29 Jul 2011This Media Toolkit for Local Governance in Lesotho, produced by Idasa in partnership with the Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA) and the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism, is ...

15 Mar 2011Idasa’s Right to Know, Right to Education and Community and Citizens’ Empowerment Programmes have produced this toolkit, which provides basic steps for communities to fully engage in school governance and ...

24 Feb 2011This user-friendly manual is aimed at organisers and facilitators working in and with small-scale farmers’ associations in central, west and southern Africa. Download the full toolkit below.

08 Jun 2010There are many problems and challenges in the world today, including in South Africa, such as poverty, unemployment and meeting basic human rights such as water, housing, healthcare and education. ...

07 May 2010Crime affects everyone in South Africa. We all want to live in peaceful communities. Creating them is not only the work of the police, but of every citizen. Different communities ...

07 May 2010People often say that relationships between men and women are too difficult to understand! Gender is one way of trying to understand them better. Gender helps us to see what ...

25 Mar 2009This toolkit has been prepared as a basic guide for South African organisations to contribute to the prevention, management and mitigation of violence over the election period. The Election Monitoring ...

19 Feb 2009By: Yvette Geyer Local government is the coalface of service delivery. It is important for community-based organisations (CBOs) to understand how local government works. There are three main reasons for ...

03 Mar 2008Women and men experience and respond to peace, conflict and post-conflict situations in different ways. SSR that fully integrates gender issues is a crucial element in building a responsive and ...

31 Dec 2007Security Sector Reform aims to create a secure environment that is conducive to development, poverty reduction, good governance and, in particular, the growth of democratic states and institutions based on ...

11 Dec 2007Training manual for budget monitoring from a rights-based framework. Contact Shahieda on shendricks@idasa.org.za to order this book now.

10 Oct 2007Do you have an issue you are battling with in your community? Do you want to discuss, learn  and resolve issues in your community? Here is an opportunity to do ...

31 Jul 2007By: Yvette Geyer In a democratic society there are many different groups which might have competing interests. You need to make your voice heard and get your viewpoint across to ...

18 Oct 2006By: Yvette Geyer The purpose of this notebook is to give you an overview the various processes to put integrated development planning (IDP) in place at a local level. Integrated ...

20 Sep 2006The course aims to equip a group of citizen leaders who are able to make things happen in their communities. This is a LEADERSHIP training course for people from organisations ...

18 Jul 2006According to the South African Constitution, different levels of government are responsible for particular functions. The way these functions are carried out and which ones local government is responsible for ...

18 Jul 2006Most government budgets present a range of large figures. Because programmes, departments and municipalities differ in size, one cannot compare the amounts with one another right away. Also, each year, ...

25 May 2006Parliament and the People: Citizen Participation in the Parliamentary Processes in Lesotho Compiled by Lindlyn Chiwandamira, Lene Overland and Stefan Gilbert in conjunction with the Parliament of Lesotho This handbook ...

25 May 2006Parliament and the People: Citizen Participation in Parliamentary Processes in Zambia Compiled by Lene Overland, Lindlyn Chiwandamira and Stefan Gilbert In conjunction with the Parliament of Zambia This handbook aims ...

19 Apr 2006By Teddy Nemeroff Monitoring- An on-going systematic procedure for checking the effectiveness of dialogue implementation and to recommend changes to improve performance Evaluation- A systematic assessment of the design, execution ...

30 Oct 2005Alexandra Vennekens and Shun Govender The Local Government Budget Guide examines the functioning and impact of local government through the lens of budget analysis. Local government is the eyes and ...

30 Jul 2005Tracking Training, Cape Town, 24-30 July 2005 This training was provided by the AIDS Budget Unit for the six countries involved in undertaking National AIDS Spending Assessments (NASAs), supported by ...

07 Jun 2005This is the participant's manual used in Idasa's Advocacy Training.  It includes participative work in how to run campaigns, lobby decision makers and use advocacy tools to advance your cause for ...

25 Oct 2004This is a copy of Idasa's Training Manual on How Local Government Works, for attendees at our Training Course.

25 Oct 2004This is Idasa's Advocacy & Communications Training Manual for attendees at our Training Courses. There is a participant's manual as well.

24 Oct 2004This is a copy of our Vision and Mission Setting - Training Notes for attendees at our Training Courses.

24 Oct 2004This is a copy of our Financial Management Training Manual for attendees at our Training Courses. 

30 Jun 2004What follows is a brief outline of the kind of issues necessary to remember when dealing with the media.  It is not a comprehensive document, bur rather designed as an ...

22 Jun 2004The Bill of Rights applies to all law and binds not only all state institutions, but also all natural and juristic people. The rights that are protected include: • The right to ...

22 Jun 2004Ordinary citizens or groups of citizens can influence what happens to Bills and can lobby for new legislation or changes to existing laws. What follows is a brief outline of ...

22 Jun 2004What follows is a brief outline of the kind of issues necessary to remember when dealing with the media. It is not a comprehensive document, bur rather designed as an introduction ...

22 Jun 2004• Get to know the key players • Get to know the policy-makers • Get to know the key committees and how they work • Learn the art of good ...

21 Jun 2004Regulation of Private Funding to Political Parties - October 2003 Idasa maintains that the regulation of party funding will strengthen democracy, curb opportunities for corrupt practices and promote several constitutionally ...

21 Jun 2004Ordinary citizens or groups of citizens can influence what happens to Bills and can lobby for new legislation or changes to existing laws. What follows is a brief outline of ...

21 Jun 2004This training toolkit is used as part of Idasa's Leadership Training, and covers the following areas: 1. How Government works in a democracy 2. Importance of voting and elections 3. Citizen Participation

21 Jun 2004This toolkit is used in Idasa's Leadership Training.  It covers the following areas: • Defining democracy • Democracy and power • Types of democracy • Fundamental principles of democracy • Signposts of democracy • You and ...

01 Jun 2004This toolkit is used in communities involved in REFLECT circles, and encourages payment for services and understanding of budgets.

01 Jun 2004This toolkit is used in communities involved in REFLECT circles.  When communities struggling with crime, this toolkit assists them to get organised and create an action plan to stop crime. ...

01 Jun 2004This toolkit is used in REFLECT processes, to consider what structures exist within a community, that can be enhanced for community participation in local government.  It includes probing questions and ...

07 Mar 2004Experiential Exercise: This exercise aims to introduce participants in a practical way to budget analysis for child socio-economic rights advancement. It does this by getting participants, working in groups, to ...