Community Mobilization (CM) is the process of encouraging and involving the community to take part in developing their village. It is a lengthy process. Community mobilization not only implies that the community members, government and NGOs come together to develop a strategy to resolve issues within the community it also entails the pooling in of their resources.

A key component of community mobilization involves identifying and developing leaders from the community by strengthening and building their capacities in various issues. Community mobilization is neither a campaign that is undertaken once, nor is it a series of campaigns carried out over a period of time. It is a continual and cumulative communication through educational and organizational processes that produces a growing autonomy and consciousness in the community about taking development into their hands.

The Sehgal Foundation believes in the following principles namely, that sustainability of social change is more likely if the individuals and communities have a sense of ownership in the development process and that communities should be the agents of their own change.
We involve community at all stages because it is the community who will sustain the developmental work after the Foundation withdraws from a village.

 

In a nutshell the Foundation’s community mobilization strategy involves four stages:
(a) Identify and develop leadership, (b) Create partnerships (c) Establish a Village Level Institution (VLI) and (d) identify assets and resources to support the VLI.