Stage 2: Carry out initial community engagement 2 2.1 2 Initial community engagement • Engage with community leaders • Engage with other community members to learn about the community • Establish roles Engage with community leaders A HRCLD approach involves forming strong, sustainable relationships with members of a community. The trust, respect, honesty, openness and integrity underlying these relationships take time to develop and require on-going investment. This is why, unless relationships with the community already exist, much of the first year of engagement is about relationship-building. Before beginning the engagement, it is essential to understand cultural protocols or any particular protocols within that community – such as who you should contact, who makes decisions, processes for engagement etc. It can be useful if you have someone on staff who has a connection to, or an existing positive relationship with, the community. This could be the case in a small country, if staff have family ties to an area, or if your NHRI has regional centres. However it is not always possible, and it may be that you are beginning a new relationship with the community.7 To show appropriate respect to the leaders of the community (no matter what kind of community it is) your own NHRI leadership and person/people of recognised seniority should be part of the initial formal visit to the community. This establishes a ‘leader-to-leader’/ ‘chief-to-chief’ / CEO-to-CEO relationship which both acknowledges the importance of the interaction with the community and sets the scene for future engagements. It is important not to approach this first engagement empty-handed. Your framework is a human rights one. Within that, think about what you may have to offer? It is also as important not to anticipate any outcomes. Collaboration may or may not be possible. Most of the initial engagements will involve learning about each other and each other’s motivations and expectations – then building on, deepening and enriching the relationship. If the initial invitation to engage in a HRCLD activity has not come from the community, or there are not natural links with that community, you may find that people are naturally suspicious of you. They may see you as a government agency and don’t trust your intentions. Think about the ways appropriate to your context that you can use to work through this. Of course if the community has approached you or responded to your ‘call-out’, discussions may have already occurred in the community and interest in collaborating may exist. 7. This photo is of Bulaka Panglima, a leader of the Sama Dilaut, Philippines as he welcomes the Commissions of the Philippines and New Zealand. (Photo by J CHRISP) APF HRCLD Guide 34