Community Development for Transformation: the role of community organizations as negotiating leverage in conflict - affected communities 6

ABSTRACT: In different parts of the country, various communities of marginalized sectors have been faced with a lot of conflicts, rooted in their assertion of their claims over rights to land, housing, just wages, and decent working conditions, among others. Government policies aligned with its adherence to liberalization policies aggravated this situation. More projects that will result to displacement of already marginalized communities in urban and rural areas are allowed, even if these encroach on productive farmlands or threaten the remaining ancestral lands of indigenous peoples. These projects have been met with opposition by the affected communities Affected sectors are in a better position to negotiate, thier collective interests if they are organized. As articulated in this paper, an organized community especially in a conflict situation is in an advantageous position to press for its demands and negotiate for better terms in an interactive manner. This means engaging with proponents and government through a combination of negotiations, legal and meta-legal actions. Organizations are channels to express the collective strength of the people - especially those who have less in power, so they will have better chances of being heard. Community participation in governance is now institutionalized. There are many mechanisms whereby marginalized sectors can engage with government and proponents to better argue their positions on certain policies, programs and projects that have negative impacts on them. There is need therefore to strengthen and enhance community organizing work to include a conflict 56

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