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Copar: Community Organizing Participatory Action Research

COPAR (Community Organizing Participatory Action Research) is a social development approach that aims to transform apathetic, poor communities into dynamic, participatory communities. It is a continuous process where communities identify needs, develop confidence to take action, and extend cooperative attitudes. COPAR uses progressive cycles of action-reflection-action to raise critical awareness and solve long-term problems through collective work on immediate needs. The process is participatory, mass-based, and group-centered to empower the poor and oppressed. Key phases include pre-entry, entry, sustenance/strengthening, and phase out. Capacity building aims to increase a community's ability to meet its goals through commitment, resources, and skills.

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Lloyd Rafael Estabillo
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151 views

Copar: Community Organizing Participatory Action Research

COPAR (Community Organizing Participatory Action Research) is a social development approach that aims to transform apathetic, poor communities into dynamic, participatory communities. It is a continuous process where communities identify needs, develop confidence to take action, and extend cooperative attitudes. COPAR uses progressive cycles of action-reflection-action to raise critical awareness and solve long-term problems through collective work on immediate needs. The process is participatory, mass-based, and group-centered to empower the poor and oppressed. Key phases include pre-entry, entry, sustenance/strengthening, and phase out. Capacity building aims to increase a community's ability to meet its goals through commitment, resources, and skills.

Uploaded by

Lloyd Rafael Estabillo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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COPAR

COMMUNITY
ORGANIZING
PARTICIPATORY
ACTION RESEARCH
 COMMUNITY ORGANIZING
PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH
(COPAR) is a social development
approach that aims to transform the
apathetic, poor into dynamic,
participatory and politically responsive
community.
 A process by which a community
identifies its needs and objectives,
develops confidence to take action in
respect to them and in doing so, extends
and develops cooperative and
collaborative attitudes and practices in
the community.
 A continuous and sustained process of
educating the people to understand and
develop their critical awareness of their
existing conditions, working with the
people collectively and efficiently on their
immediate needs toward solving their
long-term problems.
 A middle ground where the health care
worker and the people need to attain
community organization. A liberal
freedom of the community where the
people are allowed to participate in the
overall health care status of their
community
 A transformation force, that enables the
individuals, families and communities to be
responsible for their own health.
Importance of c o p a r
 COPAR is an important tool for community
development and people empowerment as
this helps the community workers to
generate community participation in
development of activities.
 COPAR prepares people to eventually take
over the management of a development
program in the future. COPAR maximizes
community participation and involvement;
community resources are mobilized for
health development services.
PRINCIPLES OF COPAR
 People, especially the oppressed,
exploited and deprived sectors are open
to change, have the capacity to change
and are able to bring about change.
COPAR should be based on the interests
of the poorest sectors of the society.
COPAR should lead to a self-reliant
community and society.
Process/methods used in copar
 A PROGRESSIVE CYCLE OF
ACTION-REFLECTION-ACTION :
 Which begins in small, local and concrete
issues identified by the people and the
evaluation and reflection of and on the
action taken by them. A PROGRESSIVE
CYCLE OF ACTION-REFLECTION-
ACTION
 CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING :
 CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING
Through experiential learning is central to
the COPAR process because it places
emphasis on learning that emerges from
concrete action and which encircles
succeeding action
 COPAR IS PARTICIPATORY &
MASS-BASED :
 COPAR IS PARTICIPATORY & MASS-
BASED Because it is primarily directed
towards and biased in favor of the poor,
the powerless and the oppressed.
 COPAR IS GROUP-CENTERED :
 COPAR IS GROUP-CENTERED And not
leader centered. Leaders are identified,
emerge and are tested through action
rather than appointed or selected by
some external force or entity.
Phases of c o p a r
 Pre- Entry Phase :
 THE INITIAL PHASE OF THE
ORGANIZING PROCESS WHERE THE
COMMUNITY ORGANIZER LOOKS FOR
COMMUNITIES TO SERVE OR HELP.
 IT IS THE MOST COMPLEX PHASE IN
TERMS OF ACTUAL OUTPUTS,
ACTIVITIES, AND STRATEGIES AND TIME
SPENT FOR IT.
 ENTRY PHASE :
 ENTRY PHASE SOMETIMES CALLED THE
IMMERSION PHASE AS IT THE ACTIVITIES
DONE HERE INCLUDES THE
SENSITIZATION OF THE PEOPLE ON THE
CRITICAL EVENTS IN THEIR LIFE,
MOTIVATING THEM TO SHARE THEIR
DREAMS AND IDEAS ON HOW TO
MANAGE THEIR CONCERNS AND
EVENTUALLY MOBILIZING THEM TO
MAKE COLLECTIVE ACTION ON THESE.
 SUSTENANCE AND STRENGTHENING
PHASE :
 OCCUR WHEN THE COMMUNITY
ORGANIZATION HAS ALREADY BEEN
ESTABLISHED AND THE COMMUNITY-WIDE
UNDERTAKINGS.
 AT THIS POINT, THE DIFFERENT COMMITTEES
SET-UP IN THE ORGANIZATION-BUILDING
PHASE ARE ALREADY EXPECTED TO BE
FUNCTIONING BY WAY OF PLANNING,
IMPLEMENTING AND EVALUATING THEIR OWN
PROGRAMS, W/ THE OVERALL GUIDANCE FROM
THE COMMUNITY-WIDE ORGANIZATION.
 PHASE OUT :
 THE PHASE WHEN THE HEALTH CARE
WORKERS LEAVE THE COMMUNITY TO
STAND-ALONE. THIS PHASE SHOULD BE
STATED DURING THE ENTRY PHASE SO
THAT THE PEOPLE WILL BE READY TO
FOR THIS PHASE. THE ORGANIZATIONS
BUILT SHOULD BE READY TO SUSTAIN
THE TEST OF THE COMMUNITY ITSELF
BECAUSE THE REAL EVALUATION WILL
BE DONE BY THE RESIDENTS OF THE
COMMUNITY ITSELF.
Capacity Building
for Sustainable
Community Health
Development
is a process that aims to increase a
community’s ability to work together to
meets its goals and needs. Capacity
building works to enhance the strengths a
community already has. Capacity is built
from:
Commitment: the will to act;
Resources: including both financial and
other resources; and
Skills: talents and expertise
So what is ‘capacity’?
 Capacity is the ability of individuals,
organisations, institutions and societies to
set and achieve objectives, solve problems,
and perform functions sustainably
 Capacity components include skills, systems,
structures, processes, values, resources
and – crucially – powers
 These components confer a range of
political, managerial and technical
capabilities
(UNDP, 2006)
Dimensions of Community
Capacity
 Participation & leadership
 Skills
 Resources
 Social & inter-agency networks
 Sense of community
 Understanding of community history
 Community power
 Community values
 Critical reflection
SD capacity development principles
1. Don’t rush the long-term process
2. Respect and foster value systems
3. Scan everywhere for ideas, but reinvent locally
4. Change mindsets and power differentials
5. Aim overtly for capacity, not just as a by-product
6. Start with local processes – integrate external
inputs
7. Stay engaged even here capacity remains weak
8. Be accountable to beneficiaries
9. Emphasise learning by doing
10. Support those with real – not just de jure –
responsibility

 Each is easy to understand, but challenging to achieve

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