading:
Community, Economics, Environment, Ethical Business, Management, Rehabilitation
Participatory planning
The company realized that it would be more effective in the long term if communities could be encouraged to empower themselves and take responsibility for their own development plans.
Sources:
National Environment Secretariat, Government of Kenya; Clark University; Egerton University; and the Center for International Development and Environment of the World Resources Institute, Participatory Rural Appraisal Handbook: Conducting PRAs in Kenya, Kenya, 1991.
Oduor-Naoh, E. et al. Implementing PRA: A Handbook to Facilitate Participatory Rural
Appraisal, Program for International Development, Clark University, Worcester, MA, 1992.
Rietbergen-McCracken, J and Narayan, D. (compilers), Participation and Social Assessment: Tools and Techniques, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank, Washington DC, 1998.
World Bank, The World Bank Participation Sourcebook, Washington DC, 1996,
Appendix 1: Methods and tools for social analysis, pp. 199–202.