Community Governance

The concept ‘Community Governance’ usually refers to community participation, engagement in decisions and ownership in all interventions related to their life and what matters to them including the eco-system services they depend upon. To make any grassroots endeavour impactful, the integration of community’s partnership and governance is critical in making a sustained difference.

Few examples of this concept incorporated in SAFE’s successful initiatives are listed below :

• Water & Sanitation (WASH-US & NEWSUP) : Every unit installed till date runs on community governance and monitoring. ‘Joint Liability group’ with 60% women representation have been formed through capacity building of the community to take over ownership of the unit. This ensures development, gender justice and sense of onus to maintain the unit within the beneficiary community.
• Integrated Solid Waste Management (Resolve : Trash 2 Cash) : The deemed Integrated Solid Waste Management micro enterprise is absolutely owned by the community members. They elect their representatives and have a say in decision making. This green model is member centric to peer group oriented. The former informal women waste picker members are now trained into skilled artisans who lead this venture and this makes them work with greater dedication, while the peer groups emerge as joint liability groups for sustaining the business economics.