Community is the best focus for development ... this is where people live
and where quality of life matters. Community perspective metrics show how
effectively resources are being used, not only those from external
sources, but also local resources.
People Centered Progress
The P-CED Manifesto
Principles of People-Centered Economics
The P-CED Manifesto was written up in 2008, but its origins go back some
twenty years or more. The following is the 2008 version of the P-CED Manifesto
… a set of principles about people-centered economics.
1. The US economy transitioned from hard-asset based (gold, silver) in 1971 to
Fed paper notes written solely against the 'good faith and credit' of US citizens.
2. Gold (or silver) is tangible, observable, finite: whatever is on hand, is on hand.
That provides a firm, tangible, finite, objective economic anchor. There is no
way to create more of it at will. One ton of gold is one ton of gold. Its quantity
and value are represented in numbers. Since that time, the US national debt
went from near zero to nine trillion dollars in 2008 (~5 trillion in 1996 when
these points were first compiled.) That debt is backed by nothing more than
paper based on numbers which may or may not even exist.
3. Adam Smith’s 'invisible hand' does not mean 'non-existent', nor detached. It
means what it says: invisible. That is, not observable.
4. After disconnecting from the gold standard, US economics and capitalism
became purely a matter of manipulating numbers. There was no longer a hard,
observable, tangible, finite anchor. Numbers are not hard, observable, or
tangible, and may not even exist outside the mind of human beings.
5. With US and Western economics and capitalism shifted to manipulation of
numbers: are numbers real? That is, do numbers exist independently of the
human mind and imagination?
6. Plato claimed numbers exist independently of the human mind, are real, but
exist in an ideal, transcendent, unmanifest world. Numbers exist because they
are in that ideal world. That ideal world is represented to us by numbers, and
by extension, mathematics. Therefore, numbers exist because numbers exist.
Circular logic, per his protegé Aristotle.
7. Descartes, mathematician/philosopher, finally got around some fifteen
centuries later to further analyzing the questions of what exists, what is real. He
went past numbers to the question of whether he himself even existed. He
posited that some entity, some manner of consciousness and material world in
the form he found himself, must necessarily and logically exist in order to
ponder the question to begin with. He concluded 'cogito, ergo sum.' 'I think,
therefore I am.' Thus demonstrating that he, and by the same argument other
humans, have firm evidence that we exist, and are not mere fantasies or
cognitive constructs of an Evil Genius imagining all of us, the world, and the
manifest universe. Human beings exist. He was not able to reach a similar
conclusion about numbers, nor has anyone else, nor is it possible to reach any
such conclusion because it is not possible to separate thinking of numbers by a
human being from the human being himself or herself without eradicating the
human being. In which case, there would be nothing to speak or think further.
[Numbers are assumed by mathematicians to exist in a real sense for the sake of
their day-to-day work six days per week, but not on the Sabbath when they feel
more obliged to be honest. (reference 'The Mathematical Experience', Davis and
Hersh, 1981.) ]
8. Capitalism based on numbers may or may not be valid, according to whether
or not numbers are valid, real, existent, independent of the human mind.
Positing them in Plato’s ideal realm and begging the question of their existence
on that basis was and is null and void.
9. Find a 1, or a 2. Not a symbolic representation of one or two, 1 or 2. Not a
quantity of 1 of something, or 2 of something, but an actual 1 or an actual 2,
tangible, observable, on their own. Next, find a human being. It is possible to
find a human being, one human being or two human beings. It is so far not
possible to find a 1 or a 2 in this world. There are no instances in recorded
history where either of those have even been located and identified as entities
independent of the human mind, nor any other number nor any mathematics
nor any equation.
10. Human beings are real.
11. If (a) the independent existence of numbers is unknown, and unknowable;
(b) human beings do exist; then (c) any system of human economics based on
reality can only be based on human beings.
12. Positing numbers as real entities, and basing economics on that unproved
and unprovable hypothesis, risks disposing of real entities (human beings) in
favor of imaginary entities (numbers.) The only variable needed for that to
happen is unscrupulous human beings.
13. Human-based – that is, people-centered – economics is the only valid
measure of economics.
14. Manipulation of numbers, represented by currency/money, allows writing
“new” money as needed. There is no tangible asset, or anchor. There are only
numbers, managed by whomever might maneuver into position to do so.
Economics came to be based on numbers, rather than real human beings.
15. On that basis, capitalism trumped people and therefore trumped democracy.
Democracy is about people, who since Descartes are considered necessarily real,
rather than numbers which are not necessarily real. An imaginary construct,
numbers, rule a real construct, people. That arrangement allows for disposal of
real human beings, in the name of the imaginary construct.
16. Capitalism nevertheless remains the most powerful economic system ever
devised. The problem is not with the construct. The problem is with the output
of the construct, wherein imaginary constructs – numbers, and currencies
represented symbolically by numbers – are left to control real human beings to
the material benefit of relatively few people and to the exclusion of many others.
Classical capitalism has reached equilibrium in this regard. However, and
consequently, many and growing numbers of human beings are excluded in the
realm of finite resources hoarded by those most adept with manipulating
numbers/currencies.
17. This is where we find ourselves at the advent of the third age of human
civilization – the Information Age, following from the Agriculture Age and the
Industrial Age. We are for the first time in human history in position to take
note of where we are and what we are doing to and with each other. Or, not.
18. Modifying the output of capitalism is the only method available to resolving
the problem of capitalism where numbers trumped people – at the hands of
people trained toward profit represented only by numbers and currencies rather
than human beings. Profit rules, people are expendable commodities
represented by numbers. The solution, and only solution, is to modify that
output, measuring profit in terms of real human beings instead of numbers.
19. We can choose to not reform capitalism, leave human beings to die from
deprivation – where we are now – and understand that that puts people in selfdefense
mode.
20. When in self-defense mode, kill or be killed, there is no civilization at all. It
is the law of the jungle, where we started eons ago. In that context, 'terrorism'
will likely flourish because it is 'terrorism' only for the haves, not for the havenots.
The have-nots already live in terror, as their existence is threatened by
deprivation, and they have the right to fight back any way they can.
21. 'They' will fight back, and do.
22. The Information Age can become the pinnacle of human civilization, the
Golden Age. Or, it can become the end of human civilization. We get to decide
which way to go, and act accordingly.
23. Dismissing people and consciously leaving them to die is probably not the
way to go.
24. Economics, and indeed human civilization, can only be measured and
calibrated in terms of human beings. Everything in economics has to be
adjusted for people, first, and abandoning the illusory numerical analyses that
inevitably put numbers ahead of people, capitalism ahead of democracy, and
degradation ahead of compassion.
25. Each of us who have a choice can choose what we want to do to help or not.
It is free-will, our choice, as human beings.
Productivity of Community
Good place to optimize performance
I have always enjoyed visiting new places. Within a very short time it is possible
to get an impression of what sort of a place it is. This is a function of geography,
of people, of history, of culture ... it is a big mix, and almost every place has a
different feel to it. This seems to suggest that “progress” is going to be optimized
by different approaches and priorities in different places. It suggests that a
universal standard “silver bullet” approach is never going to work, and it also
suggests that this is a good place to do performance and progress
measurements.
Community is the best focus for development ... this is where people live
and where quality of life matters. Community centric metrics show how
effectively resources are being used, not only those from external
sources, but also local resources.
The community has many benefits that make it an ideal entity for planning and
tracking development progress. Every community has a unique combination of
resources and potentials and constraints. Each community has reached a unique
place in the process of development and has a certain unique standard of living
and social structure. A community can benefit the most when the planning and
development actions are optimized for the specific community and its unique
conditions.
And we also know that there is some corporate operating information in remote
communities in the “south” that is better not easily accessible to the general
public and those who want to monitor and assist in community progress.
So while community information should be easy ... it is not as easy as all that.
Communities ... Where People Live
People live in communities. If the community is working, being successful and
progressing, then people are going to be progressing as well. The community
appears to be the best place to put the main focus for development.
The idea of community being the center of anything has all but disappeared in
the analysis of the modern economy. Everything but community seems to be of
importance ... national politics ... national economics ... national security ... the
global organization ... all sorts of macro-information ... but nothing much about
the community.
Community focused development is probably the best modality to facilitate
development. It is more practical than a single person. A community has a scale
that is perhaps optimum for progress. Resources that are available can be used
in the best possible way. Local people often know what they need, but don’t
have all the resources to do what needs to be done. It is up to the community to
lead development and use outside support to facilitate its priority works.
Linkages
Academic Economic Analysis
Modern economics seems to embrace the idea that there are a lot of linkages
within an economy, and throughout the international economy. However, the
study of econometrics is largely the study of models to simulate the actions that
take place in the economy at the national and sector levels rather than from the
community perspective
I have argued for a long time that these models were inefficient because
they were usually studying the wrong things. The statistical analysis may be
sophisticated, but the social equivalent of industrial engineering is
absent, and most of the conclusions emerging from these studies
tend to ignore the system dynamics of the community
Linkages and community
When the linkages in a community are analyzed it becomes apparent what it is
that is constraining the community, and what there is that might be
opportunities for the community.
The importance of linkages between the various sectors was recognized in the
earlier work. But what was not taken enough into consideration was the
importance of value chain. There are more or less important linkages between
people, communities, organizations, projects, sectors and functions ... but they
remain theoretical constructs until there is an understanding of the value chain,
and structures that can take advantage of the value chain.
It is said that “All politics is local” and I like to say the “All life is local”. Quality
of life is something that is determined as much as anything by what goes on in
our own community. What goes on at any distance from my community may be
interesting, and may have an indirect impact, but is nowhere as near as
important as what goes on in my community.
And within my community, my family is far and away the most important. To
the extent that people are interested in far away places, it is often because a
family member is there.
Linkages ... chaotic multi-sector dynamics
There are more or less important linkages between people, communities,
organizations, projects, sectors and functions.
By moving from donor centric development to community centric development,
the performance of the relief and development sector can be improved
substantially. A community centric development focus is a better way to
approach development. It puts community needs as the priority and power into
the hands of local people.
In a community there are usually a number of different sectors at various stages
of development. Some sectors have potential, others do not. Some sectors are
needed to support other sectors ... development of one sector is a prerequisite to
success in another sector. It is not rocket science, but simply advanced common
sense. Planning should take into consideration the considerable interplay and
linkages between the sectors. A key sector that is non-performing can be a
severe constraint on the overall success of the community.
Success with a multi-sector focus
Most community development “projects” do not have much thoughtfulness
about how best to use scarce resources. I have helped evaluate hundreds of
projects, and almost all of them failed because they were limited to a single
sector, and though well designed with respect to the sector, ignored the realities
of failure in the other sectors.
One great success was an FAO fisheries community development project in
Shenge, Sierra Leone. It was multi-sector and implemented with continuous
performance improvement for the community. It would have created an
amazing level of durable value for the community if the country itself had been
sustainable. This project took resources and made the best possible use of them.
It was wonderfully successful ... so much so that the two expatriate CTOs were
honored with chieftaincies by the local community. This project worked on the
basis of doing what is best for the community ... using scarce resources in the
best possible way, and the results were remarkable.
The FAO Project in Shenge, Sierra Leone
I had the good fortune to do the evaluation of a wonderful FAO project
in Shenge, Sierre Leone some years ago (around 1989 I think). This
project used its rather limited resources and created community benefit
that was perhaps as much as 100 times more than was anticipated for
the project. How was this achieved? Two very competent Chief
Technical Officers (CTOs) controlled the money and used it to do what
would deliver a lot of value in the community ... and people paid for it.
Economics 101 says, if I remember well, that price is determined by
supply and demand. If you offer something that has a good value, people
will pay for it, if they possibly can. So everything done by the project
had a price, and to the extent that it was valuable people paid for it.
The project had a valuable inventory of spare parts for fishing boats and
outboard motors, and fishing gear. These were not given away, but sold
at the local market prices with the money flowing back into the project.
The project bought more inventory, and expanded to have a fuel store
with a substantial inventory. The fisherfolk went fishing much more
rather than having to spend valuable time hunting for fuel, gear and
spare parts. The project trained a mechanic to fix outboard motors, and
in turn this mechanic started to train other young men to be mechanics.
His salary was paid for by small fees paid by the students, and all of
them (teacher and students) made money being paid to service the
outboard motors in the community.
The same dynamic took place in the fish smoking area. The project was
meant to teach six local women about fish smoking, but an initial six
had expanded into a group of 60 who were learning new skills and
applying them in the market, and prospering. More fish were being
caught. More fish were being processed for the market. The community
was on its way.
But the community needed to expand its horizon. The road was
impassable in the wet season, and the government was not maintaining
the road. The government had a road crew in the area, but not paid all
the time and never with any material for repairs. Courtesy of the project
resources, some modest amount of gravel and cement was obtained,
culverts were installed and the road was made functional. The fisherfolk
and traders later paid back the project.
What else could the project do? The IDA school built some years
before and idle for years because of government budget constraints
had great facilities, but no operating funds. The project started to
run evening courses at the school using the facilities including
electric generators, carpentry and metal working shops, sewing
equipment, etc. with people in the village learning and earning at
the same time, and the project being paid so that the project could
pay ... and never have to stop.
Sectors
There are many sectors involved in a successful community development, these
include the public and the private sectors, the formal and the informal sectors,
the production, infrastructure, service and social sectors, governance and so on.
In the production sector there are, inter alia: agriculture, manufacturing,
construction and more. In the infrastructure sector there are roads, seaports,
telecom, airports, water, etc.. In the services sector there is banking, transport,
trade, religion, tourism and more. In the social sector there is education and
health.
Sectors are a somewhat artificial construct, but they do serve to help organize
thinking and the specialized expertise needed in that area of socio-economic
activity.
Much more information about sectors is set out later in the book.
Functions
Within a community, an organization and a sector there are a number of
common functions. Functions are the activities that are needed in a community,
organization or sector that have common characteristics. Accounting for
example is a function that exists in communities, organizations and sectors.
Marketing is a function. Transport is a function, as well as being a sector. Thus,
an ambulance is part of the transport function in the health sector. The success
of relief and development and socio-economic progress depends on how all of
this comes together.
Within a community, an organization and a sector there are a number of
common functions. Functions are the activities that are needed in a community,
organization or sector that have common characteristics. Accounting for
example is a function that exists in communities, organizations and sectors.
Marketing is a function. Transport is a function, as well as being a sector. Thus,
an ambulance is part of the transport function in the health sector. The success
of relief and development and socio-economic progress depends on how all of
this comes together.
Organizations
What is an organization?
More than anything else any organization is people ... the human resource
element of an organization is its most important component. An organization is
really not much more than a container that makes it possible for people to
function as a team and to have access to tools and resources that make it possible
to do things that cannot be done individually.
When people stop being involved with an organization, it loses a lot ... most of
all it loses a lot of its energy. Organizations need people ... either the staff of the
clients in order to be meaningful.
Helping organizations to have staff come to work, and clients come ... students
to school, patients to clinics ... is very important.
All sorts of organizations
There may be thousands of communities, but there are a lot more organizations.
Every community has a few ... formal and informal. There are organizations, big
and small, that help to do everything.
There are all sorts of organizations. In rural areas the dominant form of business
is the family business where almost everyone is trying to make ends meet in
agriculture on a small amount of land with not enough water. In urban areas, a
lot of people are engaged in informal petty trade and service work.
I have had the good fortune to visit and spend time in a lot of remote
communities ... mainly in Africa, but also in Latin America and in
South Asia. I was in these communities in connection with refugee
movements, drought, attempts at community planning, assessment of
project performance ... all sorts of reasons.
One thing I learned was that what appears at first sight to be a simple
small community has all sorts of organizations and activities that are
critical to its present situation and future performance. Development
that ignores this, does so at its peril.
Community Governance
Community governance is organization
A community, no matter how small, is likely to have an organization of some
sort that is the governing body. It might be quite informal, or quite organized.
In many communities, the organizing body in some ways represents the
community, and holds office with the assent of the people. Some of the
traditions of these governing units go back a very long time.
In some places there may be local organizations that are affiliated in some ways
with national organizations. Local political organizations can have this
characteristic. In some places there may be a revenue department that arranges
for taxes to be levied. Taxes can be raised in many different ways, often on trade
and the movement of goods. The amounts can be sufficient to provide for many
local needs.
Business organizations
While most economic activity is likely to be in the informal sector, it is possible
that there will be activity undertaken by a larger business organization. A larger
business organization should be engaged with development activities in the
community. The contribution of a larger business entity to the community
should be the subject of value analysis so that there is some equity between the
value created and the value shared with the community.
Religious organizations
Religious organizations of some sort exist in communities. They are one of the
stronger links between local organization and organization that spreads
nationally and internationally. Local religious groups can be a valuable
resources for local activities. I have been impressed how religion has a role in all
communities, even those in the direst poverty. Religion ought to be a force for
good, and in broad terms I argue that religion has an important role in society as
part of the foundation for ethics. But the history of religion being used to foment
trouble also is a reality. Religion and freedom together work well and need to be
encouraged. Most people who practice their religion are good people with
values that are universally common.
Self Help Groups (SHGs)
The community probably has organized itself to have Self Help Groups (SHGs)
that do collectively what individuals cannot do on their own. This applies in the
area of microfinance, and also many other informal economic activities.
Health - hospitals and clinics
Some health organizations are likely to be in the area ... perhaps a health clinic,
but perhaps some distance from the community ... perhaps just a nurse who
lives in the community.
Schools
Perhaps there are schools in the community ... perhaps there are schools in the
area, but some distance from the community. Perhaps the only education is
provided by parents.
Telecenters
A growing number of communities are finding ways to have some organization
build a telecenter in the community so that there is access to the Internet and all
the services now being made available with Internet access.
Water committees
Perhaps there is water committee to manage and maintain the water supply for
the community ... maybe this is done by the community as a whole. Maybe the
water is just for household use, or maybe it is also used for irrigation.
People to people networks
It is difficult to have constructive connections with people unless there is some
organization, network or community to serve as a focus. The idea of “people to
people” contact is good, but difficult to organize and manage. But it becomes
more practical when there is community, network or organization also involved.
There is considerable experience with networks and organizations, but rather
less with communities, yet it is communities that are likely to be the most
effective.
Organizations for community security
Organizations for community security are needed. The local police ought to be
such an organization, and good police can be. But it is likely that more is needed
than just the police. Local people have to be a part of the solution as well. Some
security activities can reasonably be provided by civilian security companies,
but they should be very limited in their mandate, and should be working within
strict guidelines prescribed by law and the community authorities. People
working through local committees can be very powerful in gaining control of
communities and making them peaceful ... especially women and respected
family people.
Courts and a justice system
A functioning justice system helps to maintain security and a civil society. Small
criminal activity is wrong, and should be punished in an appropriate way before
it leads to bigger and badder things. Experience shows that taking care of little
things helps prevent more anti-social behavior later.
Issues for Community Development
Hundreds of issues
If there are people ... there are issues. But at the community level, issues are
more tangible than in a bigger setting. Issues can be addressed in modest and
practical ways, and issues need not get out of hand. There are hundreds of
issues, but at the community level, those that are important are more obvious
and can be addressed as a priority.
Do powerful people want community focus?
Though many local people might be delighted to be part of a strategy that
embraces community knowledge ... there are some that do not want community
information to be a freely accessible good but something that is tightly
controlled.
Powerful people in the “south” and the “north” may not benefit as much with
community focus ... or at any rate universal application of community focus.
Political people the world over favor their own communities rather than ALL
communities. Community focus is a big shift in the balance of power in society,
good for a majority of the people, but perhaps not as good for the incumbent
elites. Confronting a powerful elite and prevailing is not easy.
Establishing priorities ... addressing the key issues
In a community, it is easier to have a consensus about priorities than in the
larger area of the country as a whole. Some of the same issues will appear in
many communities ... but the solution to the issue might be different because of
the underlying conditions.
What is the best pace?
In most communities, slow is usually better than fast. The US is perhaps the only
place in the world where haste is revered ... in most other communities the
culture works best on a slower time scale.
Problems can be solved in many cases with a deliberate use of time ... time to
discuss, and consider ... over a period of weeks and months and not hours and
days.
What is the language?
The best language is one that people in the community understand ... and in
most communities that is not English or French or Spanish. In many places the
language is the spoken language and not the written language ... but ideas can
be expressed very well without having them written down.
Record keeping is best done in a written language ... and I will argue that a lot of
the record keeping should be in money terms and in numbers.
Information can flow from a community that does not read or write into a
modern database system as long as there is a clerk who can do the recording ...
and if there are two clerks there can be a system of validation right from the
start.
What is the culture?
The culture of the community should be a major determinant of what priorities
should be ... people should be free to determine their own set of what they want.
Planners tend to ignore the role of culture ... but success is usually heavily
determined by things that are important locally.
What is the religion?
Religion can be considered part of culture .... but is might well be more than
that. Religions have a history of being of tremendous importance, and history
has been very much shaped by religion. Religion should not be taken lightly
either by planners at a geo-political level or by people engaged in helping at the
community level. Religion is, as much as anything, an omni-present force.
But religion can be a great force for good ... it is a great determinant of values,
and it behooves everyone concerned to take an interest in religion and try as
well as possible to understand.
What determines what?
Great care needs to be taken in understanding priority ... even in the most
homogeneous of communities there will be differences, and it is a tremendous
art to build consensus so that everyone can move forward in the most
appropriate way so that there is progress that will be appreciated by everyone.
Data about Community
Meta-Data
It is vital to get to know a lot more about communities. In order to be of value,
however, these data need to be compiled in a useful way that can be used for
meaningful analysis. Data are most valuable when they can be used in some
form of numerical analysis. Information that comes from accounting systems is
denominated in money terms, and this is the conventional way of getting both
financial and economic information.
In order to be supportive of community activities, information about local
community and country organizations needs to be valid ... accurate and
meaningful. But information also needs to be accessible, and current.
Modern technology allows community information to be updated easily, and
can have considerable depth. It can document what is happening today in the
community, and how the community can do better?
Good information starts to give answers that make sense, and can be the basis
for some sustainable progress. Up to now remote rural communities that are
also poor do not have access to much information, but perhaps more important,
planners at the top of the pyramid rarely plan in ways that will get desirable
socio-economic development at the bottom of the pyramid.
Data about Progress
The community is a good place to see socio-economic progress ... or regression.
It is very obvious what is happening, and how it is happening. Sometimes it is
less obvious why it is happening. The community is where the measurement of
relief and development progress should be taking place, and where incremental
resources should being used. The metrics of community progress can be quite
simple ... or very detailed and complicated.
Accounting gives a simple construct for measuring progress. If the corporate
idea of balance sheet is applied to a community, then the change in the balance
sheet is is a measure of progress.
If the resources and situation in a community are documented at a point in time,
and then the same documentation is done a some time later, for example the
beginning and the end of a year, then the difference shows what has happened
over this time.
There is “progress” if a year later the same set of information shows there has
been an “improvement”. There is regression if the information shows that there
has been a “deterioration”.
What is a Profit?
Around 1960, Sir Henry Benson (later Lord Benson), at the time one of
the Senior Managing Partners at Coopers and Lybrand in London, was
asked by a Judge of the High Court “What is a Profit?”.
After a moment of deliberation, Sir Henry replied “My Lord, a profit is
the difference between two balance sheets”.
This is, in my view, one of the most powerful concepts in all of
accounting ... it is totally principled ... and allows for all of the issues
that serve to confuse in modern legalistic accounting.
In most communities to stay the same requires a year of hard work from
everyone. If the rains are good, and the harvest is plentiful, then the work for
the year may show a situation that is improved over the prior year situation. If
the rains to not come, and there is a drought, then the crops fail and the situation
deteriorates over the prior year situation.
Progress can be measured looking at the change in the status of the community
over time, and without having to know very much about the activities of the
community in the time. But if there is also some measurement of the activities, it
then becomes possible to see why the community has performed in the way it
has. When this is understood it is possible to design development interventions
that are the least cost way of improving the communities performance.
Much is possible, but it requires a new framework for the management of
information. Such a framework is technically feasible. Maybe because powerful
people do not want management information that shows performance ... or lack
of it ... socio-economic performance at the community level has never been
implemented on a broad scale
Getting to Know about a Community
There is nothing particularly difficult about getting to know about a community.
Basic information about any community in the world should be reasonably easy
to find. But the fact that information about communities is very difficult to find
suggests that there are some important constraints.
Village People Know About Their Communities
I learned a long time ago that village people, and especially some of the
old people in the village had amazing knowledge about the community,
its history, its people, its problems and its opportunities.
I made visits to villages over several years and in many countries, and
often with a female colleague from Ethiopia. Together, we learned a lot
more than I would have on my own, especially about women and the
community from their perspective. One thing that became clear was the
need to design development initiatives so that they were what the village
needed, and not merely to do things that would satisfy our own, the
donors', prejudices. Almost everywhere we went there were some
modest and very tangible things identified that would have improved
the village situation significantly
After one visit to a village ... it was in Mali in the late 1980s ... I was
able to learn an enormous amount about the history of rainfall in the
area, going back to the 1930s. I started saying to myself after this
experience that “the fact that I do not know something does not mean
that it is not known”.
I learned from this that one of the big opportunities to improve the
process of relief and development is to incorporate community
information into the planning process, and use community priorities to
drive the decisions.
The relief and development sector data collectors ... mainly project staff ... have
done a lot of data collection, but almost none of it is about community nor
organized in a useful way for continuing relief and development performance
analysis. Sometimes there is a focus on individuals and households, or some
aspect of sector activity, such as health, but nothing very much about the
performance of the community and the impact therefore on people and families.
The leaders of the community probably know what to do to make the socioeconomic
conditions better, and they also know the constraints they have to
face.
Collecting community information
A lot of information about communities is known, but it is often in forms that
are difficult or impossible to access using any form of modern technology. Old
people know lots about their communities, but it is in their heads. It needs to be
collected and put into some sort of record. And some of the information then
needs to be put into some sort of electronic record. This is easier said than done,
but I believe it is both worthwhile and quite possible.
Probably the best way to do this is to encourage it to be done by community
people for their own information and guidance ... and to get it put into a form
that can also be used as a component of a universal system of public
information.
It is worth noting that some of the best information about communities is
contained in travel books. The information included in travel books is
information that the authors consider will be useful for people who are visiting,
mainly for their own amusement and pleasure. Much of this information is also
of considerable value for understanding the socio-economic status of the
community and what the community should be doing as a priority to improve
its socio-economic situation. Travel books are often improved by feedback from
travelers. Community socio-economic information can be improved by feedback
from anyone with better or more information.
Sometimes there is a lot of interesting information compiled in political party
data systems. This information is not usually easily accessible, but it is
sometimes of considerable value.
There may also be valuable information about communities in military
information systems. This information is not usually easily accessible by the
public at large, and much is geared to destruction rather than construction.
Sadly, in our modern world, more is probably known about communities so that
they can be bombed than is known so that they can be helped ... something that
ought to be changed.
Community information to support a development process is needed. The
technology to do it is quite easy, but it is not yet organized to be used in this
manner.
Optimizing Resource Allocation
Important Caveat
A community focus for development should be for all communities and not just
for a select few. Over the years there have been a number of initiatives where a
lot of money has been deployed in limited areas ... in my view a very bad idea.
The idea of outsiders selecting communities to support seems to me to be totally
inappropriate. I have seen UN experts trying to do this in the past, and it goes
on today, but it is just plain wrong.
Focal Point for Development – A Wrong Idea
I am reminded of a discussion in Ethiopia some years ago (around 1990)
with (I think) one of the UNDP's Deputy Resident Representatives who
was explaining that because of a shortage of development resources that
the UNDP was recommending that there be focal points of development.
What UNDP had in mind was that scarce development resources would
be concentrated in just a few locations in the country, leaving the rest of
the country unserved by the international relief and development
community. I was horrified by the idea ... development experts
essentially choosing to play God in terms of who deserved assistance.
In a place of chronic resource scarcity, this was a potential death
sentence for people in the unserved areas ... but a convenient
rationalization for a failure of the international system to be effective.
Making community development a “reward” is not a good strategy ... such a
strategy does more to set the stage for future conflict than it helps to move to a
peaceful future.
A new coalition
Development has to be implemented in a different way. The resources flowing
to developing countries in the SOUTH under the present arrangements are
insufficient and badly used.
A new coalition is needed to stop the deterioration of the world's quality of life.
People have the possibility for a much better standard of living, but the present
leadership group and decision makers are ignoring the SOUTH.
The global financial community needs to be a part of a new coalition. They
should be in the coalition because they will benefit from a new era of
development success.
The people of the NORTH need to be part of the new coalition. They have a key
role because it is people who make decisions. The people of the NORTH will
leverage their possibilities through advocacy groups and affinity groups and
networks.
The people of the SOUTH need to be part of the new coalition. Their efforts in
combination with other resources will bring reward to themselves and a
satisfactory return for the funding investors.
Business is a critical part of the new coalition. Business in the NORTH can be of
great assistance to business in the SOUTH, but the terms must be fair to both
and the economic value adding shared between NORTH and SOUTH
The State of the Place
Standard of Living and Quality of Life
Socioeconomic progress is all about people and improving their standard of
living and the quality of life. This is not just about economics and money, it is
about relationships and the environment and hopes and possibilities, not to
mention the spiritual dimension.
Progress is not simply improving the indicators that the NORTH thinks are
important. Progress is different for different people, and depends on the current
priorities of the individuals, the families and the communities.
- For people who are hungry and thirsty, progress is more food and water
- For people with “everything” progress may be a slower and more tranquil life
- For people faced with insecurity and war and violence, progress might be peace and security
- For people faced with the crisis of the health and HIV-AIDs pandemic progress might be more spiritual and material and financial support
- And for parents with children it might be easier access to good education and health care services
- For business people progress might be a better economy and a better market and easier regulations
- For families where there is spousal abuse or child abuse, progress might be psychiatric counseling and treatment
Economic Performance
The oil resource
There should be no issue of economic security in Iraq. The oil revenues for the
next few decades should be sufficient to ensure that all Iraqis are well taken care
of, to the extent that they do not individually accumulate substantial wealth.
The large scale commercial economy has economic security in the form of
savings, some in the form of overseas holdings. The small scale trader also may
have savings, but small. The latter group needs the economy to succeed in order
to have economic security.
Employees
The formal employment sector is not the only economic sector in Iraq. The
current rules about employment and wage levels do not provide much economic
security. Employees need the economy to succeed in order to have jobs in order
to have economic security.
Vulnerable groups
Vulnerable groups, particularly female headed families, disabled and aged are a
particular problem. These groups have traditionally been cared for within the
community as a whole, and this is the best way for this problem to be addressed
for the long term. The community will do a good job caring for these groups if
the community itself is stable and reasonably economically secure. For these
groups, the value of caring and belonging is important, just as getting money or
getting food.
From emergency to development
Analysis of the development process suggests there must be a very strong
commitment to ending emergency interventions and putting the available
resources to work in a development mode to build economic growth. In an
emergency intervention, the assumption is that the beneficiaries have no
economic security, and must rely totally on the provision of emergency goods
and services. Sustainable economic growth will not result in an end to the
“need” for emergency assistance as long as there is the possibility of emergency
assistance.
Income generation and employment
The foundation for economic security is a solid base of income generating
activities and employment. Almost all the initiatives proposed for the
sustainable development of the area and the reintegration of refugees, returnees
and displaced persons are based on the concept that the economic base must be
strengthened. To this end, the various proposals for upgrading of physical
infrastructure are seen not only as long term investments for the improvement
of the economy, but also as critical short term stimulus to employment in the
economy.
Social Performance
Vulnerable groups
Vulnerable groups make up a special case. Many people in this group have lost
the community links that would have helped them in more ordinary times. This
is a problem that must be solved in a manner that is compatible with the social
structure and community structure. Money and assistance may continue to be
given to this group during a transition period, but must be taken over by a
community based initiative within a limited time frame. Funding for the
community initiative should be systematically transferred from official
international aid to becoming a local responsibility together with other forms of
aid and charity.
Vulnerable groups, particularly female headed families, disabled and aged are a particular problem. Thes groups have traditionally been cared for within the community as a whole. and this is the best way for tfor this problem to be addressed for the long term. The community caill do a good job for caring for these groups if the community itself is stable and reasonably economically sec ure. For these groups the value of caring and belonging is important, just as gettingh money or getting food.
Environmental Performance
Importance of Natural Capital
Natural capital is an important enabler of the sustainable operation of a very complex interconnected global ecosystem
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