Principles of Community Development and how they might be built into our Collective Activism with Damien Peelo.

Damien is a Community Practitioner and told us that he is very passionate about how the principles of community work can support all types of groups to move towards equality and human rights.

Damien invited last year’s group to share some examples of their community work and the challenges that went alongside our work – see some of our participant’s feedback:
  • Establishing a Wheelchair Soccer Club in DCU – (see DCU Sports & Wellbeing – Soccer Powerchair) – challenges – needing to go through bureaucratic systems, funding to purchase equipment, e.g. adapted soccer wheelchairs, (DCU were great in providing funding) getting enough players – it was opened out to the wider community
  • LaunchPad – a supporting programme to help disabled people to experience a smooth transition to university life at Maynooth University (see www.soundcloud.com – Launchpod Episode 3) – challenge – getting people together, engagement
  • Sports partnership awareness-raising – helping children to experience how to play blind soccer (see – www.irishsport.ie – VI/Blind Football is here!) it was great in that the children came out with understanding some of the challenges that visual impaired individuals face – challenge – funding of equipment
  • Chipping in system change around the right to keep social welfare benefits while completing a PhD funded scholarship (see www.rte.ie – Mayo PhD student won’t lose disability allowance over scholarship) – and campaigning to scrap the “means testing policy” concerning disabled people – challenge – policy shift, had to go public, convincing politicians that this win will benefit all disabled people not just me
  • Involved in a Youth Collective looking at the Ask Me Guidelines for Effective Consultation with Disabled People – ***(see – nda – “Ask Me” Guidelines for Effective Consultation with People with Disabilities)***. All we want is to replace the current medical model language to social model language – challenge – the powers above may not agree to what we want, they do not understand how this language (see – why is this poster medical model) is effecting both disabled people and perpetuating the negative societal attitudes towards disabled people.
The Challenges of Community Development

All community development work is challenging; this includes issues of participation, accessing resources and individualised change versus systemic social change. Others consist of the pace of change – very slow (as disabled people, we are all too aware of the “slowness); people remaining engaged; valuing the lived expertise versus the theoretical belief of “non-disabled professionalism”.

So, the notion of “chipping away” to effect change is very real for all of us!

Chipping Away - ILMI | Independent Living Movement Ireland
Definitions of Community Development

Damien chose three definitions of Community Development to share with us. 

“Community development is a long-term process whereby people who are marginalised or living in poverty work together to identify their needs create change exert more influence in decisions which affect their lives and work to improve the quality of their lives the communities in which they live under societies of which they are part of (Combat Poverty Agency).”

Pobal took this definition and added that community development is a developmental activity.

Community development is a developmental activity composed of a task and a process. The task is the achievement of social change linked to equality and social justice, and the process is the application of the principles of participation; empowerment and collective decision making in a structured and coordinated way (Pobal).

Community work is not random; it is not individualised in that it is not about one person going off to seek change by themselves. It is about a collective way of working; it is about collaborative decision making and a collective process. It is also about the empowerment of people who were affected by whatever issues that they have identified.

And then lastly

“Community development is a developmental activity comprised of both the task and process. The task is social change to achieve equality, social justice and human rights. The process applies principles of participation, empowerment, and collective decision making in a structured and coordinated way” (Community Work Ireland).

For disabled people, EMPOWERMENT, 
HUMAN-RIGHTS, TACKLING INEQUALITY and AFFECTING CHANGE in a very meaningful way are fundamentals to Our Collective Activism


Core Elements to Community Development
There are four critical elements to good community work. 

  1. Taking part is about meaningfully involving people that are most affected by the issue. This means that all planning and actions at all levels need to be led by those affected “nothing about us without us” (Youtube.com – Nothing about us without us). It is well researched that you cannot make meaningful long lasting policies and decisions without the “lived experience” no matter what community group you are working with.
  2. Decision making and collective action; this is about looking at the greater good versus individual solutions. Individual action may fix a singular problem, but this does not trickle down to others affected by the same problem. It is also about enabling individuals to develop their skills, knowledge, and confidence to critique and identify priory needs as a collective. Within the disability movement, we might even need to think about change, not just for disabled people. So, it is about finding out who else is having the same problems, who else will benefit, who else can we talk to, building solidarity and making connections with other movements.
  3. Social change: community work is based on a belief that every person and every community can play an equal role in creating conditions for a more just and equal society – where human rights are promoted, and all forms of oppression and discrimination are challenged ***(see – All-Ireland Standards for Community Work)***. Essentially this it is about challenging and changing the status quo. If this isn’t present, then there will not be “that long term change” that we all want.
  4. Process: this is about how we do things and the values and principles that underpin our work. Activism and community work may not be the same; if you are not engaging in the values and principles of equality, social justice, and anti-discrimination, you are not doing community work. For example, I could be a brilliant activist and super at motivating people. Still, suppose my reason for being active is to stop travel accommodation coming into my area. In that case, it’s not the community work because it is not underpinned by the values and principles of community development.
Values and Guiding Principles of Community Development – Informed by our very own Peter Kearns

Community Principles - ILMI | Independent Living Movement Ireland

The below principles of community development are called “pillars” because community development practice would collapse if any of them are weakened or cease to exist.
  • Community work is always based on working together (Youtube.com – Community Development Story).

    •It is about engaging with and supporting groups of people to enable them to develop the knowledge; skills; and confidence to question and identify the priority needs and issues of a group and address these through Collective Action

  • Empowerment – Community work is about the empowerment (see – Youtube.com – InDepth: EMPOWERMENT and Disability) of individuals and communities. It is about addressing the “unequal distribution of power”. It is about working with people to enable them to become critical thinkers, be creative, liberated to become an active participant, taking more control of the direction of their lives
  • Social Justice – The active pursuit of social justice is an essential element of community work and contributes to a socially cohesive society. Community work is based on a belief that every person and every community can play an active role in creating conditions for a just and equal society where human rights are promoted, and all forms of oppression and discrimination are challenged (see – Youtube.com – Tiffany Yu on inequality and disability
  • Equality & Anti-Discrimination – In working for equality, community workers must work from the starting point that while people are not the same and diversity is to be celebrated, people are all of equal value and worth and are, therefore, equally worthy of respect and acknowledgement. Community workers are responsible for challenging the oppression and exclusion of individuals and groups by institutions and society. Seeing people as something other than ‘normal’ leads to oppression of diversity and discrimination against people based on ability, age, culture, culture, gender, marital status, socioeconomic status, nationality, skin colour, racial or ethnic group, sexual orientation, political or religious beliefs.
  • Participation – Participation is about the involvement of groups who experience social exclusion, marginalisation and discrimination in decision making, planning and action at all levels, from the local to the global. While collective participation can be viewed as an activity that can start from information sharing right through to capacity building and empowerment to active engagement and meaningful participation in democratic processes (Participation & Engagement
How Do You Affect Change Using Community Development in Our Activism Work
  1. Figure out collectively what is the root cause of the problem
  2. Who needs to be involved – this is about building solidarity with others – seeking allies, supporters, and stakeholders – how do we get them involved 
  3. What are the possible actions that we need to take? This includes identifying the people/groups/institutions that we need to influence (who are the decision-makers) (see Youtube.com – A short history of Irish Travellers for an great example of Collective Activism by the Traveller Community)
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Boakai Abu Nyehn, Jr

Community Development Worker

Boakai Abu Nyehn, Jr joined ILMI in September 2024 as community development worker on the Disability Participation Awareness Fund (DPAF) funding project “Engaging Disabled People in Direct Provision” . He is a passionate advocate for disability rights, social inclusion, and development, with extensive experience in working to promote the rights and full participation of disabled people in Liberia. Boakai has served as a consultant on disability and social inclusion for numerous national and international agencies. He has also worked as a Research Assistant on multiple projects with organisations such as Leonard Cheshire Disability and Inclusive Development Centre at University College London, Talking Drum Studio, AIFO-Liberia, and UNMIL, ensuring that disabled people’s needs and perspectives are integrated into their programs.

As a disabled person, Boakai’s lived experience informs his leadership as Assistant Director for disabled people in Liberia. His role focuses on advocating for the inclusion of disabled people at all levels of society, promoting accessible development, and advancing the rights of the community. Boakai holds certifications in International Law and related fields and is a skilled Administrator and Assistive Technology Specialist, committed to using his expertise to create a more inclusive society for all.