Facilitating Change through

Partnership and Community

Participation

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IntroductionIntroduction

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Sarawak’s population (as of November 2004) = 2.2mil

~ made up of various ethnic groups namely Iban, Chinese, Malay, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu

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Educational level~ Malaysia’ literacy rate = 93.5%

~ figure for Sarawak unavailable at this moment

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Geographical make-up~ mostly tropical jungle and limited infrastructure

~ however, state government ensures that the population is exposed to & understands its socio-economic development policy through activities conducted

by AZAM

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Community Participation - RationaleCommunity Participation - Rationale

~ Established in 1983, AZAM was created to disseminate information on the state's development policies & to ensure the populations' involvement through community participation when participants observe, understand and internalise that positive benefits can be gained

~ community participation does not usually occur by chance alone ~ AZAM organises and monitors programmes on Community Development,

Knowledge Management and Sharing, Communication, Youth and Women.

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Education Needs for Community Participation Education Needs for Community Participation ~ the participatory approach undertaken by AZAM focuses more on the

development of human capacities and capabilities (non-formal education)~ in 1996, AZAM, with the financial assistance of the Human Resource Department

in the Chief Minister's Office of Sarawak has embarked on a community-leadership programme called The Basic Course for Community Leaders

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~ this programme trains local community/grassroot leaders in the proper management of the village

~ goals of the programme:(i) produce independent and self-sufficient community when it

comes to the running of its day-to-day activities (ii) to enable the community to strategize and work towards a

vision for a better future.

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Knowledge Sharing Knowledge Sharing

~ AZAM has initiated regular roundtable discussions (randau) with members of the local grassroot communities to expose them to the socio-economic policies of the state & the development idea of the nation's leaders.

~ established the AZAM-SDI Knowledge Centre (ASK Centre) where it is building its collection of materials on development

~ this centre could serve as a reference point for any organisations/individuals that would like to learn or share experiences on AZAM's focus area which is community development and knowledge management.

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Environment and Sustainable Development Environment and Sustainable Development ~ projects that ensure that the community is able to sustain itself (i) GEF-Small Grants Programme (GEF-SGP) for Sustaining the Mangrove

Ecosystem Biodiversity in Providing Sustainable Livelihood for Local Communities in Sematan

(a) to curb the fishing and mangrove forest logging which are the two main income generation of the local community in

Sematan. (b) the project's main programmes are Research, Awareness and Alternative Income Generation Programme. (c) to sustain and conserve the Sematan mangrove biodiversity that will provide sustainable livelihoods to the local community.

~ AZAM coordinates the local community involvement in the project programmes and activities as well as act as the 'intermediate NGO' and fund manager/controller.

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(ii) GEF Small Grants Project: Community Participation in the Sustainable Management and Fishing of Terubok (Tenualosa toli) in the coastal areas and estuaries of the state.

(a) The two-year project, initiated in 2001 by SDI, aimed at educating and enhancing awareness of the local fishing community on the importance of terubok conservation

and to encourage the adoption of alternative livelihoods.

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Gender Issues in Development Gender Issues in Development

~ Issues of gender including gender equity have been considered an important crosscutting issue in development.

~ women's key role in raising a healthy family is an integral part of development. ~ AZAM is currently conducting the Rural Women and Voluntarism workshops

targeting the rural women in the state in order to expose these women to the spirit of voluntarism and its importance to the community’s social and economic development.

~ Thus far, a total of 03 workshops were held in three different venues in which about 100 women participated.

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Youth and Nation-BuildingYouth and Nation-Building

~ Youth as leaders of tomorrow have a great role to play in achieving sustainable development.

~ instead of providing programmes that delivers services to youths, structured service programmes allow youths to play an important role in addressing development priorities within the communities.

~ AZAM, in collaboration with the Konrad Adeneur Foundation (KAF) of Germany, initiated the AZAM Young Communicators Club (AYCC) programme in the late 1990s.

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~ The programme involves young school children aged between ten and eleven years and have the objectives of

(i) instilling among these students, their roles and responsibilities towards conserving the environment

(ii) help them plan, prepare and identify careers that are suitable to their aptitude, and

(iii) produce students who are forward thinking, creative, proactive and analytical.

~ AYCC, provides ‘hands-on’ learning opportunities, create a pathway to further training, offer constructive alternatives to negative behaviours and empower the youths to be active in socio-economic issues in their community.

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Media and Its Role in Community Participation Media and Its Role in Community Participation ~ AZAM has, for the past one decade; actively involved the media in delivering the

developmental agenda of policy-makers through its joint programmes and activities with private institutions such as the Malaysian Press Institute and the Commonwealth Journalists Association

~ AZAM also engages the expertise of local journalists and writers by identifying programmes and projects of interests in which the media personnels can write about as well as participate in.

~ AZAM not only uses the print media, but also the electronic media especially the radio where it is considered to be more effective because its wider outreach

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ConclusionConclusion

~ Community participation encompasses a full range of activities from sharing information, to actively pursuing participants’ feedback and to jointly planning at the grassroots level.

~ It is an active two-way process ~ AZAM is the lead non-government organisation (NGO) that has been

implementing various forms of non-formal education in effecting social change in the state of Sarawak

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Terima Kasih

Terima Kasih