Mesfin Jonfa

Effectiveness of Community Conversation: As a Tool of Empowering Communities in Prevention and Control of Harmful Traditional Practices Mesfin Jonfa

There is a claim that development agents do create the local people?s abilities and enable them active participant as a means of empowering to be the owner of development endeavors? As a result their activities have been conceived as endeavors, which doomed to view the local people as mere recipient rather than change agents. Hence, the study tried to assess the effectiveness of Community Conversation in empowering communities in the prevention and control of Harmful Traditional Practices that have been prevailed in the studied communities affecting people?s live. To closely examine, pre intervention, on process and post interventions were assed qualitatively. In doing so, some elements of empowerment were looked with the context of the finding of the study and some theoretical concepts. Data for the study was collected through a combination method such as interviews, focus group discussions and document analysis. To substantiate the study with important theoretical basis, the review of related literature was made. The study kebele (local government structure) and respondents were selected purposefully.