Community Development Support Programme
Pavee Point is a Specialist Support Agency within the Community Development Support Programme, an anti-poverty initiative presently funded by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs
Community Development seeks to challenge the causes of disadvantage / poverty and to offer new opportunities for those lacking choice, power and resources. Community development involves people experiencing disadvantage being the active agents in making changes they identify to be important. It supports them to draw upon their own knowledge and experiences to develop their skills.
The overall aim of our work as a Specialist Support Agency and as a Traveller development agency is the appropriate inclusion of Travellers and the Traveller agenda in the focus and work of community projects, Family Resource Centres and other initiatives. This work is carried out using a community development approach, with anti-racism as a focus of community development.
Overall aim:
The overall aim of our work as a Specialist Support Agency (SSA) is to create the conditions for the increased involvement of Travellers in a range of community initiatives and to provide support at local, regional and national levels to ensure Travellers are appropriately included in policy and services, resulting in positive outcomes for the Traveller community. It also involves promoting diversity and equality within the work of the CDP and Family Support Agency and at a wider policy and societal level.
We achieve this through:
- Working with existing Traveller CDP’s and emerging Traveller organisations to develop their analysis and work
- Working with CDP’s, FRC’s and local and sectoral players to support the development of culturally appropriate responses to Travellers
- Working with policy makers and service providers to promote Traveller inclusion in any new developments at local and national levels and in monitoring existing commitments and services
- Seeking to address Traveller issues through a combination of community development, lobbying, advocacy and media work
- Promoting an analysis and understanding of anti-racism, equality and diversity within the CDP programme, the work of the Family Support Agency and at a wider societal level
Examples of work we have undertaken as an SSA include:
- Training on Traveller inclusion, cultural awareness and anti-racism
- Compiling and disseminating information on Travellers and developing resource materials including fact sheets, newsletters, videos, and website.
- Developing and making policy submissions
- Undertaking research on Travellers
- Promoting Traveller Participation
- Supporting the Roma Community in Ireland
- Working on Data gathering issues
- Establishing a Training Unit
- Providing Media training
- Resourcing Traveller CDP network
- Networking
- Training and Capacity Building
- Promoting Equality, Anti-Racism and Diversity
Pavee Point’s overall work is informed by a community work approach, which recognises the importance of Traveller participation, self-determination and collective action. It also recognises that the majority of the problems that Travellers experience are as a result of racism and society’s failure to recognise them as a minority ethnic group. These key tenets of the organisation are reflected in the work and approach adopted by the community development team as a specialist support agency.
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