1.6.2  Why is community participation so important?

When people are involved and participate in an activity, they develop a sense of ownership and responsibility, which helps to sustain initiatives, activities and programmes. It also has the following benefits:

• Increased availability of resources as community members willingly contribute time and resources to what they consider to be their own initiatives and activities.
• A sense of unity among community members.
• Increasing confidence as the successes of their contributions are registered.
• People are empowered to exercise their skills, talents and develop their potential.
• Behaviour change will be quicker and easier.
• Controlling harmful traditional practices becomes easier.