COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT STRATEGY IN POVERTY TREATMENT

ABSTRACT: Community empowerment is an effort to improve community welfare. It is the best approach insolving poverty issues. Therefore, various Community Empowerment Strategies are expected to be right ontarget in reducing poverty rate in rural areas, especially in Bali. Balinese people have traditional communitiesand its traditions that must be maintained in addition to meeting basic needs.Both official government andtraditional leaders affects their welfare in society.An active participation is needed to prioritize society’s wellbeing. Through this active participation, the poor as the target group is not only the object of the program.Public participation is very important given the complexity of the existing poverty problem, namely as a meansof obtaining information, the public will have more confidence in development programs, and as a forum forchanneling democratic rights. Community empowerment will help alleviate poverty, especially by focusing onwomen’s empowerment– which is very important in increasing family income. Empowering women willincrease participation in society and can improve the welfare of families and communities.

Keywords: strategy; Empowerment; Social participation; Poverty.