Community Empowerment is very necessary to increase the abilities and potential of the community. So that people can realize their identity, essence and dignity to the maximum in order to survive and develop themselves independently in the economic, social, religious and cultural fields. Community empowerment is not enough just to increase productivity, provide equal business opportunities or provide capital, but must also be accompanied by changes in the socio-economic structure of society, supporting the development of community potential through increasing roles, productivity and efficiency as well as improving four accesses, namely access to resources, access to technology, access to markets, access to sources of financing. These four accesses, apart from being the government's responsibility to facilitate them, also require an active role from community groups to form joint efforts based on common interests (HAW. Widjaja, 2003).
Implementing community empowerment is not easy because there are many challenges faced.
What are the challenges in the community empowerment process?
Even though the potential for community empowerment has positive change impacts, this process is often faced with many challenges. Among them:
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Resource Limitations
Limited funds are one of the main challenges in empowerment. Empowerment programs often require large financial investments, either for training or capital assistance. Lack of experience, skills and knowledge in community empowerment activities creates a lack of confidence in developing programs.
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Lack of Community Participation
Community empowerment is closely related to community participation, because every community empowerment activity will not take place optimally without community participation in every process and stage of community activities (Hasani, 2022). This happens because the assisted community is busy, either because of work or other activities that are more priority.
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Social and Cultural Characteristics
According to Reskiaddin, 2020, the social and cultural characteristics of society such as religion and economic conditions also influence the implementation of community empowerment activities. People who have low incomes prioritize their activities to meet their daily needs. Apart from that, the lack of interaction with the outside community makes it difficult for the community to develop empowerment programs.
Reference:
Hasani, A.R. 2021. Pengaruh Partisipasi Masyarakat dalam Pemberdayaan Masyarakat Warga Miskin dan Implikasinya terhadap Pembangunan di Kabupaten Toli – Toli. Jurnal Pembangunan Daerah, 1, 42-50.
Widjaja, HAW. 2013. Penyelenggaraan Otonomi Di Indonesia Dalam Rangka Sosialisasi UU. No. 32 Tahun 2004 Tentang Pemerintahan Daerah. Jakarta : PT Raja Grafindo Persada
Reskiaddin La ode et al. 2020. Tantangan dan Hambatan Pemberdayaan Masyarakat dalam Pengendalian Penyakit Tidak Menular di Daerah perkotaan: Sebuah Evidance Based Practice di Padukuhan Samirono, Sleman Yogyakarta. Jurnal Kesmas Jambi. 2 (4). 46 – 47.