In response to many requests from smaller NGOs and CBOs in the Province of KwaZulu Natal the Democracy Development Programme has managed to contract a financial expert that has worked extensively within the sector to design a workshop that addresses the unique accounting operations of an organization. The design of this workshop was based on feedback from donors identifying the lack of understanding of the organizations as a whole which impinges on timeous, accurate and efficient flow of information.

WHOC has been a partner for the DDP schools programme that is aimed at working with youth in the Durban South Basin in order to  promote a positive lifestyle. The organization requested a strategic planning workshop in order to revisit the purpose and effectiveness of their work in order to  re-position themselves for the next five years. The participants included student leaders, members of the Board , volunteers and staff.  At the end of the workshop the organization had a clear idea of what was needed in order to fulfill the vision for the next five years. Key issues that arose were related to  resource mobilization and some re-engineering of the organization in order to take the work forward. A clear action plan with timeframes was agreed on. The group left the workshop feeling inspired and motivated. DDP hopes to continue working with this community based initiative through this new phase of the development.

From the 19 - 21 October 2007,  the DDP hosted a strategic planning workshop for the Kensington Youth Forum (Cape Town). The workshop was facilitated by CDRA and allowed members of the Forum to draw a leading image that will assist them with planning for the next years.

The DDP, in collaboration with CPP and Fairshare, held this GGLN-sponsored IDP Workshop, which was aimed at identifying and addressing crucial capacity issues within municipalities that would effectively facilitate community input. Best practices, challenges of IDP implementation as well as ways in which communities can interact with municipalities with regards to the review process were discussed.

The following speakers addressed the audience: Ms Hyacinthia Naidoo (Senior Researcher, City Managers Office: eThekwini Municipality), Dr Pearl Sithole (Research Specialist, Democracy and Governance Unit: HSRC) and Mr Thabo Manyathi (Team Leader, Social Movements and Traning: AFRA).

From the 31 August until 2 September, DDP conducted a team building and leadership workshop for the teachers of Rippon Road Primary School.

The teachers of this school have made their school into a model of self-help and creative initiative, to help the learners cope in a difficult environment. The teacher wished to instill in the children a sense of responsible citizenship and the possibility of using the children to have an impact on parents in the community. By surfacing these concerns and devising a plan to deal with the complex social and economic issues it was hoped that there could be a positive spin-off for the community.

The DDP hopes to make inroads into this community which has a history of voter apathy and  a myriad of other problems.

With the support of DDP, COMBOCO (the KwaZulu-Natal CBO Coalition) has held a national policy conference from the 17 - 19 August in Durban. Aim of the conference was to define COMBOCO's role in the 2nd decade of democracy.

On 3 August 2007, a local NGO Phoenix JARP (with support of DDP)  hosted their first Women’s Day event at Redfern Community Hall. The area in Phoenix that was targeted mainly was Rinkgreen Place, Greenbury.  The area was selected because of the high poverty rate as well as the rife crime and drug related matters taking place.

The aim of this event was to empower women to make a positive contribution to society and their community. Our aim was to empower these women to get out of poverty and showing them ways of being self-employed. This was done by giving them peace bracelets - a symbol of peace and prosperity.