Masters Degrees (Centre for Development Support)

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Browsing Masters Degrees (Centre for Development Support) by Subject "Community development"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Communication mechanisms and community participation in the planning and implementation of community development projects: a case study of a girls' education project in Malawi
    (University of the Free State, 19-Jan) Pemba, Phillip Robert; Magaiza, Grey
    Top-down development approaches seldom yield sustainable development. Development programmes, projects and processes ought to embrace effective community participation to be inclusive and sustainable. This has resulted in an endless search for effective approaches to achieve active local people’s participation in development among researchers and practitioners, leading to emergence of many paradigms such as the people-centred development paradigm. Globally, the practice of people-centred development has not fully yielded the desired impact as many local communities still experience socio-economic deprivations and exclusions. One reason for this is lack of active participation of local people in their own development. While many factors affect people’s participation in development, poor communication has emerged as one cause of passive community participation in development. Thus, having effective communication mechanisms in community development projects helps to engender active community participation in the projects and achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which aims to realise inclusive development that leaves no one behind. Therefore, this study set out to explore communication pathways and community participation in community development projects, with a specific focus on why communication mechanisms across community participation structures in community development projects fail to galvanise genuine popular participation in the projects. The study analysed communication mechanisms in a project within a girls’ education programme, called the Joint Programme on Girls Education in Malawi, one of the poorest countries in Africa and in the world. The analysis was done at three sites in three districts where the programme is implemented. Data for this research derived from a case study of the girls’ education project in Malawi. The study investigated the project in the context of the District Development Planning System (DDPS), which the Malawi government established in 1998 to promote active local participation in the planning and implementation of development projects across the country. Generally, the research noted that, while structures for community participation may be in place in projects, people’s use of the structures to actualise their participation largely depends on how communication pathways function across the structures. Communication mechanisms ought to embrace the elements, principles and practices of development communication to succeed at mobilising active community participation in community development projects.
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    From welfare to community development - the role of local congregations as agents of development in the Mangaung metropolitan area
    (University of the Free State, 19-Jan) Bezuidenhout, Lynette; Ellis, Willem
    Local Christian churches have been identified as development partners needed to address the challenges of poverty and inequality in South Africa. Leaders of local congregations influence the manner in which these congregations become involved in their respective communities. This research indicates a need for the churches in Mangaung to foster an understanding of people-centred, participatory development in leaders and members, and address the legacy of apartheid to move away from the charity mind-set that determines its current involvement in surrounding communities.
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    Youth and social entrepreneurship: the case of Phuthaditjhaba, Free State
    (University of the Free State, 2023) Mosia, Ngaka Martin; Van Rooyen, Deidre
    As young people will determine the future of social entrepreneurship, gaining an in-depth understanding of their engagement is essential. The study aimed to explore the youths' awareness and insights of social entrepreneurship to be able to address Phuthaditjhaba's socio-economic difficulties. Through an adopted exploratory case study and purposive sampling, data was collected from 13 research participants, using a qualitative research method and thematic analysis was used to analyse data. The research discovered that the good relationship between young aspiring social entrepreneurs, young social entrepreneurs and relevant stakeholders in social entrepreneurship can unlock the potential of youth social entrepreneurship to address socio-economic challenges to enhance community development in Phuthaditjhaba, Free State. The study recommends that to enhance community development through social entrepreneurship, effective management strategies on organisational and community level should be formulated that inform a good practice to solve socio-economic challenges and maximise impact. The study closes the limited research gap by laying down and documenting youth social entrepreneurship understanding and experiences in addressing socio-economic challenges facing communities, especially in the South African context. Therefore, further study about young social entrepreneurs' relationship-building skills with stakeholders is required.