A/HRC/23/36 closed or predetermined, but must allow for ideas to emerge from the ground up, 33 and participation must occur early enough in a process to set priorities and influence deliberation, drafting and outcome. It must not be limited to marginal or peripheral issues, but should focus on key issues such as public services, budgets and fiscal policy. Empowerment must be a primary and stated goal of such a process, through providing a participatory learning process that helps people to analyse local problems and develop solutions that use and promote rights. 74. A foundation of an educated and informed public who knows their rights is crucial to build effective participation. In particular, people living in poverty must be empowered so as to make their participation effective. Therefore, it is critical to strengthen the capacity of people living in poverty to engage in participatory processes, by promoting their critical thinking and ability to analyse and confront structures of oppression and power relations. They should be empowered to identify the root causes of their marginalization and to take action (individually or collectively) to make claims and realize their rights. This requires, inter alia, human rights education and other capacity-building activities,34 which should be built into each participatory process and begun before the process starts. This may include public speaking training, human rights education, workshops and information provision. 75. To the extent possible, people living in poverty should be able to set the terms of the debate and choose topics for discussion. Facilitators should enable involvement, in particular with regard to the most disadvantaged and excluded, but should not dominate or excessively “manage” the discussion. 76. Meaningful decisions must be on the table for consideration and discussion,35 including budgets and resource allocation. Research shows that lively participation is more likely where control over resources is located close to local people; this proximity is also critically important to whether participation can make a difference to people’s lives. 36 People living in poverty must be given space to criticize all elements of a programme or project, as well as the agenda or rationale behind it. For example, service delivery may take place primarily at the local level, but key decisions relating to resource allocation, service delivery structure, etc. may be taken centrally. Therefore, real participation necessitates that the public is able to discuss and criticize both elements of the equation. 77. While NGOs, especially grass-roots organizations, have an important role to play in supporting and facilitating the participation of people living in poverty, they are not a proxy. Staff or volunteers of NGOs or civil society organizations should not automatically be seen as “representatives” or “spokespersons” for people living in poverty, but rather serve as facilitators and advocates, with the ultimate goal of allowing them to express themselves and influence decision-making on their own terms. They can also play a role in helping the community organize and empowering people living in poverty with skills and knowledge that facilitate their more active participation and free expression. 78. Rather than just using meetings to extract information, facilitators and organizers should seek to actively build the capacity of the participants and foster their better enjoyment of rights such as education and freedom of expression. The opportunity to provide workshops or courses relevant to the needs of the participants, for example literacy 33 34 35 36 Institute of Development Studies, What Do We Know About How to Bring the Perspectives of People Living in Poverty into Global Policy-making?, IDS, 2012, p. 3. OHCHR, “Principles and guidelines for a human rights approach to poverty reduction strategies”, p. 15. Development Research Centre on Citizenship, Participation and Accountability, Blurring the Boundaries: Citizen Action Across States and Societies, 2011, p. 45. R. McGee, Legal Frameworks for Citizen Participation: Synthesis Report, Logolink, 2003, p. 54. 17