MODULE V SOCIAL MOBILIZATION

Effective social mobilization goes beyond community

organizations, harnessing the potential and efforts of government sector
and citizens to work for economic, social and political sustainable
progress and development. The benefits of social mobilization to
community organizations and its impact locally as well as nationally can
best be sustained within an enabling political, efficient and effective
policy and regulatory environment, where mechanisms for linking
experiences and lessons at the community level, wherein excellent
policy framework are being developed.

The Concept of Social Mobilization

Social mobilization is an approach and a tool that enables people

to organize for collective and collaborative social action, by pooling
resources and building solidarity required to resolve common and
priority problems, working towards community advancement. It is a
process that empowers men and women to organize their own
democratically self-governing groups or community organizations,
which enable them to initiate and control their own personal as well as
communal developments, as opposed to mere participation in an
initiative designed by the government and nongovernment
organizations.

Key Elements of Social Mobilization

From worldwide experience, there are four (4) basic elements of

social mobilization:

1. ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT – is a process in which

the community members, and especially the under-privileged,
the marginalized, and most of all the poorest of the poor in
the countryside, to form their own groups or organizations
based on the common developmental interests, needs and
demands that are best served by organizing themselves
as legitimate groupings. “Before one becomes a member of a
CBO, the individual struggles against a harsh environment.
Once he/she is organized in a broad-based group, the
individual has the leverage with which to address and tackle
problems which one could have done alone” (Pandey, 2002).

Promoting self-reliance, especially of the poor members of the

organization which would in turn, enhance their ability to participate
in the organization’s affairs on an equal bases.

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2. CAPITAL FORMATION for DEVELOPMENT through
COMMUNITY SAVINGS
Capital formation (through mobilization of savings)
enhances a community organization’s power to realize its full
potential. “Savings generated by individual members are the
assets of the community organization and are the first step
towards their self-reliance” (Pandey, 2002). Accumulated savings
can be used for internal credit with interest, to enable the
individual members to engage for income generating activities
while, at the same time accumulating the organization’s capital
outlay. They can as well be used for enterprise development at
the community level. Savings can serve as the basis for access to
external services, for instance, microfinance lending institution.
They can also form the basis for community organization’s
contribution to local development initiatives, which is essential in
localities where government is able to address and cater social
needs of a community where resources are very limited.

3. TRAINING for HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

Community members can maximize their potential not only

by organizing themselves, but also by upgrading their existing
skills to better manage new inputs – putting small scale business
enterprise, community cooperatives, and establish linkages with
local government units (LGU) and nongovernment organization
(NGO), these are the change agents for social mobilization
process that will facilitate support like direct training, exchange
visits and other capacity building activities based on the needs and
demands identified by the members of the community
organization. These can cover organizational development,
leadership, savings and credits programmes, agriculture, natural
resource management, and other key areas. Local human resource
development can best be promoted when trained individuals take
up the responsibility to train other community members.

4. SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Socio-economic development initiatives are a great

incentive for community members to organize themselves. It is
extremely important therefore, that an initiative which includes
social mobilization provides support in the form of matching
grants or access to credit, marketing and other business services,
that will lead to realize tangible improvements in social economic
conditions within the community. The process of identifying
community priorities, participatory planning, implementing and
monitoring of members will help not only to improve local
conditions, but as well as to empower people and their
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 organization. If well facilitated, then this process can result to an
enormous institutional capacity, enhanced social status for the
disadvantaged like women, youth, children and the down-
trodden poorest of the poor. These, in turn will motivate people
to remain organized, as they begin to enjoy the benefits of
collective action, and recognize its potential to create and
influence change in their respective communities where they live.

Facilitating social mobilization process

While there are grassroots or social movements that have

emerged from within their communities, the isolation of poverty and
resulting passivity or powerlessness of citizens, particularly in rural areas
of developing countries, calls for external support at the initial stages of
social mobilization process.
In countries with depleted experience of social mobilization, a
conglomeration of international and national community mobilizers
bring to bear international experience and local knowledge which are
both essential factors for a milestone of success.

The following should be undertaken in social mobilization:

ADVOCACY – element which is focused on various people which

could create positive environment for program or service delivery.

INFORMATION, EDUCATION and COMMUNICATION (IEC)

a set of accurate and consistent information on the programs and
services as a timely response by those in direct contact with the
communities.

COMMUNITY ORGANIZING – individual and community

groups are able to get a sense of what they can do and not what the
government can do for them to improve the situation.

CAPACITY BUILDING – Social mobilization can only be sustained

if the network of advocates and mobilizers are spontaneously expanded
through
• Capacity of building people
• Institutional Development and Organization

COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT and PROGRAM

SUSTAINABILITY

• Empowerment is a process of people taking action to

overcome obstacles to progress and development where this
action involves getting more control over the situation.

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• Community Empowerment enables individuals and the
community to do their own thinking and reflection to improve
their situation.
• Sustainability comes only when individuals, groups, and
communities have ownership of the problem and in which
they are able to act on their own.

INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• Seeks to improve the ability of the institution to carry out its

mandate, mission and vision, as well as the ardent desire to
achieve its goals and objectives.
• Key levels: systems, processes, networks, financial capacity,
physical infrastructure and management of resources.

NETWORKING and BUILDING ALLIANCES

• Social mobilization’s success depends on the identification of

relevant individuals and groups that can contribute to the
achievement of the program’s goals.

- Partners are those with whom we work directly

- Allies are those who have similar interests and programs
with us, but with whom we may not work directly.

• BENEFITS OF SOCIAL MOBILIZATION

Poverty Alleviation – Social mobilization is an important

entity in poverty alleviation process, as it enables communities
and the poor themselves to engage actively in solving their
own pressing problems, and thereby effectively tackling
poverty in its multi-dimensional form. The principles of social
mobilization ensure equity, hence issues and problems of
gender based, racial and cultural based discrimination are most
likely addressed.

Promoting Democratic Governance – experience

shows that poverty and bad governance mutually reinforce, as
they foster exclusion of citizens from decision making
processes, lack of access to basic services, lack of opportunity,
dependency, and limited availability of public goods. Social
mobilization must be institutionalized within government for
it to be effective. This would encourage participation in
decision-making, building capacity for participatory planning,
building a common vision on development, and ensure
transparency. Institutionalization of such efforts can only be

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 effective if a decentralized system of governance, including
fiscal decentralization is in place and functional. Social
mobilization can facilitate tripartite leadership at the local
level, making society more effective as a third and legitimate
partner in development.
Creating demands for good governance through social
mobilization must be completed with increased capacity of the
local government, to manage efficiently and effectively
respond to this demand, thus improve its governance practices.
Capacity building efforts must therefore target civil society
organizations, and to include among others are the CBO’s,
elected representatives, and government entity.

Environmental Management – is the act of organizing

people to better manage their gifts of nature and fight against
environmental hostile practices by promoting appropriate
legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks, policy and
dialogue.

Conflict Prevention – as people organize to cater common

problems, and to collectively as well as collaboratively
improve their socio-economic conditions in an equitable,
democratic and transparent manner.

The series of mobilization and management

training interventions goes something like this
(modified according to varying situation).

Sensation and
Clearance
Awareness raising

Mobilizer training

Official Completion
Ceremony Unity
Organizing

Work Continues Participatory

Until Completion Assessment

Implementation Management
begins Training

Monitoring & Recording Community Action

Plan (CAP)
Negotiation
Community Project
Design

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SENSITIZATION and CLERANCE – Dialogue with local leaders and
government officials.

AWARENESS RAISING – Public meetings with members of target

communities.

MOBILIZER TRAINING – Organizing the community workers

UNITY ORGANIZING – Putting together different community units
MANAGEMENT TRAINING – Training of community leaders and
mobilizers, on how to prepare and write effective project proposals and
designs.

PARTICIPATORY ASSESSMENT – identifying priority problems, priority

goals as solutions.

COMMUNITY ACTION PLAN (CAP) – Consistent with District plans

and community priorities.

COMMUNITY PROJECT DESIGNS – created from and submitted by

target communities as project proposals.

NEGOTIATION – proposals are discussed until they meet everyone’s

expectations.

IMPLEMENTATION BEGINS – Work on community projects by

community members starts.

MONITORING and REPORTING – Following up and preparing

updated reports on progress and development.

WORK CONTINUES UNTIL COMPLETION – Implementation,

monitoring, reporting, payments.

OFFICIAL COMPLETION CEREMONY – Invite more community

project designs.

COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT PROCESSES

I Situational Analysis – it is a collective process of examining

the prevailing social, political, economic, environmental, cultural,
spiritual conditions of a given community. It is a preparatory step to the
actual planning process.

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Roles of Community Workers in Situational Analysis

1. Determine how they can improve the prevailing situation to achieve

community goals.
2. Collectively understand and define community needs and problems.
3. Identify change strategies and resources, and making decisions on
how to implement the identified solutions.

Steps in Facilitating Situational Analysis

1. Community Orientation
2. Data Gathering
3. Data Processing
4. Preparation of Community Profile
5. Presentation, Validation and Approval of the Community Profile
6. Finalization of the Community Profile and Dissemination

II Community Planning – it is a process through which the people

collectively define their priority problems and concerns, determine their
development vision, set their goals and objectives, identify resources
which they can utilize, and develop a plan of action to achieve
community goals.

Roles of Community Workers in Planning

1. Enable people to address their community needs, issues, problems

and concerns.
2. Develop planning skills
3. Involve community members in decision-making
4. Provide community members with a process where they can plan
their own progress and development
5. Guide the community members in developing a plan of action
geared towards achieving community goals

Steps in Facilitating Community Planning

1. Formation of Community Planning Team

2. Community Visioning
3. Setting of Community Goals and Objectives
4. Identifying Resources and Constraints
5. Preparation of Community Plan of Action and Budget
6. Presentation, Community Validation and Approval of the
Community Plan of Action and Budget
7. Finalization of Community Profile and Dissemination Information

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III Implementation – it is a process of carrying out the projects and
activities in the community action plan. Its main purpose is to test the
feasibility or the workability of the plan projects and activities, then
institute the necessary change or modifications when deemed necessary.

Roles of Community Workers during Implementation

1. Oversee and direct the implementation of projects and activities

2. Conduct information-dissemination and advocacy campaign on the
community plan
3. Motivate the community members to contribute to the projects and
activities
4. Monitor the status of implementation or come up with a checklist,
or bulletin of the status, progress and development of projects and
activities
5. Make a quick or immediate adjustments by consultation with the
community members should there are issues, problems and concerns
arise
6. Coordinate various activities, tasks, and efforts of community
members
7. Mobilize community resources for the projects or activities
8. Conduct regular consultation and feed backing with community
members
9. Clarify roles of each member on projects or activities
10.Manage interpersonal relationships and conflict management
11. Facilitate team-building activities by reflection processes and value
formation and strengthening

What is Community?

A community as described by Ross (1967), and cited by Tucay

(2002), in her paper regarding community organizing, is an aggregation
of families and individual areas, settled in a fairly compact and
contiguous geographical areas, with significant elements of common life
as shown by manners, customs, traditions and mode of speech. She
further elaborated that the patterns or relationship among the people
of the community may be ordered by special groups or entities like the
schools, churches, professions or other welfare bodies. A geographic
community must have a special interest groups and sectors, and also a
combination of social units and systems like economic, political and
socio-cultural.

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Social Mobilization Planning Framework

Situational Analysis
- Socio-economic
Political Environment
- Problem Needs
Vision, Mission, Desired Action
Program Goals / Object
and Objectives

Social Mobilization
Analysis
- Political Will
- Service Providers
KSA
- Target Beneficiaries
KASP
- Gaps in Legislation,
Implementation of
Laws
- Community
Involvement
- Media Scene
- Resource
STRATEGIC
THRUSTS
OPERATIONAL - Advocacy
MONITORING - Activities - Information
AND - Expected Output Education, and
EVALUATION Outline Communication
- Timetable - Community
- Responsibility Center Organizing
- Resource and - Networking /
Budgetary Alliance
Requirement

What is a Community Organizing?

It is a social development approach that aims to transform the

apathetic, individualistic and voiceless under-privileged, marginalized,
and the down-trodden poorest of the poor into dynamic, participative,
interactive, as well as politically responsive community. It is likewise
similar to a form of experiential learning, and a non-formal learning
process. With this knowledge and awareness in community organizing,
they would be able to put into practice on how to go about community
welfare services.
Community welfare service is applying a collective and
collaborative, participative, interactive, transformative, democratic and
systematic process to improve positively the quality of life for a
sustainable progress and development in the community. It encourages
the enrichment of the basic social welfare needs and services in an area,
where we are mobilizing the mass-based groups to exercise their
collective effort to initiate efficient and effective programs and projects,
where we can produce successful results that are wholesome, useful, and
favourable to them.

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 Making them aware of the significance of cooperation in their
endeavours, is one of the roles of CWTS students in their pursuit of
helping the community organize their programs and projects for their
own welfare, and most especially for the poorest of the poor in the
community.

Conditions to Consider in Community Organization

1. Recognize and deal with issues, problems and concerns

accordingly
2. Provide the community for self-determination
3. Engage the community in a conflict resolution actively
4. Move at a pace that is deemed convenience for the community
5. Encourage growth through problem solving and conflict
resolution to attain peace and security of the community
6. Foster community self-integration, understanding, and cultural
assimilation

Goals of Community Organizing

1. People’s Empowerment – it aims to teach how to achieve

efficient and effective power for the people to overcome their
voiceless and powerlessness, and thereby develop through
their ingenuity and capacity to institute reforms, then create
their own plans, as well as assert their inherent and
constitutional rights and uphold their pride and dignity due to
them.
2. Building Permanent Structures and People’s
Organization – it aims to establish and sustain aspirations
of people to ensure their maximum participation and provide
the best avenue for them to establish linkages with other
groups and sectors
3. Improve Quality of Life – it is the mobilization of human
and material resources geared towards fulfilling the basic needs
of life such as food, clothing, shelter, health, education and
recreation. You can introduce programs and projects for
sustainable progress and development that are conducive and
relevant to the needs and demands of the community where
they live.

Conclusion

Social Mobilization is an approach that empowers people to

participate actively in a development process – through their own local
initiatives, well-informed, as well as constructive dialogue at the policy

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 level. It is extremely important as a tool for mobilizing and engaging
isolated, passive and the mass-based members of our society; hence, its
popularity with poverty alleviation and reduction, along with
decentralized governance and programs worldwide.
Its efficiency and effectiveness depend largely on the
appropriateness and the systematic approach used within a given
cultural, socio-economic and political environment. As a whole, it is an
efficient and effective tool for building a well-informed, proactive and
strong civil society, making it valuable partner for government, as well
as for private sector, in shaping up the national sustainable progress and
development that is equitable, desirable and favourable for everyone.

Suggested Activities

Activity 1 Draw me a picture

Purpose: To get the students idea on Social Mobilization

Materials Needed: Several sheets of manila paper, crayons, pentel pens, and
masking tape

Procedure:
1. Explain the purpose of the activity
2. Divide the class into small groups of 5. Ask each group to choose
their own facilitator and documentary in-charge. Provide each group
with a set of manila paper, crayons, pentel pens.
3. Ask each group to discuss the following desired questions:

a) What is your own understanding of Social Mobilization?

b) Why do you have to undertake Social Mobilization?
c) What are the specific objectives of the Social Mobilization?
d) How would you like to participate in the Social
Mobilization?
e) What are your operational plans for Social Mobilization?
f) How would you envision the community you decided to
work with after your Social Mobilization?

4. Ask them to draw the results of their discussion.

5. During the plenary session, ask each group to present their drawing
and discuss exhaustively the context.
6. Summarize the presentations, and take note of the similarities and
differences with other groups.
7. Guide the participants in coming up with a common mission-vision
of the community they decided to work with later.

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Activity 2 Role Playing

Purpose: To enable the students to identify existing issues, pressing

problems and concerns, which they need to be aware of, and
provide guidance in Social Mobilization.

Materials Needed:

Role – play scripts, and other materials necessary for the

presentation

Procedure:

1. Divide the students into small groups of four (4) or five (5)
each
2. Tell them to discuss what they think are the major problems,
confronting their community, and come up with a play which
they think will perform as a group.
3. Get the feedback from each group after the presentation.
4. After all the groups have presented their play, discuss the
problems relevant to their play, then try to reach a consensus
on what they think should be considered significantly as major
problems, issues and concerns of the community.
5. Summarize the results of the discussion.

Activity 3 Social Mobilization Workshop

Purpose: Come up with a Situational Analysis Report of Your Community.

Materials Needed: Manila paper, pentel pens and other needed materials.

Procedure: 1. Divide the students into a small groups of four (4) or five (5).
2. Tell each group to do the following:
Identify programs and projects that can efficiently and
effectively eradicate pressing issues, problems and concerns
prevailing in the community on the following areas.

a) Poverty alleviation and reduction

b) Promoting democratic governance
c) Environmental Management
d) Conflict Prevention and Resolution
e) Defining community needs and problems
f) Identifying strategies and resources, and in making
decisions on how to implement the identified situations.
g) Coming-up with base-line data

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 h) Identify Resources and Constraints

3. After group discussion, allow each group to write their output

on the Manila paper
4. Encourage each group to give their comments and point of
views for every presentation
5. Summarize the group program / project plans. Recognize the
efforts of the students and guide them in their implementation,
monitoring and evaluation of the programs or projects that
each has instituted and implemented.

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