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WEEK 13
TOPIC/ CONTENT
SOCIAL MOBILIZATION
 The Context of Social Mobilization
 Stakeholders for Social Mobilization
 Four Basic Elements of Social Mobilization
 The Benefits of Social Mobilization
LEARNING OUTCOME/ OBJECTIVE
 Define the context of Social Mobilization
 Explain the roles of the Stakeholders for Social mobilization
 Enumerate the Four Basic Elements of Social Mobilization
 Narrate the Benefits of Social Mobilization

UNDERSTANDING THE CONTEXT OF SOCIAL MOBILIZATION

 Recognizes a genuine participatory approach to development which is essential for success and
sustainability.
 It engages all citizens in their various capacities, socio-economic status, affiliations and locations to active
participation in making decisions that affect their lives.
 Requires efforts and mechanisms that empower all especially the disadvantaged members of society to
participate in development processes.
 Organized to collective action by pooling resources and building the solidarity required to resolve
common problems and work towards community advancement.
 A broad scale movement to engage people's participation in achieving a specific development goal
through self-reliant efforts.
 A planned decentralized process that seeks to facilitate change for development.
 It takes into account the felt needs of the people, embraces the critical principle of community
involvement, and seeks to empower individuals and groups for action.
 It is a process of motivating communities to organize in a cohesive group for an active participation
towards their own development.

FIVE MAIN APPROACHES OF SOCIAL MOBILIZATION

1) Political Mobilization. Aims at winning political and policy commitment for a major goal and necessary
resource allocations to realize that goal. An attempt influences the decisions of the politicians.
2) Community Mobilization. Aims at informing and gaining the commitment of community leaders as well
as local government agencies, Nongovernmental Organizations (NGO’s), Women groups and
Cooperatives.

TIPS ON COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION

1) Know your community well and understand their problems and their needs.
2) Always listen to community member carefully.
3) Be aware of existing health beliefs and practices that exit in the community.
4) Take gradual steps to introduce new practices.
5) Try to analyze community dynamics and adjust to each situation.

3) Government Mobilization. Aims at informing and enlisting the cooperation and help of service providers
and other government organizations that can provide direct or indirect support.
NSTP 2: NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM 2
INSTRUCTOR: PAUL JOHN STEEVE B. ACOBA, LPT, M.A. REL. ED.
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4) Corporate Mobilization. Aims at securing the support of national and international companies in
promoting appropriate goals either through the contribution of resources or the carrying of appropriate
messages as a part of their advertising or product labeling.
5) Beneficiary Mobilization. Aims at informing and motivating the program the establishment of
community groups and communities.

STAKEHOLDERS FOR SOCIAL MOBILIZATION

1) POLITICAL POLICY MAKERS- help foster the commitment that will clear the way for action, the goal is
to build consensus to create a knowledgeable and supportive environment for decision-making and
allocation of adequate resources.
2) BUREAUCRATIC/TECHNOCRATIC-government workers and technical experts, policy makers depend
on the technocrats, bureaucrats, and service professionals to provide the rationale for decisions as well as
to plan and implement programs.
3) NON-GOVERNMENT SECTOR - non-governmental organizations for special purposes, social
institutions and associations that represent organized support, religious groups with their ideological
bends, commerce and industry that operate on for-profit basis, and professional groups that exist to
advance their interests. They are important partners and allies to mobilize the civil society.
4) COMMUNITY GROUPS- community leaders, schools, churches, mosques and grassroots groups are
critical to get communities involve, help transform development goals into action, but they are often not
given a voice in identifying problems and designing solutions.
5) HOUSEHOLDS AND INDIVIDUALS- there is a need for a deliberate action to inform and educate
individuals in the household so that they can make informed decisions.

FOUR BASIC ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL MOBILIZATION

1) ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT-is a process in which community members form their own
groups or organizations based on common development interests and needs that are best served in
organizing themselves as a group.
2) CAPITAL FORMATION FOR DEVELOPMENT THROUGH COMMUNITY SAVINGS-this enhances a
community organization's power to realize its full potential. Savings generated by individual members are
the assets of the community organization and the first step towards their self-reliance.
3) TRAINING FOR HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT- community members can maximize their
potential not only by organizing themselves but also by upgrading their existing skills to better manage
new inputs. The change agent can support direct training, exchange visits and other capacity building
activities based on needs identified by the members of the community organizations.
4) SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT - socio-economic development initiatives are a great for
community members to organize themselves. Social mobilization provides support in the form of matching
grants or access to credit, marketing and other services that will lead to tangible improvements in social
economic conditions within the community.

THE BENEFITS OF SOCIAL MOBILIZATION

1) POVERTY ALLEVIATION- important tool in the poverty alleviation process. It enables communities and
the poor to help themselves to engage actively in solving their own problems and effectively tackling
poverty in its multi- dimensional form.
2) PROMOTING DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE-encourages participation in decision making, builds
capacity for participatory planning, builds a common vision on development, and ensure transparency.
Social mobilization can facilitate tripartite leadership at the local level, making civil society more effective
as a third and legitimate partner in development.

NSTP 2: NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM 2

INSTRUCTOR: PAUL JOHN STEEVE B. ACOBA, LPT, M.A. REL. ED.
 Page 3 of 3
3) FOR ENVIRONMENT - organizes people to better manage their natural resources and fight against illegal
practices of organizations that degrade the environment.
4) FOR CONFLICT PREVENTION- as people organized to address common problems and to collectively
improve their socio-economic conditions in an equitable, democratic and transparent manner, the
possibility of conflict can be significantly reduced.

EFFECTIVITY OF SOCIAL MOBILIZATION

Social mobilization is to be the best effective that reveals:
a) The organized people representing different ethnic groups act a vehicle to develop social harmony and
peace and increase the general capacity of the people for self-empowerment.
b) A properly designed community mobilization process leads community members to the emergence of self-
governing institutions which act as the sustainable organizations for cooperation, peace and development,
helping people to enhance their receiving and utilizing capacities and also to work together for household
and community initiatives.
c)The result of the social mobilization process is that people get organized to work together if they live in close
proximity and share common interests for community development.
d) The Community Organization is a mass coalition of all those residents of a village who’s continuing
economic and social interests are best served organizing themselves as a group.
e)Social mobilization is based on the active participation of all household without any discrimination. This is
necessary for the whole society to move together in consensus and to build community level social capita
Social harmony will be best achieved by forming social capital through multi-ethnic and multi-economic
group community organizations which will be engaged in multi-sectoral development for themselves and
the communities.

NSTP 2: NATIONAL SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAM 2

INSTRUCTOR: PAUL JOHN STEEVE B. ACOBA, LPT, M.A. REL. ED.