Section introduction

The papers in this section look at RAP from the perspective of researchers within the donor community which have funded many RAP studies and training workshops. Aubel discusses the issues of institutionalization from within a national setting and also in an organization such as the World Bank. She finds encouragement amid numerous constraints. Pearson and Kessler add the perspective of UNICEF, one of the strongest supporters of the development and use of RAP. They call for a strong pragmatic approach and describe the many uses to which their organization has put methods that they see as falling within a broad and highly practical framework for RAP. Watson's paper was warmly received at the conference as she eloquently presented an analysis of the achievements and constraints on institutionalizing RAP in Chad. She points out the difficulties both within the Government and within her own UNICEF office to an innovative methodology such as RAP. Aubel presents another analysis of the difficulties and strategies needed to overcome them in having RAP accepted in Niger as a new tool for planning. Berggren concludes the section with a description of the use of RAP in Malawi where the research process built in an iteration project planning that included a loop back to the community. The use of RAP in training and sensitizing planners and project workers to community problems provides another dimension to institutionalization of these methods.