Community engagement that goes beyond consultation

Why is consultation not enough?

A team arrives, holds one meeting, takes notes and leaves. The design stays the same. People were asked, but nothing changed. This is consultation without influence, and communities notice.

The Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) puts people and communities at the centre. Its first commitment says people and communities can exercise their rights and participate in actions and decisions that affect them. The standard defines participation as the processes and activities that allow people to play an active role in all decision-making that affects them, and adds that participation is voluntary and that meaningful participation involves all groups, including the most vulnerable and marginalised.

What does the standard ask you to do?

The 2024 CHS lists requirements under this commitment. In plain words, they ask you to:

• include diversity, equity and inclusion, with attention to the most marginalised;
• share relevant and timely information, including people's rights and what your organisation has promised;
• communicate in languages and formats people can easily understand;
• make participation meaningful and match people's preferred ways of taking part;
• get informed consent for communications that represent people, including fundraising and advocacy materials, and keep them accurate and respectful.

A ladder from consultation to shared decisions

Most projects can move up one step. You do not need to reach the top on every issue. Choose where influence matters most: selection criteria, location of facilities, timing and complaints.

How to build real engagement: six steps

1. Map who is in the community. List groups: women, young people, older people, people with disabilities, minorities, displaced and host families. Ask each how they prefer to take part.
2. Share information first. Tell people who you are, what you can offer, what you cannot, and how decisions are made. Use short, spoken messages in local languages, with time for questions.
3. Set up participation points. For example, a community committee with balanced representation, plus separate sessions for groups who may not speak in mixed meetings.
4. Give people a real say. Name two or three decisions that the community will influence, and say so at the start.
5. Open feedback channels. Offer more than one: a hotline, a box, a trusted volunteer and face-to-face contact. See our guide to a complaints and feedback mechanism.
6. Close the loop. Report back what you heard, what you changed and what you could not change, and why.

What advice do practitioners give?

A CHS Alliance article from a workshop on the CHS in Haiti offers simple tips that work anywhere. Keep communication simple and in local languages. Keep it practical and avoid jargon. Illustrate discussions with the community's own examples, and be honest if a previous programme had problems. Leave plenty of space for dialogue, and prioritise face-to-face contact where possible.

The Red Cross Red Crescent guide to community engagement and accountability is aligned with the CHS and offers minimum commitments and actions that national organisations can adapt.

Myanmar context

Trust is local and often built through long relationships. Several habits help.

• Work through trusted local people. Staff, volunteers or partner organisations from the community can open doors that outsiders cannot.
• Do not put people at risk. In some areas, a public meeting or a list of names may create danger. Choose small groups, avoid recording sensitive details and ask people how they want to be involved.
• Include voices that are often missing. Women, young people and minorities may not speak in a meeting led by authorities. Offer separate, safe sessions.
• Adapt to access limits. Where visits are rare, schedule feedback by phone, and make each visit count by bringing back answers.

For targeting decisions, link engagement to your selection process, as in our guide to fair targeting criteria.

Common mistakes

• Holding one meeting and calling it participation.
• Using only leaders as the voice of the whole community.
• Asking for feedback with no way to act on it.
• Using photos and stories without informed consent.
• Failing to tell people what changed.

How EMPO can help

EMPO is a trusted, Yangon-based training and consultancy provider and one of Myanmar's leading names in practical NGO training, with 1,200+ people trained and 15 partner organisations. We run training on accountability to affected populations and community engagement, in English and Burmese, online and in person across Myanmar. See our training services or contact us to plan a session.

Sources

• The Standard (Core Humanitarian Standard 2024) — CHS Alliance
• Haiti's Champions of the CHS: Keeping People at the Centre — CHS Alliance, 2016
• A Red Cross Red Crescent Guide to Community Engagement and Accountability — IFRC, 2021