Delaktighet som strategi inom folkhälsoarbete : En kvalitativ fältstudie om medarbetarnas erfarenheter av att involvera lokala medborgare i genomförandet av Agenda 2030 på Perus landsbygd

Sammanfattning: Background: Health promotion is significant for reducing health inequalities at local and global levels. The Swedish Government has developed a policy for sustainable global development in the pursuit of implementing Agenda's 2030 sustainability goals in the international arena. Svalorna Latinamerika works in Peru with implementing the global goals at local level. Aim: The purpose of the field study is to analyze how Svalorna Latinamerika works strategically with involving local citizens to participate in the development work at the local level. The work is based on the global sustainability goals (Agenda 2030). Methods: The study applied a qualitative method and deductive approach to test whether the theory could be applied in to achieve sustainable development goals. Community participation theory claims that participation (i) is a strategy within the health promotion work that aims to involve local residents in the developing work that affects their lives (ii) it creates trust and legitimacy for the development work (iii) it can strengthen people's self- esteem, knowledge and development of new skills and (iv) the level of participation can affect the sustainability and efficiency of social development. A targeted sampling technique was applied to select the interviewees while data collection was performed through semi- structured interviews. Furthermore, manifest content analysis was used to analyze the collected material. Result: Participation as a health promoting strategy was applied by the non-profit organization. The level of participation consisted of partnership, a collaboration with both top-down and bottom-up approach. The co-operation and involvement of local citizens in decision-making processes created trust and legitimacy and enabled the development program to meet local needs and conditions. It also resulted in increased participation in the program's capacity building activities. Conclusion: The involvement of local citizens in decision-making processes created the conditions for the citizen to strengthen the individual and the community empowerment. Keywords: Community participation, empowerment, global sustainability goals, health promotion, local community development