Abstract

People’s participation is considered as an integral part of both the ideal as well as the practice of democracy, and reflects the basic aspirations of the people. Citizen Community Board (CCB) is a community based organization that was introduced in Pakistan in 2001, under which people identify and implement their own need base projects by registering their own CCBs upon approval of funds from local government. With the intervention of Devolution Trust of Community Empowerment (DTCE), the number of registered CCBs not only increased, but also the projects implemented by CCBs are more than that of the local government. The paper investigates the improvement in CCB’s registration with the intervention of DTCE in Abbottabad District from December, 2003 and also the contribution of CCBs in the developmental activities with respect to the local government. Results show that CCBs are playing a more effective role in citizen empowerment than that of the local government and thus, show a sustainable way to improve the capacity of the local community.

Key words: Community empowerment, decentralization, empowerment, participation.