As a component of the stakeholder mapping exercise in Section 1.6 and initial meetings mentioned in Section 2.4, the core team should set aside some time to consider whether the feedback loop process will include representative inputs from everyone in the local community. It is essential to assign some team members to examine the implementation plan with these questions in mind.
The feedback loop effort will interact with the community and also affect it. The principle of do no harm (discussed in Step 1 and Annex III) necessitates the planners and implementers of community interventions to think ahead about how their activities will interact with visible and hidden power dynamics and relationships to intentionally or unintentionally exacerbate the exclusion or marginalization of particular groups, such as women. On a related note, you will need to plan for an intentionally inclusive process that everyone can participate in.
Consider the power imbalances between various groups, identities and members of the community – for example, any safety considerations that will enable the participation of certain individuals or groups. Often, women or individuals with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities face discrimination or barriers to participation. Other identities, such as people with disabilities and youth, may also require special measures and reasonable accommodations to ensure they can be heard and participate (see Section 3.2 for additional details). The term intersectionality refers to instances when discriminated or marginalized identities are layered – for example, a young woman who is deaf may face discrimination at various times because of her youth, her gender and her disability. Accounting for this “double discrimination” is important to ensure broad inclusion. Additional guidance can be found in NDI Manual for Disability Inclusion (linked here).
The following guiding questions can help you get started; these are framed generally (“people in a given identity group”), but you can adapt these questions to focus on women; religious, language, or racial minorities; refugees and migrants; people with disabilities; youth; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) communities; older adults; and other people relevant to your context. Overall, use these questions to plan for how these populations might participate, and whether and how they may want to participate, and then design accommodations or modifications to your outreach accordingly.
- To what extent are [people in a given identity group] represented in decision-making bodies and elected or unelected offices? Regarding data collection, who is represented in your sample, and who is missing?
- What constraints do [people in a given identity group] face to participate in politics, civil society or access public space? Include structural constraints (i.e., Are these people allowed or welcomed in all spaces? Does the meeting location allow physical access?) and social ones (i.e., Do certain people assume a higher proportion of family and caretaking responsibilities?).
- Are there unique risks [people in a given identity group] may face for participating in politics or participatory outreach activities? How can these risks be mitigated?
- What particular strategies or methods have enabled or could enable [people in a given identity group] to participate in decision-making processes? How does this group prefer to receive information and communicate (preferred language, spoken or written, online or in person, etc.)?
What particular strategies or methods have enabled or could enable [people in a given identity group] to participate in decision-making processes? How does this group prefer to receive information and communicate (preferred language, spoken or written, online or in person, etc.)?