Power Walk: Grounding development programming in reaility!!
This exercise is a simulation of a country situation in action. All participants will
start off in a straight line reflecting article 1 of the UDHR which reads: “All are
born free and equal in dignity and rights… The exercise will finish very different
however. People will be spread out all over the room/patio reflecting actual life in
which some seem to be ‘worth’ more than others.
The debriefing following the exercise allows participants to reflect on what
disparities exist and why (power), and to consider how to address these
disparities through programming. Besides a stress on the intrinsic value of
human rights for development, the exercise will also show the potential
instrumental value of human rights in the development process.
Ideally 30 minutes should be allowed for this exercise so as to allow enough time
for discussion/debriefing. The issues that emerge during the debriefing will be
useful for purposes of illustration throughout the HRBA training.
Action:
Take everyone outside (if there is not enough space inside) and give participants
each a piece of paper with a character from a typical community written on it.
Each individual has/could have realistically posses about 4 identities (for
example: female, unemployed, rural and from a minority group; or male, party
member, employed, disabled). The characters and questions should be adapted
to the context where the exercise is being done so as to make it relevant.
All participants are asked to stand in one line, upon which the facilitator will read
out specifics such as disabled, male, female, hiv/aids affected etc. With each call,
the person that possesses that identity/characteristic should follow the action as
suggested by the facilitator. For example, all those who are hiv/aids positive, set
three steps back. Or, all those with secondary education one step forward.
Once all characteristics/identities have been read out, it is important to ensure
that all participants remain where they are. Moreover, it is crucial to have
something that indicates where the original starting line was (in order to bring the
value of the human rights normative framework to the fore)
 After reading out the statements, ask who are those at the front Discuss. Why
they are at the front.
 Ask the people at the back who they are. Ask how they felt as they watched
all the others moving forward.
 Ask who is male, and who is female (strategically it will be important to have a
majority of female characters at the back in order to demonstrate gender
inequality)
1
 Refer back to the line (all are born equal in dignity and rights), and ask the
group what to do? (should we work with those that have advanced?, with
those that have regressed?, both?, should we hold people back?) The
message should be that we should not hold people back, but we cannot allow
people to regress beyond the minimum guarantees that human rights provide.
After all, human rights are minimum rules.
 Lead a discussion on how to reach the people at the back. Because
communities are very heterogeneous, it is important to make deliberate
efforts to reach the poor and the marginalised, and especially the young.
 The rich and powerful (especially those at the very front of the line) won’t
have too much interest in helping the ones at the back. How could human
rights assist in mitigating the differences?
 Ask what the outcome of the power walk tells us about the way in which we
should work during the country programme planning, implementation and
evaluation.
 Ask what capacities the different people need in order to participate
effectively or to listen to others.
The Following can be learnt from applying the power walk as a tool:
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Development isn’t power neutral. Discrimination and elite capture are
well known development realities
Power-relations have a huge impact on who we are, and what we can
be
For those who are left behind it is impossible to catch up without
specific targeted assistance.
Resources and capacities alone will not do the trick. The enabling
environment is a fundamental determinant
Given the political realities around power, one is in need of an
objective and neutral normative standard to guide discussions.
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POWER WALK; grounding development programming in reality!!
Male
Female
University Degree
Urban
Disabled
Formal private sector job
Unemployed
Work for the UN
Homosexual/Lesbian
Orphan
Boy
Rural
Secondary Education
No education
Girl
HIV/Aids positive
Son of the President
Ethnic Minority in non-dominant position
Migrant Worker
Member of ethnic dominant group
Homeless
Son of Police Officer
Refugee
Village Elder
Trafficked
Sexworker
-
0
-1
3
0
-3
3
-2
3
-1
-3
0
-1
1
-2
-1
-4
4
-2
-2
1
-2
1
-3
2
-4
-3
3
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
8
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
Male + University Degree+ Urban + Formal Private Sector Job
=6
Female + University Degree+ Urban + Work for UNDP
=5
Boy + Disabled+ Rural
= -4
Girl + Orphan + HIV/Aids positive
= -8
Male+ ethnic minority non-dominant+ university degree
=0
Male+ Migrant Worker+ HIV/Aids positive
= -6
Male + secondary education+ urban
=2
Female+ no education+ urban
= -3
Female+ formal private sector job+no education+urban
=0
Female+ No education + Urban + HIV/Aids infected
= -7
Boy + Rural + ethnic minority non-dominant
= -3
Girl + Urban+ Secondary education
=0
Female+ Disabled+ Unemployed
= -6
Boy+ Member of ethnic dominant group+ urban
=1
Male+ rural+ no education+ unemployed
= -4
Boy + urban + member of ethnic dominant group+ Son of Police Officer 2
Member of ethnic dominant group+ urban+ son of president+ university degree=
Female+ Refugee + no education+ unemployed
= -8
Village Elder+ member of ethnic dominant group+ Secondary Education
=5
Trafficked + female + Hiv/Aids positive+ sexworker
= -12
Female + secondary education + member of ethnic dominant group= 1
Girl, ethnic minority in non-dominant position, rural, disabled
= -7
Male, secondary education, rural, hiv/aids infected
= -4
Female, no education, urban, sexworker
= -6
Female, ethnic minority in non-dominant position, urban, formal private sector
job
=0
Male, urban, disabled, secondary education, formal private sector job= 1
Female, migrant worker, no education
=-5
Girl, member of ethnic dominant group, urban, secondary education = 1
Male, unemployed, refugee
= -5
Male, urban, no education, sexworker
= -5
Son of the president, disabled, secondary education, formal private sector job
=5
Male, migrant worker, university degree, urban
=1
boy, trafficked, no education
= -5
Female, ethnic minority non-dominant, rural
=-4
Female, rural, no education, unemployed
= -6
Female, homeless, HIV/Aids positive, urban
= -7
Male, Homosexual, university Degree
=2
Male, Homeless, Urban, No education
= -4
Male, work for the UN, ethnic dominant group
=4
Female, homosexual/lesbian, secondary education, urban
= -2
Outcome:
4
22 negatives of which 14 Female (8 male)
14 positives of which 11 Male (3 female)
4 zero’s of which 3 Female
5
Male
University Degree
Urban
Formal Private Sector Job
Female
University Degree
Urban
Work for the UN
Boy
Disabled
Rural
6
Boy
Orphan
HIV/Aids positive
Male
Ethnic minority non-dominant
University degree
Female
Migrant Worker
HIV/Aids positive
7
Male
Secondary education
Urban
Female
No education
Urban
Formal private sector job
No education
Female
Urban
8
Male
No education
Urban
HIV/Aids positive
Boy
Rural
Ethnic minority non-dominant
Girl
Urban
Secondary education
9
Female
Disabled
Unemployed
Boy
Member of ethnic dominant group
Urban
Male
Rural
No education
Unemployed
10
Boy
Urban
Member of ethnic dominant group
Son of Police Officer
Member of ethnic dominant group
Urban
Son of President
University Degree
Female
Refugee
No education
Unemployed
11
Village Elder
Member of ethnic dominant group
Secondary Education
Trafficked
Female
Hiv/Aids positive
Sexworker
Female
Secondary Education
Member of ethnic dominant group
12
Girl
Ethnic minority in non-dominant position
Rural
Disabled
Male
Secondary education
Rural
Hiv/aids infected
Female
No education
Urban
Sexworker
13
Female
Ethnic minority in non-dominant position
Urban
Formal private sector job
Female
Disabled
Secondary education
Formal private sector job
Female
Migrant worker
No education
14
Girl
Member of ethnic dominant group
Urban
Secondary education
Male
Unemployed
Refugee
Male
Urban
No education
Sexworker
15
Son of the president
Disabled
Secondary education
Formal private sector job
Migrant worker
University degree
Urban
Boy
Trafficked
No education
16
Female
Ethnic Minority non-dominant
Rural
Female
Rural
No education
Unemployed
Female
Homeless
HIV/AIDS Positive
Urban
17
Male
Homosexual
University Degree
Male
Homeless
Urban
No education
Male
Work for the UN
Ethnic Dominant Group
Female
Homosexual/Lesbian
Secondary education
Urban
18