COMMUNITY
ENGAGEMENT,
SOLIDARITY AND
CITIZENSHIP
Every community has its own
issues and problems that are
needed to be resolved. There
are issues that are being a
subject
matter
of
the
argumentation
and
discussions of the people.
There are also problems
wherein
conditions
are
undesired by people which
they tend to seek solutions.
Due to the above stated realities in the
community, actions and initiatives from its
members are very relevant and needed.
Being a member of the community, you
should take part in the said actions, to
address the issues and problems, so that
community life will be better for you and
other community members.
Thus, the process of collaborative work between
the individuals and groups known as community
engagement will take place in the community
action initiatives. A community initiative is
generally a network of individuals and partner
organizations dedicated to improve the health
and welfare of a community. It seeks to deal with
and reduce the effect of social problems, in order
to improve peoples' quality of life. They vary by
community, but may address issues such as
homelessness, drug abuse, domestic violence,
and many others.
The Core Values
of Community
Action Initiatives
WHAT ARE THE CORE VALUES?
According to Oxford Dictionary, core values
are principles or beliefs that a person or
organization views as being of central
importance. Another definition of core
values is that these “are the fundamental
beliefs of a person or organization. These
are guiding principles dictate the behavior
and can help people understand the
difference between right and wrong.”
Core Values also
help to determine
if they are on the
right path and
fulfilling their
goals by creating
an unwavering
guide.
The Core
Values and
Principles of
Communityaction Initiatives
Based on the book of (Taguibao et. al 2016),
There is no single approach to community
development and as such, initiatives and
actions that are intended to address
community issues and problems must
consider different tools and methods that
are appropriate to the context of the
community. Essentially, community actions
must give members and leaders a “voice”
in the community action.
In that sense, the following are
the core values that must be
taken into consideration in
making community action
initiatives and plans.
• Human rights
• 2. Social Equity
• 3. Gender equality
• 4. Participatory development
HUMAN RIGHTS
According to the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights (OHCHR), it is defined as “the rights
inherent to all human beings whatever our
nationality, place of residence, sex,
national or ethnic origin, color, religion,
language or any other status.
It is also defined as the supreme, inherent,
and inalienable rights to life, to dignity, and
to self-development. It is concerned with
issues in both areas of civil and political
rights and economic, social and cultural
rights founded on internationally accepted
human rights obligations.
In this sense, each person, even
before coming into this world
and getting out of its mother’s
womb, have already have rights,
like right to live, which is a
natural right. Upon birth and
growing up, citizenship and other
rights and entitlements are
already alongside to the child,
such as the right to a name and
nationality, the right to health
and nutrition, the right to shelter,
the right to education and the
likes.
Also, here are
the human
rights included
in the United
Nations
declaration:
Natural Rights - The liberty and the pursuit of
happiness.
Civil Rights - privacy, property, religion,
expression, contract and movement
Political Rights - assembly, petition, suffrage, direct
and indirect participation, self-determination, selfgovernment and election to public office
All of these and more are our rights,
but let us not forget that our right
ends, where the rights of others
begin. Also, in every right there is a
corresponding obligation and
responsibility.
SOCIAL EQUITY
It is the fair access to opportunities, like
education, livelihood and resources. It
involves participation in cultural and
political practices in the community like the
social justice, but social equity emphasizes
more on institutions and how people can
access it, especially those who need it
most. It also refers to standards set applied
to improve the participation of a certain
classes or sectors of people in the
community.
An example of this is the marginalized group like
Persons With Disability (PWDs) who do have the
same and equal rights to ordinary people but are
also 12 protected and given the privilege to
achieve social equity. Other marginalized groups
sectors or groups are women, children, youth,
indigenous, LGBTQ+ community, and the likes who
are considered weak and in need of help.
In tackling social equity, we
cannot go away with social
justice. As defined by former
President Jose P. Laurel, it is the
humanization of laws and the
equalization of social and
economic forces by the state so
that justice may at least be
approximated. It is anchored
heavily on the idea that justice is
based on basic human rights
and each individual must have
an opportunity to exercise these
Hence if we compare equity and equality,
equity according to Encarta Dictionary is a
general condition characterized by justice,
fairness, and impartiality, while equality is
full equality under the law. If we think about
it, equality means giving all things to all
individuals even others may not need it,
while equity is giving the individuals what
they need.
GENDER
EQUALITY
As defined by United Nations Entity for
Gender Equality and Empowerment of
women, it is “the equal rights,
responsibilities, and opportunities of women
and men and girls and boys.” It does not
mean that both genders are the same but
emphasize the equality of men and women,
with equal rights, values, treatment, and
opportunities.
Clear
examples of
problems in
gender
equality are
seen in the
following
situations:
-Men may often have better
opportunities, freedom and social
favor compared to women.
-Most of the positions, socially and
politically were being occupied
mostly by men. –
Men may have more weight in
marriages or other direct or indirect
relationships.
It is known that individuals in a community
have unique roles that are being played,
also, aside from the said roles; they also
have unique needs that must be answered.
There are gender differences between the
roles played by women and men and their
unique needs and responses to a
community issue.
Not including a certain gender group
may mean a different set of priorities
that would become a possible
condition of a non-holistic approach in
the issue and problem solving
PARTICIPATORY
DEVELOPMENT
Its objective is to engage the marginalized group
in programs and activities that will benefit them. It
must have advocacies to enable the marginalized
groups to promote their rights. The more
participation from the community, the higher is the
possible success and sustainability of the
programs and projects. As a result, it will empower
a certain sector that will benefit from the
community
initiatives
thru
participatory
development.
This kind of development aims to directly involve
local communities in development projects. It is in
our knowledge that different members of the
community have their own and distinct needs, but
if all or most of its members will unite and
participate for a certain goal, there will be less
discord and misunderstanding, then most likely,
the program and activities, as well as the
participation of the groups in the community, will
succeed, and answering the needs of a certain
group or sector would be easier.
Hence, the entire above stated core
values of community action initiatives
must be our guiding light in making
and preparing our own community
action initiative and project.
DEFINING
EMPOWERMENT
AND
ADVOCACY
According to Oxford Dictionary,
empowerment is the act of giving
somebody more control over their
own life or the situation they are in
or giving somebody the power or
authority to do something.
On the other hand advocacy is the
support, advice and help given to
people, often with special needs or
aims, who are unable to speak for
themselves.
Thus, if it will be applied to community
engagement, solidarity and citizenship, these
two
are
both
modes
of
community
engagement. It highlights the collaborative
nature of various groups and people working
together to attain a specific goal that may
promote betterment of the quality of life and
social change.
To elaborate, according to Taguibao
(2016), in connection with community
action, people empowerment is the
process
that
increases
community
autonomy
and
individual
selfdetermination. These processes are
designed to help gain control of their
own lives.
As stated by Ban Ki Moon, Former
Secretary General of the United
Nations, this aims to ensure that
people have the right set of skills
and opportunities they need to live
better and dignified lives.

Now, let us move to advocacy. It refers to enabling marginalized
groups and promoting their individual rights. It is a process of
supporting people and advancing or promoting the rights these
individuals have.

Advocacy, in connection with community engagement, also
means attaining people empowerment. It can be led by people who
are not part of the community or by leaders within the
community.
The
most
effective
advocacy
empowerment is the combination by both.
and
people
STRATEGIES OF
EMPOWERMENT
AND ADVOCACY OF
A COMMUNITY
ACTION INITIATIVE
Empowering
sectors
like
the
poor,
indigenous people and the likes need strong
and effective advocacies for protection and
promotion of their interests. In this sense,
according to Huberman (2014), these are
the strategies is community mobilization
resulting to people empowerment and
advocacy:
1. Secure Strong Leadership-Engage strong
leaders within the community members. The
leader should possess these characteristics:
the will to serve as the leader of the
community over a significant period of time;
the capacity to provide both infrastructure
and human resources; financial stability; the
ability to gather and manage financial
resources, and the respect and support of the
community.
2.
Establish Formal Structure- a formal
structure must be created for it can effectively
lead community change efforts. These may
include specific committees, organizational
charts, rules like by laws, policy statements
and formal letters of agreement for those who
lead, organize, and participate in the
community effort.
3. Engage the stakeholders- engage people,
groups or institutions that may be affected by
or are important to the achievement of the
stated purpose of a project. They include
government, civil society, and the private
sector at national, intermediate and local
levels.
4. Conduct a Needs assessments-it's a
way of asking group or community
members what they see as the most
important needs of that group or
community. The results of the survey
then guide future action.
. Create a Strategic Plan- develop a
strategic plan that lays out the
goals and objectives. The strategic
plan should identify the social,
structural, and individual changes
that
will
lead
to
people
empowerment.
5
Strategic planning is an organization's
process of defining its strategy, or
direction, and making decisions on
allocating its resources to pursue this
strategy. It may also extend to control
mechanisms
for
guiding
the
implementation of the strategy