IBIS Advocacy Workshop

Copenhagen, March 17th 2009

What We’ve Achieved So Far: The Good News…

In 2000, governments around the world pledged to achieve “Education For All” by 2015. The world has the resources to do it, the world knows how to do it and we even have a plan that actually works. Where it has been implemented we have gotten results:

• Over 40 million more children in school since 2000.

• Debt cancellation and new political priorities increased domestic spending– low-income countries now spend on average 20% of their budgets on education

• Aid to basic education from under $2 billion in 2000 to average of $4.4b by 2008.

• 36 countries have had their plans endorsed through the Fast Track Initiative

process.

• Where aid has flowed, it has clearly assisted countries to accelerate their efforts: in Cambodia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia, aid assisted countries to plan for and execute the abolition of school fees; in Bangladesh, aid played a central role in stipend programs for girls at secondary level.

The Challenge Ahead: The bad news…

• We are still far from reaching total financing requirement = $11 billion per year minimum or $16 billion per year for full EFA agenda

• There remains a huge over-reliance on a few donors (the Netherlands, UK and World Bank/IDA are responsible for 60% of all aid to basic education in low-income countries) and the G8 performing particularly badly in paying their ‘fair share of the

• There is a global shortage of teachers: 18 million teachers need to be trained and recruited by 2015.

• Not enough is being done to address the full EFA agenda, especially hard to reach children, secondary schooling, adult literacy and early childhood education.

• The Fast Track Initiative, though it has made impressive progress in some areas (notably co-ordination and harmonization), is not delivering additional aid to level required – either through Catalytic Fund or bilateral routes. Annual shortfall in financing plans of between $600m and $1 bn and it has failed to improve accountability of donors. It has a low profile outside of a handful of education aid specialists, and its ‘brand’ has been seriously dented by the disbursement issues that continue to plague the Catalytic Fund.

• Most donors offer project-based aid, tied to their domestic interests rather than backing government plans

So what are we going to do about it?GCE’s Global Advocacy Priorities

Unless we change course, some countries will not meet the goals by 2115 let alone 2015. That is why we have all come together. We must work together to make the case for Education for All, mobilize public support and raise universal education up the political agenda to ensure:

• Rich countries fund their fair share of the financing gap for EFA and lower secondary - $16 billion

• That funds are predictable and fund recurrent costs especially teachers salaries

• The establishment of a Global Fund for Education which addresses the full Education For All agenda, and increases accountability by donors to fully meet their commitments.

• IMF/World Bank policies and practices support the same objectives especially by shifting restrictive macro-economic policy conditions.

5

Direct Policymaker contact

• Building year long campaigns centered around concrete, political change oriented outcomes.

• Engaging key advocates and opinion leaders who can can drive momentum and get the ear of policy makers at key decision moments.

HOW E

• Sharp synthesis of the best policy information and analytics - impact, solutions, other trends

• An overall agenda that allows us to pursue the most ambitious goals that are politically possible with broad support – (practical ideas that resonate deeply with key policy makers and the public)

• An integrated strategy to drive action across coalitions, fully leverage strengths and promote more reactive / event-driven actions

Public awareness and communication

Constituency mobilization

Grasstops and opinon leaders

Policy analysis and development

How do we do that? Advocacy tools:

Policy Analysis and Development: Example GCE UK’s Final Countdown Report

In February 2008 the GCE UK submitted a report to the Department for International Development based on an analysis of the UK spending on aid to education and outlining specific areas where progress could be made.

Grasstops and Opinion Leaders: Class of 2015

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW9JBDF3C1c

• The European Union Agenda for Action included an ambitious statement on ODA to basic education, proposing that EU countries should collectively contribute €4.3 billion to basic education by 2010

• The United Kingdom has committed to meeting their fair share of financing for the EFA Goals, pledging to reach $2 billion/year by 2010. They recently built on their previous commitments with a pledge of at the UN HLE of £50 million to the FTI Catalytic Fund

• Australia committed to a ‘Better Education’ policy which will deliver Aus$500 million up to 2010 to strengthen education systems in Asia and the Pacific. It includes a commitment of $40 million for the Education For All Fast-Track Initiative Catalytic Fund.

• France followed up on their commitment to assist 8 million African children to go to school in the next two year and pledged €50 million towards this effort at the UNHLE.

• Norway pledged $180 million to UNICEF girls’ education programme in 2009.s over 2 years and $25 million to the Education For All Fast-Track Initiative Catalytic Fund

• Spain pledged €180 million to the Education For All Fast-Track Initiative Catalytic Fund over the next three years at the UN HLE.

• Obama committed to putting $2 billion a year towards a Global Fund for Education and

signing the Education for All Act.

Direct Policy Maker Contact: Example GCE US

The US coalition has used GCE Global Action Week as an opportunity to contact policy makers and press for concrete legislative and policy action:

2004 - Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) headlined Action Week in the U.S. by unveiling legislation designed to provide universal basic education for all children throughout the world. 2006 - About 60 students from across the country and ten international students traveled to Washington, DC to meet with nearly 50 Congressional offices about the importance of supporting universal education. Students attended a training program about how to speak to congressional leaders about universal education. 2008- Shakira joined Rep. Nita Lowey, Chair of the US GCE Gene Sperling, and students from across the country to participate in a press conference to raise awareness about the bipartisan Education for All Act of 2007 (EFA) and call on government leaders to support basic education for all children and participated in several private meetings.

Lobbying Basics

Three Components

What’s the point?What impact can

it have?

What do we bring

to the table?

In Person VisitPersonal LettersPhone CallsMass emails, etc.

Nine steps to effective lobbying

1. Understand the issue.

2. Pick your targets.

9. Follow up.

8. Hold the meeting.

5. Determine what you’re asking for.

7. Expect the unexpected.

6. Be prepared.

3. Plan the meeting.

4. Know the political climate.

July 2008

GETTING THE MEDIA’S ATTENTION

GCE Example: The Reading Rocket!

Public Awareness and Communications

QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN DEVISING A MEDIA STRATEGY

• What are the aims or goals? What do you want/intend to achieve?• What are the key messages for this effort? Who is your audience?• What is the power analysis for this effort? Who are we trying to

influence/reach and how are we going to influence/reach them? • What are the key media targets and why? • How are you going to do it? And when?• What materials will you need?• What will success look like? (i.e. coverage)• What risks do you need to be aware of?• Who are your main spokespeople? Are they the most appropriate

messengers for the issue?• What’s your timeline?

WHAT IS NEWSWORTHY?

What is news? • News is people – real life stories• News is local – local people, local impact• News is drama – where’s the tension?• News is simple – black & white, good guys & bad guys• News has killer facts • News is NEW – new developments, new information or a new perspective

What isn’t news? • News is not complicated or dull• News is not rehashed, reissued, repackaged

Getting Coverage:• The media will rarely come to you, or come to you when you don’t want them to.• Keep in mind the importance of timeliness – hook any story or strategy to a major

and current event.• Simply holding a press conference is not enough unless the speakers include

Madonna, George Clooney. Obama, etc.

TIPS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN DEALING WITH THE MEDIA

• News is a two-way street: be a resource for reporters.• Reporters need you just as badly as you need them. • Don’t presume a reporter knows what you are talking about• Personalize your story, giving as many concrete examples and

human stories as possible. • Be accessible to reporters. • Know your facts. • Everything is on the record. Even if you feel like you have a

great relationship with a reporter, don’t say anything you wouldn’t want to see on the front page or the evening news.

• Be persistent with your pitch, but know when to hang up or walk away.

Opinion Editorial and Letters to the Editor

Opinion Editorials:• The opinion section of your local newspaper is one of its most well-read sections, as it is the

space where the views of the community are shared and debated. • Newspaper editors read letters submitted by the readership to gauge the public mood. • Policy makers read the opinion pages in order to get an idea about what people in their district

are saying and thinking. • Given the high number of submissions every day, it may be unlikely that any one letter to the

editor or opinion piece will be published, especially if you are submitting to a large newspaper. • But this should in no way discourage you and doesn’t mean that your writing won’t have an

impact. It’s well worth the effort to submit a letter to the editor or an opinion piece because of the opportunity to educate thousands of people in your community—from your next door neighbor to your political leaders.

Letters to the Editor:• BE TIMELY. The chances your letter will be published increases significantly if you submit your

letter to refute, contribute to, or correct recently published pieces from the outlet. Submit your letter as soon as possible-ideally the same day the article ran-and don’t forget to reference the article.

• KNOW OUTLET POLICIES. Different newspapers have different rules that are important to consider when writing a letter to the editor. Read letters to the editor published recently by the newspaper, and mirror their format. Common length restrictions are 250 to 300 words, but some are as short as 150 words.

• BE CONCISE AND TO THE POINT. Make sure the letter speaks to the audience, so don’t use jargon. Make your point.

• KNOW YOUR FACTS. You need to be able to verify any statistics or other facts. Keep your letter brief and to the point – focus on making one key point in two or three paragraphs, and use just a couple key facts or statistics, or a very brief story, to support your argument.

Constituency Mobilization: Moment and Movement

Some guiding principles for motivating action:

What’s happening right now?

Why does it matter?

What should we do about it?

There are 3 basic parts to a “Moment Story”…

Moment Part 1: The “Crisitunity”

“Crisitunity” is real world situation that is either a crisis about to unfold (bad thing possible) or the opportunity potentially to be achieved (good thing possible) It’s the hook for any compelling action

Examples:

Bush has vetoed children’s health care.<crisis>Congress can override him, but it must act quickly. <opportunity>

Monks are being killed in Burma <crises> and China has the power to stop it. <opportunity>

The Bali summit may produce a binding climate plan to dramatically slow global warming. <opportunity> But if polluter nations scuttle the negotiations we may never get another chance <crisis>

Non-examples:

We’re working day and night to protect the earth.”

“Global warming threatens our very way of life.”

“Parliament doesn’t think that you care!”

Moment Part 2: Identify ‘The Reason it matters to you’

Examples: Congress must understand that their constituents will not allow children’s health care to disappear. We

have to show them this is about more than election year politics – this is about our families’ lives, and we will not rest until Congress overrides Bush’s veto and stands up for our kids.

China is Burma’s only real ally, and if they pressure the junta, Than Shwe will have to back down. It’s up to us to call on China and make sure that they do. So we’re launching a petition today and broadcasting your signatures through an ad in the Financial Times – with a huge circulation among the power brokers of Bejing.

The United States, Canada and Japan are dragging their heels in Bali. But they don’t realize that millions of their own citizens back home are watching, and ready to demand better. Together, we can remind them who they serve, and push them back onto the right course.

Non-Examples:

Missing: “Global poverty is terrible, and we’ve launched a petition to stop it.”

Impossible: “George Bush has staked his presidency on privatizing social security. So we’ve launched a petition asking him to stop.”

Obscure: “Climate change threatens us all, and we’re working night and day to stop it. Please contribute to keep our campaign going.”

Moment Part 3: The Ask

1. The ask is the actual thing you want your reader to do.

2. It should clearly trigger the reason it matters to you and help resolve the crisitunity.

3. It should be clear, vivid, and basic.

Ask Examples:

Please take a few minutes write your member of Congress to tell your personal story about how public healthcare has effected your family. Maybe it’s a story from your own childhood, or a niece, nephew or cousin. Maybe it’s your own child. Whatever your story, if you share it now you can help save children’s health care. You can write and submit your story online right here:

Please sign our petition right now to ensure your initials shows up in our FT ad. And then forward this note to friends and family who also want to help the Burmese . You can sign by entering your information online at the link below:

Please click below to find the phone number for your head of state and primary representative to the Bali summit. Then just call ‘em up, and say that as a constituent you demand that your nation stop blocking progress towards a binding climate treaty in Bali. Here’s all the info you need:

Other Moment tactics:

Tactical goals: (We need 1000 letters to the editor!)

Timeframe/Deadline: (We're going to deliver these petitions next Saturday!)

Protaganist development (Senator Kennedy is a rare progressive champion who needs our help)

Antagonist development (Exxon has stomped all over human rights for years -- they are a poster child for corporate greed that must be stopped )

The Movement Story

The “bigger picture”

Not necessary all the time, but an important component to thread through

Why? Because the Moment story won’t always work out. The Movement story is key to transforming your list into something more binding, resilient, and powerful.

Components:Often Less structured than the Moment Story. Core components include:

What's Going On -- the deeper descriptive, value based story about what's happening here, or what dynamics are at play in this situation.

Example: This health care fight is about ordinary people standing up for families versus the power and greed of the insurance industry. Bush has already made his choice, and we have made ours – now it’s up to Congress to decide what side they’re really on.

Key Dates: Some moments to “crisitunity” around:

 

2009

• April 22nd - Global mobilisation in support of Literacy for All – GCE Global Action Week and FTI Partnership Meetings

• April 25th – 27th Spring Meetings of the IMF/Wold Bank

• June - European Union Council Meeting

• June – FIFA Confederations Cup

• July - G8 meeting in Italy

• September - UN Heads of State Summit

• December - UNESCO High Level Group Meeting

•  

2010

• January - World Economic Forum, Davos

• Late April - Global mobilisation in support of Education for All – GCE Global Action Week

• June - European Union Council Meeting

• June/July – 2010 FIFA Football World Cup

• July - G8 meeting in Canada

• September - UN Heads of State Summit

• December - UNESCO High Level Group Meeting

Getting Started – setting your strategy:

Example: GCE UK Process for Developing their 3 year Strategy:

• Prioritising research recommendations. GCE UK's Policy and Parliamentary Groups' members met and agreed 3 objectives for the next 3 years, based on the recommendations listed in The Final Countdown policy report.

• Context analysis. In 3 separate groups - 1 for each of the 3 objectives - PESTO (Political, Economic, Social, Technological and Organisational) and SWOT analyses were undertaken for each objective to enable participants to discuss opportunities and obstacles to undertaking advocacy on the agreed objectives. Group members then brainstormed all the relevant stakeholders and plotted them on a chart according to their interest in the issue and their power over the issue, which identified the key targets and allies for each objective.

• Outcomes and indicators. Each group then drafted outcomes and indicators for each objective found in the strategy below.

• Activity planning. The next stage was to identify activities to enable GCE UK to achieve the desired outcomes and objectives. Using the opportunities identified in the PESTOs and SWOTs as a starting point each group brainstormed the activities detailed below.

• Risk Analysis. Using the obstacles, weaknesses and threats identified in the PESTOs and SWOTs each group identified risks for each activity and planned extra activities that could help GCE UK mitigate or avoid the risks identified.

• Roles, resources and next steps. Group members then discussed: who from within GCE UK will lead on each activity. A timeframe of 3 years for the implementation of the strategy was agreed.