A Review to Understanding the Effectiveness of Community Engagement as an Approach to Sustaining Community Development

Communities in societies are resourceful hubs formed overtime with grouping features of existence of species within it attending to day to day activities of life. The most referred to communities are those for human habitation who have shared responsibilities between them and the State for sustainable developed communities. The responsibility of a community does therefore ensure that the State’s policies and a community are engaging so as to be aligned to its developmental aspirations and for its sustainability. A descriptive study to review a community’s engagement in decision making was conducted focusing on 6 key respondents who were selected through a purposive sample to relate their vast experience in community engagement. A finding revealed that community engagement levels have been poor or low in most communities due to lack of education and awareness on community engagement policies and approaches among community members. The recommendations on this study pointed to the need for education and awareness in the role of communities; in community development initiatives and how their engagement into community decision making processes lead to sustained community development.