Understanding Community Mobilization

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What Is a Community?

• Group of people who feel that they have something in common (people who live in the same village or area; work together; share interests or circumstances)

• People can also belong to more than one community at the same time

• New communities form when people find themselves in new circumstances (people living with HIV/AIDS)

• Communities have different characteristics and needs; there is no single model for how to do community mobilization

Source: International HIV/AIDS Alliance. All Together Now! Community Mobilisation for HIV/AIDS, 2006

Community Mobilization• Process of generating public will by actively securing

broad consensus and social commitment among all stakeholders for the elimination of HIV and recognizing that HIV is one of many important community issues.

Involves all relevant segments of society:• decision and policy-makers• opinion leaders• professional and religious groups• media• private sector• communities• individuals

Why Is Community Mobilization Important?

• The long-term goal is to create public will and commitment around HIV control and prevention within the context of the community.

• It is critical for sustaining HIV control efforts.

• It helps create immediacy at the community level for a policy-related advocacy objective.

• Helps create a call for action.

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Stages in Community Mobilization:

1. Starting – identifying and involving different stakeholders and getting organized

2. Assessing– learning more about the community and the problems, identifying possible solutions

3. Planning – prioritizing problems and deciding how to solve them

4. Acting – taking action and implementing activities to address TB

5. Monitoring and evaluating – considering the results and impact, and using monitoring information to adjust plans

6. Scaling up together – learning how to do more activities or expand existing ones

Source: International HIV/AIDS Alliance. All Together Now! Community Mobilisation for HIV/AIDS, 2006

Source: International HIV/AIDS Alliance. All Together Now! Community Mobilisation for HIV/AIDS, 2006

Main Approaches:

Approach Target Audience Activities

Political mobilization national policy decision-makers lobbying, mass media

Government mobilization government officials/ organizations training programs, study tours, mass media

Community mobilizationlocal political, religious, social leaders; NGOs; women's groups; etc.

training, meetings, mass media

Corporate mobilizationnational or international companies (carrying of appropriate messages, product labeling)

meetings, mass media

Beneficiary mobilization PLHIV, family members, and PABAtraining program, establishment of community groups, mass media

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Role of Community Mobilizer

bringing people together

building trust

encouraging participation

facilitating discussion and decision-making

helping things to run smoothly

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Who Can Be a Community Mobilizer?

There is no “ideal” community mobilizer People from all kinds of backgrounds can be

effective community mobilizer

Attitudes, behaviors, and skills are more important than who the person is or what qualifications has

Community members

Positive role models

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Community Mobilization Skills

In order to be effective, community mobilizers need to combine a range of knowledge, attitudes, and skills:

Attitudes include:

willingness to examine and challenge their own assumptions, opinions and beliefs

genuine respect for all community members

non-judgmental and accepting approach

understanding that different people have different views and perspectives

belief in community capacity to take effective action

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Community Mobilization Skills (continued)

good communication skills, especially listening

good facilitation skills

awareness of political, gender and cultural issues and relationships

ability to challenge assumptions sensitively (e.g. about the role of women)

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Knowledge of:

the community mobilization process

the principles of community mobilization

knowledge of HIV prevention – how it is transmitted and prevented

knowledge of other HIV issues (e.g. care, support, and treatment)

understanding of the ethical issues related to community mobilization

Community Mobilization Skills (continued)

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Community Mobilization Skills (continued)

ability to help communities form organizations

ability to identify capacity-building needs among communities (e.g. leadership skills, networking and partnership-building skills)

ability to help communities mobilize resources

advocacy skills

project planning and management skills

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Group Work:Social Mobilization Activities

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