Action 4: Community walkabout with children
When planning activities that will impact on the
lives of children, it is a good idea to include
children themselves in the planning process.
Explain your intentions to the local authorities,
and then identify a number of both boys and
girls to accompany you on a tour of their
community.
Use this opportunity to talk to the children
about their daily activities, and about the
community services that are important to
them. As you pass different areas or
buildings in the village, ask the children to
tell you about them in their own words.
For example, you may explore issues of
protection by asking them which areas they
consider safe, and which they think are unsafe.
Based on the childrens’ own perspectives, you may come up with further relevant information
regarding potential stakeholders. Use this information to complete your forms. The participation
of children in the all stages of planning the OVC programme will help to ensure its effectiveness in
addressing the needs of orphans and vulnerable children in the community.
Action 5: Contact stakeholders
You should then contact each of the stakeholders that you have included in your Mobiliser Reference
tables, and invite them to the stakeholder meeting. You should provide them with a brief description
of the purpose of the meeting, and you may ask them to look at your table to make sure you have
not forgotten anybody. You may make additions to your table if the stakeholders you contact have
more information.
You may check the column ‘When Contacted’ once you have invited a stakeholder, and record any
observations that may have come out of this contact.
Once all the stakeholders have been contacted and a date, time and venue has been set for the
meeting, you can prepare for the first stakeholders’ meeting, as detailed in Step 2.
Guide to Mobilising and Strengthening Community-Led Care for Orphans and Vulnerable Children Unit 1, Module 2^25