Ifda dossier 47, May/June 1985

ifda dossier 47 . may/june 1985 news from the third system
ASIA: CENDHRRA, OR PARTNERSHIP IN ACTION
Cendhrra - the Centre for the Development of Hwivm Resources in rural
Asia - revieus in its September 84 Newsletter its "principles of partner-
ship". Here are some excerpts from the revian:
WHAT KEY IDEAS BROUGHT ABOUT THE FORMATION OF CENDHRRA AND
THE NETWORK?
Towards the end of the First UN Development Decade (1960's) development
circles everywhere began to realize the serious human costs entailed by
the one-sided emphasis on economic and technological development. In-
creased economic production and the technological revolution did not
bring about a better life for peoples as the decade had promised. On the
contrary, there was extensive human misery, dehumanization and oppres-
sion, and widespread ecological deterioration as never before expe-
rienced. In this setting, an Asian regional-level workshop was held on
human resource development (DHRRAW, Bangkok, 1974), where it was
re-stressed that the focus of all development should be the human per-
son. And the key to the development of peoples lay in the participation
of people in decisions that affect their own lives, their
growth-in-community; and this meant having access to resources, or the
equitable distribution of the world's goods. Moreover, if the goal is
humanism in development, then we must draw from the richness of all cul-
tures and religions (thus, the need for a common search for that config-
uration which points to the real Asian identity). The path to real de-
velopment, therefore, cannot be dictated upon, for it is unilinear, not
uniform for ail.
Following the workshop there was a common desire among participants to
sustain their experience of. solidarity and continue communications, and
with this, the DHRKA FAMILY of development partners was born. A secretar-
late called CENDHRRA was established and located in Manila to help build
that Asian solidarity. Workshops on Integral Rural Development (CIR5s)
were held in different countries to help establish the national link-
ages. With the subsequent increase in exchanges of information and in-
formal communication among partners, the network thus grew and expanded.
CENDHRRA's growth underwent three distinct phases:
1976-78: Building up the Asian-level linkages
1979-81: Strengthening of the national DHRRA groupings
1982-84: Strengthening of the whole network through an Asian-level
integrated information system
In short, some of CENDHRRA1s fundamental principles are: 1) that full
human development is not attained through mere abundance of material
goods; 2) that regional and international solidarity is necessary for
mobilizing resources towards human development; and 3) that participa-
tory decision-making with local people is more effective than centra-
lized technocratic planning.