Sustaining Development Project: Participatory Project Design: A Key for Community Empowerment. A Case Study from a project targeting Exploited, Vulnerable children and Youth in Northern Uganda

This research paper draws lessons from a project designed in Uganda based on participatory principles, and demonstrates how this approach can be applied to the field of a project targeting youth. Indeed, project design using participatory approaches can be more effective when the project has been designed in a participatory manner from the beginning. The approach used in this case study involved a process of self-design and analysis by stakeholders combined with field visits and workshops with project staff, NGOs and the dedicated youth leaders from six sub-counties in Kitgum, Northern Uganda. The existing project, which involved the support of youth projects for marginalized, exploited and vulnerable children, began to undergo changes that would have been unlikely using more traditional approaches. The paper argues that sound development must involve the direct participation of those that are central to the development process. This calls for greater transparency and decentralization of decision-making to the poor by the Government and donors. While participatory approaches are more labor intensive, the outcome can lead to real change by project stakeholders