ABCD

Asset Based Community Development 

• addresses perceived shortcomings of the currently dominant basic needs approach
• builds on inherent strengths and skills of the community rather than rely primarily on outside resources.
• builds on the ancient wisdom that communities can be built in the long term only by focusing on the strengths and capacities of INDIVIDUALS, ASSOCIATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS who call a community their home.
• draws up an ASSETS MAP based on this old truth. This Map shows: the gifts of individual residents and families, their knowledge, skills, resources, values and commitments
• draws up an ASSETS MAP that shows the power inherent in local groups and associations available for community building as they pursue religious, civic, recreational and other ends.
• draws up an Assets Map that shows the vast resources in local institutions such as schools, local government units, churches, community centers, commercial establishments which can be
  mobilized to build or rebuild communities. 

ABCD is both:

• an approach or set of methods for community mobilization; and
• a strategy for community-driven development

BLDF proposes to pilot-test ABCD in several municipalities in Bohol as innovative approach to enhance and complement the existing poverty database for more than 200,000 households in all 48 LGUs.

ABCD application in Bohol will focus on creative industries in support to the provincial
development agenda which promotes ecological and cultural tourism as engine of pro-poor economic growth.

ABCD will enable LGUs to engage local communities to:

• Identify and develop historical and cultural landmarks, local skills and talents and resources  of groups,associations and institutions; and 
• Unlock hidden potentials for social cohesion and greater participation in local economic activities in ways that also enhance and protect ecological resources.

Towards this end, the project will:

• pilot-test for widespread replication the linkage between assets and basic needs to demonstrate balance in participatory planning and programming
• explore the use of cultural and art forms to generate outputs relevant to collective planning and project development
• modify existing survey tools and methodology to reflect efforts to include social capital indicators which are crucial to ABCD
• develop a user-friendly software which can be linked to the existing poverty database in each LGU to facilitate the tracking of local assets at household, community and institutional levels
• develop an interface between PDMS and the ABCD software and demonstrate the potential for using these digital tools to facilitate more cost-effective ways to prepare poverty-focused local plans as well as master plans for sectoral concerns, such as for children, youth, the elderly and women; livelihood and the environment

Words to Live By:
“I have been asked a question many a time, ‘Who is your hero?’ I say my hero does not depend on the position a person occupies. My heroes are those simple men and women who have committed themselves to fighting poverty wherever that is to be found in the world.” Nelson Mandela

ABCD Related Documents:

1. Understanding the Asset-based Approach to Community Development
2. Guide to Key Informants Discussion
3. Guide to FGD
4. ABCD Handbook 1
5. ABCD Handbook 2
6. ABCD Questions for FGD
7. ABCD and the DReAMS Project

ABCD Powerpoint Presentations:

1. ABCD Pilot Program