Page 152 - Enabling National Initiatives to Take Democracy Beyond Elections

150 A Project of the UN Democracy Fund (UNDEF) Step 4: Reimbursements You must decide whether or not you will reimburse people for their participation in your processes. Depending on the time commitment, payment will generally encourage more people to participate than otherwise. This changes the type of people who RSVP from those with the time and financial stability to contribute to a broader group of people – especially younger people and those with lower incomes. You may want to mirror the amount people in your country are reimbursed for jury duty if this is common practice. There are a number of different ways in which you may want to reimburse participants. You might want to think about the structural support systems you can make available to participants to help them attend. This might include an option for child-care, a cash reimbursement for costs incurred attending or in some cases it might be a basic needs provision. We strongly recommend paying participants and making this clear on the invitations.