Democracy and participation: Development worker perspective

Dorthe Pedersen (R) and an Education for Peace participant in Southern Sudan

No more whispering
Dorthe Pedersen has been a Development Worker for MS Uganda since 2004. She shares her experience of working with democracy with partner organisations and individuals in Northern Uganda and Southern Sudan.

My main experience of working with democracy has been to develop and avail a teaching manual and a community education programme on constitutionalism for Southern Sudan. This has been done in collaboration with MS Uganda’s Sudan related partners.

When we first started discussing the content and the ideas of broad community education on democracy, human rights, rule of law, governance and free elections people turned their heads and if speaking, they whispered. There was a thorough fear to even talk about these topics. Slowly people started to overcome their fears and the need for such material and education was evident – people wanted to know how best they could decide on and influence the reconstruction of their country.

Willing to learn
The people I have met during the past three years in Southern Sudan are willing to learn about and understand democracy. They do want to participate, they do want to hold their leaders accountable, and they do want to exercise their rights and obligations as a citizen at all levels. Most of all they do want to eat and be healthy before they can think of educating their children later themselves.

So far our programmes cannot fulfil their most immediate needs, but it can enlighten people and contribute some of the knowledge, skills and information they had been deprived of during the war. MS Uganda and her partner’s activities can help people understand, practice and most importantly freely discuss democracy and in which form it may best suit the Southern Sudanese. This in itself is a great leap forward.

By Dorthe Pedersen, Community Education Advisor and NSEA. Also Contact person for MCDF, CEAP and NEESS

Peder Thorning - MS Development Worker

Working at the lowest levels
“A Development Worker does not bring development – development brings a Development Worker”. These were the words of my former boss, the Council Secretary of Samfya District Council in northern Zambia as we said goodbye after having worked together for three years. In my view, they express his genuine understanding of MS, the role of his own organisation and, in particular, the role of the Development Worker.

These days I work with Human Rights in West Nile. I teach the topic of Conflict Resolution. It actually gives me a wonderful chance to interact directly with the Sudan Human Rights Association Paralegals. What strikes me, is the gap between the vision of a democratic South Sudan characterised by good governance – as outlined in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and the general lack of democratic norms among the potential beneficiaries of such a society.

One of the MS-Uganda democracy posters shows a family discussing an issue and states: “The family is the lowest level of governance.” This simply means that the way we bring up our children is critical to their later participation in matters concerning themselves. Ideally, children should be directly involved in minor decisions. More complex decisions should be explained to them when made by mum or dad - preferably together. The question is whether this ideal is in line with the prevailing African tradition. In my experience, the father – if he is around, is the head of the family. Children are treasured and loved, but should only be seen – not heard. Add the notion of the “extended family” and you get a value-based system which tends to favour “big men” – rather than democracy.

Peder Thorning is Organisational and Human Rights Advisor for Sudan Human Rights Association (SHRA).