Process to change the unjust situations affecting the poor
Patricia de Nava, past President of the AIC, presented a talk at the LCUSA Assembly in San Antonio on “Systemic Change: A Process to change the unjust situations affecting the poor” The outline of her talk follows.
What is Systemic Change?
It is a process that implies a form of systemic thinking. This type of thinking looks at the whole and the parts, and the connection between the parts, studying the whole in order to understand the parts. It offers tools for interpreting our experience by focusing on the relationships between elements, rather than on the content of the elements themselves. This type of thinking prevents us from unconsciously employing the same mental models that are causing the problems we want to solve.
Systemic Change is a process that favors a structural change of a whole system. It is a change that leads to a radical transformation of the life of the excluded, through specific strategies needed to produce those changes.
The spirituality behind Systemic Change
The change process for AIC volunteers must be sustained in a series of values and beliefs, in the Christian Vincentian Charisma and in the AIC’s Guide Lines. Besides, it must be oriented towards a vision: A world of greater justice and equity, in which the poorest occupy the place that belongs to them in society.
Effective Strategies for Systemic Change
We consider that these strategies are very important, if not indispensable, to generate real and deep changes in the projects and services of the members of the Vincentian Family. The following list will he also included in the book and in the tool kit that will be introduced later on. For a better understanding, we divided the strategies according to their orientation and main objectives:
4. Mission Orientation (motivation and direction)
→ Consider poverty not as the inevitable result of circumstances, but as the product of unjust situations that can be changed, focusing on actions that will break the circle of poverty
→ Design projects, creative strategies, policies and guidelines that flow from our Christian and Vincentian values and mission,
→ Evangelize and inculturate Christian and Vincentian values and charisma, by maintaining a profound respect for the local culture
4. Task Orientation (organization)
→ Start with a serious analysis of the local reality, flowing from concrete data, and tailor all projects to this reality
→ Have a holistic vision, addressing a series of basic human needs — individual and social, spiritual and physical, especially jobs, health care, housing, education, spiritual growth — with an integral approach toward prevention and sustainable development
→ Implement coherent strategies, starting modestly, delegating tasks and responsibilities, and providing quality services respectful of human dignity
→ Systematize, institutionalize and evaluate the project and its procedures, describing measurable indicators and results
→ Make the project self-sustaining by guaranteeing that it will have the human and economic resources needed for it to last
→ Be transparent, inviting participation in preparing budgets and in commenting on financial reports. Maintain careful controls over money management.
4. People Orientation (focusing on the poor as the persons who are most capable of changing their own situation)
→ Listen carefully and seek to understand the needs and aspirations of the poor, creating an atmosphere of respect and mutual confidence and fostering self-esteem among the people
→ Involve the poor themselves, including the young and women, at all stages: identification of needs, planning, implementation, evaluation and revision
→ Educate, train, and offer spiritual formation to all participants in the project
Promote horizontal learning processes, forming effective multiplying agents and visionary leaders in the local community, to be servant leaders inspired by Saint Vincent de Paul
→ Construct structural and institutional models, where communities can identify their resources and needs, make informed decisions, and exchange information and effective strategies within the community and among various communities
→ Promote engagement in political processes, through civic education of individuals and communities
→ Support and respect the mechanisms for promoting solidarity that exist among the community members
4. Co-responsibility, networking and political action (participation and solidarity)
→ Promote social co-responsibility and networking, sensitizing society at all levels — local, national and international — about changing the unjust conditions that affect the lives of the poor
→ Construct a shared vision with diverse stakeholders: poor communities, interested individuals, donors, churches, governments, the private sector, unions, the media, international organizations and networks, etc.
→ Struggle to transform unjust situations and to have a positive impact, through political action, on public policy and laws
→ Have a prophetic attitude: announce, denounce, and, by networking with others, engage in actions that exert pressure for bringing about change
Patricia P. de Nava (A IC)
Commission for Promoting Systemic Change
Prayer for Systemic Change
We praise and thank you, O God, Creator of the universe.
You have made all things good and have given us the earth to cultivate.
Grant that we may always use created things gratefully, and share them generously with those in need. Give us creativity in helping the poor meet their basic human needs.
Open our minds and hearts so that we might stand at their side
and assist them to change whatever unjust structures keep them poor.
Enable us to he brothers and sisters to them, friends who walk with them
in their struggle for fundamental human rights. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen
This material will also appear on the revised LCUSA site, currently in beta testing.
Tags: Advocacy, Anti-poverty strategies, Featured, LCUSA, Patricia de Nava, Poverty Analysis, Systemic change