Building linkages with community groups for accessibility and sustainable development

Abstract

Many communities and their residents, especially in the rural areas still live in obscure environments where under service and exclusion prevent them from participating in decisions that concern their lives. These are citizens who have rights to functional existence, good governance and information literacy. The project of “Voice to the people” sampled 32 pilot communities in South East Nigeria for information awareness creation where voice was given to the poor and marginalized. The librarian in the beneficial organization with the Project Team executed baseline studies, identified the community stakeholders, leaders of all communities’ groups for engagement and sensitization. This Team became involved with communities’ events and programs, building their capacities in advocacies, charter of demands and work plans for invited spaces to participate and contribute in nation building. Spaces were created for women inclusion, youths and people with disabilities (PWDs) in order to build strong sustainable communities. There were institutionalizations of Town Hall meetings, invited spaces for constituency dialogues with community representatives in village squares. Communities started driving their own developments, passing information across all groups and consulting the Project Team for knowledge resources and partnerships. This project started by dissipating the shrouded uncertainty with steady flow of information activities.