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Glossary of terms for Development Management
P
Note: Within each definition, terms for which there are definitions elsewhere are highlighted.
Participants
All envisaged beneficiaries
(ultimate users, customers, those who benefit from a development intervention
because they are needy), all service agencies (corporate, NGO or
government agencies which provide services), service providers (a type
of service agency, specifically corporate) and support agencies (those
who either provide developmental services or have a supportive role in
a development intervention e.g. NGOs, political umbrella agencies/persons),
implementing agencies (those who are formally and actively involved in
carrying out activities in the frame of a development project or
-programme), stakeholders (those who have an interest in the "field"
of a development intervention), role-players (those who take part in the
intervention - the structural term is actor constellation), target
groups (those who are addressed by a development intervention), affected
groups which are involved in or affected by a development project or -programme
(those who are impacted upon, either positively - envisaged beneficiaries
- or negatively.
Participants analysis
The participants analysis
forms part of a situation analysis. It is an analysis of the problems,
fears interests, expectations, restrictions and potentials of all
important groups, organisations and institutions, implementing
agencies, other projects and individuals, who may have an influence on
a situation or intended intervention or are themselves affected by it.
A participants analysis is not a substitute for the analysis of target
groups, envisaged beneficiaries and affected groups, or of
implementing agencies or co-operating agencies. Instead it is either a
procedure to identify those actors that need to be analysed in more detail,
or a concise way of presenting the results of such analyses.
Participation
Participation is a
process of co-ordinated decision-making and action-entailing interactions
by persons and agencies involved in an initiative, for example a development
project or -programme. It is a process which allows
all parties concerned to formulate their interests and objectives in a
dialogue. This should then lead to attuned decisions and activities on
the part of each party, which - as far as possible - take into consideration
the interests and objectives of all other concerned parties. It involves
the question of how to make sure that all parties concerned, especially
disadvantaged groups, can participate, and finding solutions to the question
of who decides what, with which legitimacy when and how often.
There are different
types of participation (for example by target groups, by state
institutions, by project staff members). Different types are appropriate
in different situations depending on what information is required for
what decisions, by whom a decision is made and who is responsible for
its consequences, how often decisions need to be made, which issue is
at stake, etc.. The types relate to the process used and ways of structuring
participation.
Participatory
action research (PAR) / Participatory learning
An approach introduced
to enhance the practice of Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA)
under the guiding principle of learning from, with and by people incorporated
in the process. The PAR team attempts to see "with the eyes of the people"
concerned, including the poor and disadvantaged. Analytical instruments
are applied with utmost care and only together with the people. Representatives
or advocates of the groups concerned, who are knowledgeable about their
situation and able to voice people's interests (mainly for those who cannot
/ do not speak up themselves) are incorporated before an actual field
phase. The team shares people's lives and gets to know people's strategies
for solving their problems.
Participatory
dialogue
One type / instrument
of participation. Decisions of partner institutions and target groups
are based on mutual exchange of information and are attuned to and co-ordinated
with one other. People's information influences agencies' decisions, and
agencies' information influences people's decisions. It represents a kind
of picture-book case of participation. Instruments of participatory
dialogue are: individual discussions with knowledgeable persons, representatives
or target group members, informal group discussions, dialogues for identifying
problems and problem solutions with visual aids (e.g. Participatory
Rapid Appraisal (PRA), maps, aerial photos etc.), participatory action
research, official meetings.
Participatory Rapid Appraisal
(PRA)
PRA is an instrument
developed in the rural setting to enable the self-determination and self-motivation
of people to analyse their own situation. From the intervenors'
point of view it can be considered a systematic process of learning
about the situation and context of a development intervention or an issue
related to it, in an intensive, cumulative and efficient events-related
manner. PRA involves information/ data collection and structuring, developing
hypotheses about problems, constraints and potentials. It may be
used in situation analysis.
Methodologically PRA
relies on small multidisciplinary teams that employ a range of methods,
tools and techniques, specifically selected to enhance the awareness of
situations and conditions, with particular emphasis on tapping the knowledge
of people concerned, and combining the knowledge with specialists' expertise.
PRA tools and techniques were adopted to achieve a required accuracy at
low cost (in terms of time and money). It uses visual methods to facilitate
discussion and the surfacing of data and information (e.g. village
mapping with stones, sticks, beans). It is done on-site, and aims at ensuring
that all voices are heard, at participation. PRA is characterised
by accelerated learning, not just by overall speed: rapid rounds of field
interaction that result in the accumulation of increasingly accurate knowledge.
PRA stress the active role to be taken over by people concerned: not only
experts learn, but people learn. "Sharing realities" is the process by
which members of a social group are stimulated and supported to analyse
and evaluate their development potentials and constraints within
an acceptable time frame - even to come to sufficiently profound decisions
on their priorities / possible actions.
PRA methods include
diagramming, direct observation, group interviews, ranking, secondary
data review, semi-structured interviewing, triangulation.
see also Participatory
action research / participatory learning, Participatory
dialogue
People's organisation
see Self
help organisation
Periphery
see Centre-periphery
model
Planner
A development intervener
specifically involved in planning processes.
see Intervener
Planning
A process of
communication, clarification and understanding between individuals and
groups who wish to work to change an undesirable situation (for
example one in which people live in poverty, lacking basic needs).
Planning is a process leading from problems to a problem-solving
strategy, taking into consideration problem-solving potentials via the
identification of alternative problem-solving options and identification
of alternative actors/ organisations. The alternatives are appraised considering
economic, ecological, social/ cultural and institutional criteria. The
problem-solving strategy consists of a logically consistent and specified
set of objectives, measures and inputs taking into consideration assumptions
about the development of relevant frame conditions with participation
of all relevant actors, intended beneficiaries and knowledgeable persons.
Planning involves
the anticipation and scheduling of future actions (or interventions),
together with the utilisation of resources, all directed toward achieving
defined objectives.
Hence the term "objectives-oriented
planning" and specific methods thereof, namely objectives oriented
planning, Zielorientierte Projektplanung (ZOPP) (also known
as a Logical Framework Approach (LFA)). Strategic planning involves
the formulation of an intervention strategy, with detailed operational
planning following in the Plan of Operations (PlanOps).
see also Planner
Plan of
Operations (PlanOps)
The Plan of Operations
is the detailed plan for the implementation of a development project
or -programme based on the project planning matrix (PPM).
It is established by the project or programme team and consists of workplans/work
schedules, budget/resources plan, personnel plans, staff training plans,
material and equipment plan/procurement plan. As such it outlines in detail
what will be done (activities, sub-activities), when (time schedules),
with what (resources), by whom (personnel), and the related milestones
(intermediate targets) and assumptions. The process of formulating the
PlanOp is known as operations/operational planning, sometimes referred
to as action planning or business planning.
Potentials
Any resource or opportunity
which is unutilised or under-utilised, but may be utilised in order to
achieve objectives. Development interventions aim at unlocking
potentials in target groups in order to enable them to tackle problems,
and thereby alleviate poverty.
Potentiality
/ Potentials analysis
Potentials analysis
is a procedure / process conducted prior to making a decision on a problem-solving
intervention. It is used to identify all potentials which may be utilised
or developed in order to contribute toward the attainment of identified
objectives. Potentials may be found using the systems model and exploring
possible additional activities and/or resources, or the intensified use
of existing ones. A systematic way of analysing potentials, especially
for identifying income generating- / job opportunities, is the Resource
Demand Matrix
Poverty
The condition or state
of not being able to satisfy one's basic needs, that is being without
adequate food, money, etc.. In developing countries poverty is
a mass phenomenon: the majority of people can be considered poor. Development
efforts are aimed at poverty alleviation or poverty reduction designed
to encourage the productivity and creativity of the poor (develop their
potential), and enable them through their own socio-economic activities
to develop.
Poverty alleviation / Poverty
orientation
Poverty orientation
has the aim of putting the majority of the population in a position to
better satisfy their basic needs. It constitutes the central principle
of development interventions. Poverty orientation in this sense can then
be equated with mass orientation, with the attempt to reach the majority.
In this it accords with the stress laid on more even participation
by wide circles of the population in economic growth. It must explicitly
incorporate efforts to promote production as well as distribution.
This definition of
poverty orientation is clearly differentiated from selective approaches,
offering solutions for only a minority of the 'poor'. It differs from
the narrow definition of poverty orientation, which implies that this
claim is only fulfilled if the 'poorest of the poor' are also reached
(something that appears too ambitious for measures in the field of production
at least as long as poverty, or impoverishment, can still be regarded
as a mass phenomenon). Finally, poverty orientation does not mean that
support must be directed exclusively at 'poor groups'; care should, however,
be taken that the involvement of privileged groups is not at the cost
of the disadvantaged.
PPM
see
(Project) Planning Matrix
Pre-conditions
In the context of
planning, pre-conditions are prior conditions that must be fulfilled before
a development project or programme is started or implemented;
typically financial or other contributions. The required preconditions
for starting up a project or programme (e.g. the necessary budget and
/ or personnel), or for its implementation with co-operating partners
(e.g. partner agencies having taken the obligation of financial or other
contributions), often pose threats. Unless those preconditions are realised
a project or programme cannot be started or must not be continued. It
is not wise to confuse such preconditions with assumptions / risks for
attaining outputs/results.
see also Frame
conditions
Prioritisation
A process of
arranging items to be attended to in order of their relative importance,
used in decision-making in order to come to a conclusion as to how to
intervene (e.g. in an alternatives analysis), what to focus on,
or what resources to allocate where. Different prioritisation methods
can be used:
- Scaling of each
alternative with respect to criteria (e.g. within a scale of -2 up to
+2 for negative, neutral or positive impacts). \
- Scaling with weighted
criteria. Not all criteria may seem to be equally important. In that
case they can be given different weights according to importance. Then
the resulting points made during scaling would have to multiplied by
the weight of the respective criteria to arrive at the total number
of points for each alternative.
Problem(s)
In the context of
development "problem" has a strict, technical definition. It refers
to a deviation between an actual situation (e.g. of poverty) and
people's (or societal) goals with regard to the sustainable satisfaction
of people's needs, i.e. a targeted situation (e.g. as stated in objectives).
Problems are unsatisfied needs, they are undesirable conditions of life
(with respect to people) or undesirable conditions of being (with respect
to institutions or ecosystems), negative conditions which exist instead
of desired and realistically achievable positive conditions. Problems
cannot be perceived if there is not at the same time a feeling or an idea
that a possibility for improvement, an objective exists. A problem
is not the absence of a preconceived solution. For the purposes of analysis,
problems differentiated from constraints, (= factors which cause
or nurture problems).
Problem
analysis
Problem analysis
is a systematic procedure to assess the problem perceptions of
relevant actors and people concerned in a certain context and to identify
the cause-effect-interrelations between the problems and their causes.
It may be facilitated using visual means e.g. a cause-effect tree (problem
tree).
Problem
focus
An orienting principle
for an integrated development approach which focuses on problem-causing
factors and on problem-solving potentials (instead of a comprehensive
analysis of the whole situation and of any possible potentials). Only
constraints which pertain to a particular problem are included;
not every constraint in the context of an issue must be taken into the
analysis. The scope is narrowed, whilst the focus is concentrated.
The starting point
of a development intervention in this sense is a problem experienced
by the people. It follows then that planning is a process
of identifying ways and means to overcome problems; by finding leverage
points to address identified constraints.
Problem
tree
During the process
of problem analysis, the factors related to a certain problem
are structured in a diagram in the form of a cause-effect tree of which
the causing factors form the roots while the resulting problems form the
branches.
In general, there
are two ways to arrive at a problem tree: (1) in a planning workshop
with all relevant role players. The term "starter problem" is used to
describe one problem in the centre of the problem field, used for
group dynamics reasons to facilitate the start of a problem analysis;
(2) through an analysis carried out by a core team of analysts, based
on the results of a number of problem identification procedures carried
out on various levels and with various resource persons. In-between-steps
are required to come from problem identification to an aggregate problem
tree. A core problem is the starting point here.
Process
A process is a series
of actions that produce a change or development, or, are carried out to
achieve a particular result or product. A product can also occur naturally;
and as a naturally occurring series of events, a process is the development
or growth which produced the product. How something becomes/became what
it is, is often more interesting and important than the product or outcome
(becoming as opposed to being).
Profitability
Profit is the income
which accrues to the entrepreneur after payment of all costs. Hence profitability
of an enterprise is an economic feasibility figure which calculates the
ratio of profit to capital inputs, thus determining the profitability
of the capital input.
Profitability is measured
by the entrepreneur's profit margin and therefore does not depend alone
on the efficiency of the production process but also on the distribution
of the earnings obtained between the entrepreneur and the employees.
Programme
see Development
programme
Project
see Development
project
Project
Cycle Management (PCM)
PCM is an orientation
framework for the management of target-group-oriented development co-
operation. It is used to assist agencies to successfully plan and
steer development projects. In PCM, the procedure involved in preparing
and implementing a development project is given a structure which combines
development policy orientation with an approach for professional management.
It specifically defines roles and responsibilities and the stages in project
management from design and planning through to evaluation.
(Project)
Planning Matrix (PPM)
A summary of the
intervention strategy - consisting of objectives - together
with associated indicators and means of verification, and
important assumptions, of a development project or
-programme, arranged in matrix form showing the logical
links between the elements (hence the term logical framework approach
(LFA)). As such the PPM documents the outcome of planning.
Promotion of self help organisations
See Self-help
promotion
Public meetings
In the development
context, guided and structured discussions of problems, problem-causing
factors, priorities and objectives, useful for community-level and target-groups;
suitable for getting problem-perceptions, priorities and objectives of
those who attend a meeting and speak out.
Purpose
A technical term for
the statement in the intervention strategy of a logical frameworks
plan which describes the changes in behaviour of the envisaged beneficiaries
or related structures, to be brought about by the utilisation of whatever
the development project or -programme has to offer (i.e.
outputs and related activities). The purpose states
new conditions/qualities or capacities achieved when target groups
adopt/utilise the output(s) of the development project or -programme.
Together with the goal, the purpose constitutes the plan's
development hypothesis by indicating expected impact.
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