In office but not in power

From the start of my work here I have been encouraged that ACTED is working closely with the SATLINMAS, a village-level body for disaster risk reduction and response. Their existence is mandated by national legislation and they can access specific funding from district-level government.

We are not, therefore, artificially creating community organisations from scratch, which might well falter after ACTED leaves. Instead we aim to tap into existing organisations with supporting infrastructure, and so be more confident of longevity and impact.

The reality is not so rosy, a community member explained at a recent village meeting. Higher levels of government are very good at creating village-level organisations and positions, he said. But what is not available in practice is training, guidance or funding.

There is local-level empowerment on paper, but people often hold positions whilst lacking the understanding and capacity to perform their roles effectively.

We aim to achieve some improvement through training courses and trying to mainstream capacity building in all our activities. But knowing the low base from which the SATLINMAS start and the lack of ongoing support available to them in practice, this impact might be quite modest.

That does not demoralise me. We must first accept the existing situation as it is, but understand that it is far beyond the scope of our programme to tackle these problems completely. We can then seek to facilitate whatever improvements are achievable which, though small, could still be valuable.

So I remain, as is the fashion, cautiously optimistic.