Participatory Advocacy a Toolkit for VSO Staff Volunteers and Partners

8/8/2019 Participatory Advocacy a Toolkit for VSO Staff Volunteers and Partners

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PcPy vccy:

LK F vS SFF, vLUNEES

N PNES


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bU vS

vS is an international deelopment agen that works through olunteers. ur ision is

a world without poert in whih people work together to full their potential. nstead of

sending food or mone, we send women and men from a wide range of professions who

want the hane to make a real differene in the ght against poert. We work with partner

organisations to ring together people from different ultures and akgrounds, enaling

them to share skills and ahiee hange together.

vS is far the largest independent olunteer-sending agen in the world. Sine 1958, we

hae sent out oer 30,000 olunteers to work in fria, sia, the cariean, the Pai and

Eastern Europe in response to requests from goernments and ommunit organisations.

t the moment, we hae around 1,500 people working in plaements in these regions, the

majorit of whom are skilled professionals.

vS welomes olunteers from an eer-inreasing range of ountries and akgrounds.

ur national partners in canada, Kena, the Netherlands, the Philippines, ndia and reland

reruit olunteers from man different ountries worldwide. his international approah

allows us to omine and learn from a rih ariet of perspeties.

PEFcE am er pleased to introdue this oolkit. doa is a part of vSs approah to

deelopment, and eliee it an ring aout sustainale hange eause it works to hange

the auses of poert, rather than dealing with the smptoms.

his toolkit will help ou arr out an tpe of adoa or inuening work. We hope ou will

use it to plan and implement effetie strategies that lead to enduring soial hange.

worked for oer 20 ears for F, where we were ale to fund large deelopment

programmes in man of the poorest ountries. but some of the greatest suesses during

those ears ame from groups of ommitted itizens, who worked tirelessl to inuene

poli. Peasant groups ahieed hanges in laws on unused land. People liing with Hv

took on pharmaeutial ompanies in ourt. nd women suffering iolene ampaigned for

stronger laws on rape. ll of these groups were ale to improe the lies of people around

them through adoa work.

he toolkit has een written primaril for the use of vS staff and olunteers, in the North

and the South, and also for our partner organisations and eturned volunteers. t proides

a rih ariet of approahes to adoa work. Not all will e appropriate to eer ultural,

soial or politial situation. o use our researh and ountr experienes to identif the

approahes that will e most produtie in our own situation.

hope that with the aid of this toolkit ou will e ale to ahiee great progress.

Good luk!

SUM cHKb

chair of the board o f rustees

vS

Noemer 2009

you are welome to use parts of this toolkitut please aknowledge the soure.

his toolkit was written vS olunteer

Janie cox, using materials and tools

used around the world in vS

programmes. Janie has worked as an

adoate in London and brussels and now

lies in South fria. She has arried out

olunteer plaements with vS in Uganda,

Sri Lanka, wanda and Malawi. Stee

Lewis, Stephen Nok, Mike Podmore,

Purna Shrestha and enaldah Mjoma

proided editing and additional inputs. ur

thanks go to vS partners and programme

ofes who hae proided examples and

ase studies.

Hw w Hp y:

he vS nternational Poli and doa eam

This guide contains general lessons learned throughout VS. The polic and dvocac team can

suort VS programme fces in various as:

providing suort to programme fces that ish to undertake an level o advocac ork

ocusing on the issues raised in IDS agenda, Valuing Teachers or Valuing Health workers

Suorting national level advocac or artners, or examle orking on climate change or

gender issues

Sharing research and olic knoledge gained through international advocac ork

oordinating ork beteen the national, regional and international levels, to ensure that

advocac strategies at dierent levels reinorce each other

providing advocac training during visits to rogrammes

please contact us i ou need secifc hel or advice.

VS programme earning & dvocac Team

IpG, 317 putne Bridge Road, ondon Sw15 2p, K

Tel: +44 20 8780 7500

mail: [email protected]

web Site: .vsointernational.org/hat-e-do/advocac

Hw T S THIS TKIT

This toolkit is made u o a ritten ublication and an accomaning D-RM. The essential

inormation is in the ublication, and extra tools and advice are in the D-RM. you can adat

and use all the materials or our on organisation.

Part 1 looks at hat advocac is and ho articiator advocac can be most eectivel carried

out. Part 2 describes some o the as that VS uses advocac. This ill be o articular interest

to VS sta and volunteers other readers ma ant to ski this chater.

The main bod o the Toolkit is the fve arts belo, hich reresent fve ke stages o the

articiator advocac rocess:

Part 3: esearh & nalsis examines the initial research and analsis that is needed, including

identiing the olic issue and the context surrounding the issue.

Part 4: Strategi Planning exlains the stes needed to develo an eective advocac strateg.

Part 5: Moilisation outlines the as ou can mobilise suort and resources.

Part 6: tion rovides guidance on ho to imlement an advocac strateg, including advice

on lobbing, camaigning, media ork and roject management.

Part 7: Learning & eiew rovides guidance on monitoring our advocac rogress.

Part 8:ools contains some articiator exercises ou can do ith a grou o colleagues. These

Strategic planning & nalsis Tools hel ou think creativel about our ork and hat ou can

reall achieve. n the D-RM ou ill fnd man other Tools that ou ill fnd useul.

The toolkit can be read rom start to fnish, but it is also designed so ou can di into it as required.

This toolkit comlements S1 , VSs advocac research toolkit. STRT is an accessible

manual based on VSs on exerience o lo-cost, non-academic roessional research.

lthough it is centred on VSs Valuing Teachers roject in teacher motivation, it includes a

ealth o advocac research tools and methods that are generall alicable.

This Toolkit and STRT are also available to sta and volunteers on pRT, Moodle, and Volzone.

1. Simle Toolkit or dvocac Research

Techniques (STRT). 2004. Voluntar

Service verseas.

htt://.vsointernational.org/hat-

e-do/advocac/camaigns/index.as#0


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pRTIIpTRy DVy pRSS DIGRM

In realit, the advocac rocess is not alas linear, and should be considered iterative.

The various stages can be overlaing and interlinked.

TTS

Page

3 Ho can the dvocac Team hel ou?

2 preace

3 Ho to use this Toolkit

4 dvocac process Diagram

5 ontents

6 cronms and Glossar

7 part ne: Introduction

8 what is dvocac?

10 wh Do dvocac?

11 what Te o dvocac?

12 part To: dvocac in VS

13 working at Dierent evels

15 VS ororate dvocac Strategies

16 working o-oerativel

16 Building inks rom ocal to ational to International

17 dvocac ith partners

19 Volunteer dvocac placements

20 part Three: Research & nalsis

22 The Imortance o particiator Research

25 Methodolog

26 The Issue

27 The polic nvironment

28 The polic Sstem

28 peole and rganisations

Page

32 part Four: Strategic planning

34 dvocac Strateg xlained

36 Strategic nalsis

41 Strategic hoice

45 part Five: Mobilisation

47 moerment

47 etorks & oalitions

49 Fundraising

51 part Six: ction52 Imlementation

54 obbing

62 amaigning

66 ommunication & egotiation

70 Media

75 part Seven: ngoing earningand Revie

76 earning and Revie o dvocac ctivities in VS

78 what Should Be Monitored?

79 Ho Should you Monitor?

79 ssessing polic hange

80 part ight: dvocac Tools

97 Further dvocac Resources

5.Mobilise forAdvocacy Action

6.ActionAdvocacy Plan

1.BroadBackgroundResearch

2. Define the Issue

3.TargetedResearch

4.StrategicPlanning

7.Ongoing Learning& Review 8.

ReviseAdvocacy Plan


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GSSRy

cronms

ID anadian International Develoment genc

Sp ountr Strategic plan

DFID Deartment or International Develoment (K)

DM Decision Maker (oten used hile assessing ho are the ke targets)

G The Global amaign or ducation

IMF International Monetar Fund

IG International G

G on-Governmental rganisation

pps programme rea plan (VS)

p programme fce (VS)

RIS Regional IDS Initiative o Southern rica

SD Southern rican Develoment ommunit

SID S genc or International Develoment

VS Voluntar Service verseas

wH world Health rganisation

dvocac Terms

llies Grous or individuals ho share our aim or olic change

sk The core request o our advocac camaign

udience The erson selected to receive our message (this could be a direct or an

indirect target)

Messages The main oints that ou ant to get across in our advocac, in suort o our ask

planning & Revie VSs monitoring & evaluation sstem (partnershi Revies and

programme rea Revies)

onents Grous or individuals ho counter or oose our olic change aim

ther laers ther organisations orking in the same feld and/or on the same issue

(similar organisations)

polic context research Research on the olic environment aecting the issue (eg: the olic

sstem, eole and organisations)

polic indos Brie eriods hen there are unusual oortunities or olic change

Target The olic maker to hom our advocac message is addressed because the

have the best oortunit to make olic change (also knon as a rimar target)

Target (Indirect) person selected to bear inuence on our advocac target (also knon as a

secondar target)

Transarenc The oenness o the olic sstem and rocedures (to the ublic and civil societ)

pRT : ITRDTI

his introdution looks at what adoa is and how it an help to further vSs mission.

t examines different tpes of adoa, and how partiipator adoa work an e most

effetiel arried out.

What is adoa?

Defnitions

Demstiing advocac

Wh do adoa?

dvocac and develoment orkFurthering VSs ork

What tpe of adoa?

who does the advocac


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What is doa?

Defnitions

In a develoment context, advocac is the deliberate rocess o inuencing those ho make

olic. dvocac can concern the creation, reorm, imlementation and enorcement o olicies.

olic is an rincile or action adoted or roosed b a government, art, business or

individual etc. This includes government legislation but can be much ider.

There are man defnitions o advocac ithin the develoment communit. VS has its on

defnition to exlain advocac ithin the context o its ork:

vS enition of doa

rocess that tackles disadvantage b orking ith communities and ke stakeholders to

bring about changes in olic, rocess, ractice, and attitudes in order to ensure communities

rights are recognised and realised. The aim is to activel suort disadvantaged eole to

inuence the decisions that aect their rights and lives.

The term lobbing is sometimes used interchangeabl ith advocac, but there is a distinction.

dvocac is an umbrella term and there are a number o activities that can contribute to a

successul advocac strateg. obbing and camaigning are to activities that can be art o

advocac ork.

obbing is seeking to inuence decision-makers on behal o a articular interest. The term

oten reers to eorts to inuence legislation but rivate comanies, donors and other large

institutions are also oten lobbied. obbing is usuall carried out b a small number o eole,

ho are exerts in their subject.

Mp

The VS rogramme manager in Guana meets the minister o education to lobb or

imrovements to the rimar schools curriculum.

amaigning is: n organised course o action or a articular urose, eseciall to arouse

ublic interest. amaigning is a motivational exercise designed to activate members o the

ublic to do something that leads to change. For a camaign to be a success it usuall needs

a large number o eole to take an action.

Mp

VS and artners in South rica get 10,000 arents and children to send ostcards to the

ministr o education, asking or the recruitment o more teachers.

We dont use that word.

ach language has dierent ords to describe these terms, and ou are best o discussing

advocac in our on language. In some countries the ord advocac itsel is unelcome. In

this case ou might just talk about inuencing instead. For examle wed like to hold a

meeting to see ho e can inuence t he health ministr to imrove the training o nurses

Demstiing dvocac

There is oten a mstique around advocac, hich can lead to unease and even ear. nce

ou start the rocess this ill ade, as eective research leads naturall to a good strateg.

s contacts become real eole instead o daunting oliticians and oonents ou ill

gain confdence.

you ma alread use some advocac techniques ithout even realising it. when ou come

across situations here ou need to inuence others, ou robabl instinctivel emlo tactics

like research, lanning, alliance building, and negotiation. you siml learn b exerience.

we intend this toolkit as guidance, not as instruction. There are no one size fts all ormulas to

advocac ork across the orld. In some countries, certain advocac activities ma not be

accetable, so ill need to be relaced b more aroriate methods. In ever case, local

exerience and common sense should be alied. dvocac ill alas be more eective henit is culturall aroriate.

Dealings ith government can be eseciall intimidating or some. But remember, i ou are in

a democrac ou are entitled to la a art in the governance o our countr. Indeed, rticle 21

o the niversal Declaration o Human Rights states:

verone has the right to take art i n the government o his countr, directl or through reel

chosen reresentatives.

Mths and Legends:

doa means

street marhes

Some eole think that

advocac mainl means

marching in the street, burning

tres and throing stones.

ot so. street march is one

ossible art o a camaign.

nd camaigning is one

ossible art o advocac.

I a mass street event is not

aroriate in our countr

then ou should do something

else. dvocac has man

ossible orms. you should

take hat ill ork best in

our countr and our context.

Networking & Alliances

Campaigning

Lobbying

Research & Analysis

Advocacy


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Wh o doa?

dvocac and Develoment work

In the 1980s, develoment Gs became aare that develoment and emergenc ork alone

ere unlikel to roduce sustained imrovements in the lives o the oor. This led them to re-

examine their strategies, and become increasingl ocused on advocac ork. dvocac ork

enables them to dra on their rogramme exerience to sho the imact o existing olicies on

the oor and marginalised, and to suggest imrovements.

The increased transarenc and oenness o man governments make advocac increasingl

eective. Toda the develoment movement is carring out a greater number and range o

camaigns, ith a greater degree o roessionalism. These advocac initiatives are no oten

suorted b rivate oundations and bilateral or multilateral donors.

Mp

n G sees the eect o climate change on omen armers, and is able to roduce evidence

to lobb government.

Furthering the ork o VS and artners

VSs advocac ork comlements our other rogramme ork, and can bring about

sustainable change in develoment. VS vies the benefts o its advocac ork in terms o

imrovements in:

The material osition o the oor and disadvantaged

ttitudes and olitical ill

The ositioning and articiation o civil societ

In brie, the rogrammatic reasons VS undertakes advocac ork are:

Traditional develoment ork alone ill not be able to roduce sustained imrovements in the

lives o disadvantaged eole.

dvocac is a ke tool or addressing the causes o overt and disadvantage. dvocac does

not merel deal ith the smtoms o overt, but ensures that the structural causes o that

overt and disadvantage are addressed.

dvocac is an emoering aroach toards sustainable rogressive change. It can enable

eole to inuence decisions aecting their lives and bring advances that emoer communities

and individuals.

we also recognise that advocac can beneft other asects o our ork including visibilit,

recruitment and undraising. It hels VS to be recognised as a serious laer in develoment

circles and rovides greater ublic exosure.

VS uses an aroach based on eoles rights, hich is to-ronged: e seek both to

inuence olic imrovement and to emoer individuals to kno and claim their rights.

dvocac is aimed at the sul side o rights realising imroved rights (in constitutions or

legislation) and itizen ducation is aimed at the demand side o rights enabling citizens to

understand and claim their rights.

What pe of doa?

There are man dierent tes o advocac ork. These should be careull considered to

ensure that the aroach adoted is aroriate to our organisation, the national strateg and

countr situation. There are various as to categorise tes o advocac including:

Geographial: dvocac can take lace at an level in a articular village, district, countr,

region or globall.

iming: n advocac camaign can be ongoing or time-limited (e.g. one secifc event).

ssue: dvocac can cover a single-issue, or range o issues. In general it is easier to achieve

success i ou have a small number o ocused objectives.

pproah: roaches can var rom abolition to reorm. bolition is hen ou tr to sto an

unoular olic. Reorm is here ou seek incremental imrovements. bolition is likel to be

more conrontational (and ublicl critical o the existing ideolog), hereas reorm is usuall

vieed as more collaborative and/or ractical.

argets: dvocac can be directed at a number o targets: government, businesses, grous o

eole or individuals.

ttitude: This can var rom conict to engagement. dversarial dvocac is oten associated

ith ardent abolition or rotest movements hich document the ailures o government or

olic makers, and criticise them, to eect change. programmatic engagement is more

commonl undertaken b organisations that ork ith government to deliver services.

It involves constructive discussion o olicies to eect internal reorm and i ncremental changes

ithin existing sstems.

who does the advocac?

dvocac can also be categorised b ho does it. The various otions are discussed in more

detail in tool 6.

The degree o involvement o the disadvantaged is a rime consideration. There are three otions:

dvocac done for disadvantaged eole

dvocac done with disadvantaged eole

dvocac done disadvantaged eole

There is no one correct aroach each has its on advantages and disadvantages. n

most occasions VS and artners ill carr out in-countr advocac ith the disadvantaged.

Hoever, e recognise that the ideal is or advocac ork to be done b disadvantaged eole

themselves, and our long-term aim is to emoer them to achieve this.

Mths and legends:

f we do an adoa in this

ountr well e losed down.

In each countr the

environment or advocac is

dierent. In countries here

the concet o active

citizenshi is resected, there

are requent ublic camaign

events. In other countries,

including man here VS

orks, the government is

susicious o Gs and is not

ver oen to eoles artici-

ation in decision-making. n

G considering an advocac

strateg needs to carr out a

risk analsis, ie assess hat is

relevant in our countr and on

our issue.


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pRT Tw: DVy I VS

Working at ifferent Leels

ocal dvocac

ational dvocac

Regional and International dvocac

vS corporate doa Strategies

ids genda

Valuing Health workers

Valuing Teachers

Working co-operatiel

building Links from Loal to National to nternational

doa with Partners

who leads the dvocac?

princiles o partnershi dvocac

volunteer doa Plaements

ong-term Volunteers

Short-term Volunteers

Working at different leels

VS both carries out advocac directl and suorts artners to carr out advocac. This ork

can take lace at a local, national, regional or international level. The most successul ork

joins u the ork rom dierent levels into one strong camaign. The olloing ages describe

some ieces o ork at each o these levels.

ocal advocac

Man VS artners ork in one articular art o a countr. The carr out advocac in their

localit or region. Main targets might be the maor or the district council. s man countries

have decentralised their ministr unctions over the last to decades the scoe or successul

local advocac has increased.

Mp building an alliane to stop the spraing of pestiides in Uganda

ast ear small-scale organic armers in Bundibugo district o ganda became orried that

the use o DDT to control malaria ould threaten the organic status o their roduce.

ocal G BS lanned a camaign to rotest. The ormed a coalition o concerned

stakeholders including armers, the cocoa exorting comanies and the Sustainable griculture

Trainers etork. BS had a VS volunteer, a communications secialist, ho heled them

source and disseminate inormation to the dierent stakeholders. with her suort BS ere

able to ackage aroriate messages targeting dierent audiences.

The lobbing o senior decision makers as backed u b to mass actions, a eaceul

demonstration and a letter o aeal to the ofce o the president o the Reublic o ganda,

signed b 20,000 eole.

The camaign successull resulted in increased aareness o the imact o the roosed

sraing o DDT and halted the sraing o DDT i n the Bundibugo district.2

ational advocac

ach programme fce ill determine its ke aims and riorities during the countr strategic

lanning (Sp) rocess. The olic environment should be considered as an integral art o this

rocess, and advocac research should orm art o the situational analsis.

The olic environment is an imortant art o the context in hich countr ofces oerate, and

has a signifcant inuence on ho VS can best contribute to develoment. dvocac oortu-

nities can inuence the programme fces rogramme area riorities and asects such as

artnershis and volunteer lacements.

To ork, advocac has to be strategic, hich means analsing asects o the countr-secifc

situation, including:

Develoment riorities

The national olic environment

Stakeholder riorities and attitudes (including disadvantaged eole, the media, the government

and donors)

ther laers (including other Gs, netorks and coalitions)

The programme fces cometitive advantage (or niche)

ll Sps and programme rea plans (pps) should include an analsis o the olic

environment, and an imlementation gas. Having undertaken such an analsis programme

fces are then able to decide hether the ish to develo an advocac strateg ocussing on

these olic and imlementation issues. ot all programme fces decide to undertake

advocac ork. Hoever, it is encouraged as a ver oerul tool in imlementing most pps

and in addressing the structural causes o overt.

2. longer version o this ase Stud,

ith more detail, is available on the

D-Rom.


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4 15

Mp ndonesia loing for emploment rights for people with disailities

In Indonesia, VS is suorting a camaign to in emloment oortunities or eole ith

disabilities. The world Health rganisation believes there are more than 22 million disabled

eole in Indonesia. ver 80% are unemloed.

nder Indonesian la, comanies ith more than 100 emloees should ensure that at least

1% o their sta consists o eole ith disabilities. But the legislation remains in general

unknon and unenorced. VS orks ith 12 artners to ush or the imlementation o the la.

Good rogress is being made in some rovinces. ast ear the Bali Hotel ssociation agreed to

imlement the camaign, a move that could result in 1500 aid jobs or eole ith disabilities

in the next fve ears. The Four Seasons hotel chain has alread recruited a grou o alicants,

all ith olio-related hsical difculties. ther comanies, or examle in the urniture

industr have also joined the rogramme.,

This is a a to make business eole think about and understand their obligation and the

rights o eole ith disabilities. Giving eole ith disabilities an oortunit to ork is a good

idea because to give material is onl momentar, but a job i s an actual a to survive said Joko

Dharmanto.

programme reas

programme ofces should alas consider advocac as a means o

achieving benefcial change in their riorit rogramme areas. where

ossible, advocac ork should:

work ith range o decision-makers and stakeholders, including

national and local government, olic-making bodies, multilateral

institutions and rivate sector enterrises

Strengthen the abilit o disadvantaged eole to inuence the

decisions that aect their rights and their lives

se a range o orking methods. These might include olic research,

direct lobbing, inuencing, constructive engagement, orking in

netorks and alliances, media ork, and ublic camaigning

The most aroriate advocac aroaches to use ill be identifed during the strateg rocess,

as the ill var according to the countr, rogramme and organisational context. But VS

alas dras on the voices o artners, volunteers and sta in its advocac ork, and uses the

unique testimonies o volunteers exerience on the ground. VS volunteers also build advocac

skills among our artners, through volunteer lacements and general training.

Given VSs strateg and our rimar role o suorting artners through volunteer

interventions, reerence should be given to advocac aroaches that involve:

VS laing a strategi role (as catalsts or change)Bringing partners together ho have shared interests in creating olic change

Forming strategi partnerships in order to carr out advocac and olic ork

capait-uildingor advocac

VS orks to romote the rights o disadvantaged eole. we a close attention to olitical,

social, and economic discrimination, and oer relationshis beteen citizens and authorit

structures. when olic makers are not ulflling their human resonsibilities to others,

advocac can be used to hold them accountable.

Regional advocac

Regional advocac is gaining imortance as more regional olitical and organisational

grouings such as SD, S and MRSR are develoed.

Regional advocac can be undertaken in three as:

nalsis o the regional poli and implementation issues

egional oordination of a numer of national leel adoa strategies and

VS multi-ountr programme on a ommon theme

ll aroaches have value. The frst involves ocused ork on olic changes and imlementation

around regional olic matters. Regional inter-governmental olic bodies, stakeholders and

donors can be targeted. The value o the second aroach is in the inormation sharing across a

region ith man similar issues, hile alloing or lobbing to be ocused on national olic and

local imlementation. The third otion involves develoing a regional rogramme that includes

an advocac element. This can again be valuable or lesson sharing and coordination.

Mp Working to inuene Hv poli aross Southern fria the S experiene

Working with regional stakeholders to deelop a regional adoa strateg. RIS has a

regional advocac strateg to reduce the burden o HIV and IDS care on omen and girls.

creating regional allianes e.g. RIS suorted artners to attend the orksho that resulted

in the proosed ode or the Southern rican Develoment ommunit (SD) on the qualit

o women and the Reduction o Risk o HIV Inection.

Using national experiene to feed into regional frameworks. RIS shares its rogramme

exerience ith regional initiatives, such as the Southern rican Task Force o the oalitiono women and IDS.

Sharing vS partners experienes within an existing regional framework e.g. orking ith

men in South rica, Zimbabe and amibia. This advocac raises regional aareness around the

needs o men and the ke reasons h men should be included in the resonse to HIV and IDS.

nternational doa - vS corporate doa Strategies

VS has three cororate advocac rogrammes hich join u ork rom the national to the

regional to the international levels. These are: IDS genda, Valuing Teachers and Valuing

Health workers. ach o these cororate camaigns is based on ongoing olic research and

analsis in the rogramme countries, and uses this evidence to lobb international agencies

and governments.

S genda seeks to mitigate the imact o HIV and IDS on omen, girls and vulnerable men,

and to address the gender inequalities that currentl drive the andemic. The camaign has to

articular areas o ocus: to reduce the disroortionate burden o HIV care on omen and girls,

and to increase the romotion and unding o revention rogrammes that seek to transorm

dominant concets o masculinit and ork ith vulnerable men. The camaign researches

ho gender inequalit drives the HIV andemic and rooses olic and ractice changes at

national, regional and international levels to address these inequalities and halt the sread o

the HIV andemic.

valuing eahers sets out to research hat teachers themselves eel about their roession:

hat motivates them and hat hels them erorm ell, in order to inorm olic-making and

imlementation at national and international levels. Folloing the research, advocac strategies

are develoed. These include the develoment o artnershis and volunteer lacements in:

civil societ coalitions, teachers unions, girls education organisations, netorks o eole ith

disabilities, other minorities or eole living ith HIV and IDS to develo their caacit to use

research fndings to increase their voice in olic making; and in ministries o education to

increase their caacit to be resonsive to civil societ and i mrove teacher and education

management sstems.

valuing Health Workers is VSs third ororate International dvocac rogramme. It aims

to raise aareness o the critical shortage o health orkers in develoing countries, and bring

the voices o health orkers to the attention o olic makers to suggest solutions. s in the

other strategies it is based on in-countr research, and close collaboration ith volunteers and

artners in each countr.


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6 17

VS contributes to international debates or examle ith:

contributed to a revie o migration olicies to the uroean ommunit to tr to slo

the brain drain o health orkers rom the develoing orld to uroe.

contributed to the High evel Task Force on Innovative Financing o Health Sstems.3

working co-oerativel

dvocac ork is oten more successul hen it is carried out in coalition ith other like-

minded agencies.

Mp he Gloal campaign for Eduation

VS is a member o The Global amaign or ducation (G) an international netork o

national education coalitions, hich aims to make sure ever child can go to school no matter

here the live in the orld. Its a large global coalition that orks to get orld leaders to kee

the romise the made in 2000, that everone should have the chance to get an education

b 2015.

G coordinates the Global ction week on education in ril ever ear. Its aim is to raise

ublic aareness o the need or education around the orld. In 2008 over eight million eole,

including national leaders and celebrities, took art in the worlds Biggest esson.

dvocac ork in VS Federations

Some o the VS ederation members run their on strong advocac rogrammes.

In etherlands and Kena or examle VS has been lobbing to increase the attention given

to HIV services or eole ith disabilities. In VS K there has been a successul camaign

to create a dedicated bod or omen. For more details o this ork lease see

.vso.org.uk/act/camaign

Building links rom local to national to international

VS international advocac ork is based on our rogramme ork. This rogrammatic base

gives us our ke legitimac in the international olic arena. Thus, e need to ensure that there

is constant communication beteen countr rogrammes and K advocac sta so our olic

messages resonate ith rogramme exerience. This also kees rogramme ofces abreast

o our ork and the changing international olic environment and trends.

ur voice is much stronger hen e make direct links beteen our national, regional,

and international advocac strategies. lso advocac strategies at dierent levels

are strengthened i the reect a shared understanding o issues among

artners, programme fces and others. Similarl, it is useul to share

lessons across dierent national level advocac strategies i.e. rom

programme fce to programme fce, and across regions. Thiscan be useul both or lesson sharing and i n order to identi

otential coalitions and artners.

Mp Sharing learning from the national to regional and international leel

ne examle o the beneft o orking at dierent levels comes rom a volunteer organisation in

Zimbabe, the Famil IDS aring Trust (FT)

FT orked to change the burden o IDS care on omen and girls through a camaign to

recruit and train more male volunteers. with suort rom the ational Volunteer team and

VS Jitolee, FT succeeded in recruiting male volunteers throughout its rogrammes, ith:

166 o the 500 outh volunteers being oung men (orking on eer counselling, aareness

raising and home hel)

110 o 300 o the volunteers in their home based care rogramme being males

nce FT had shon that it is ossible to imrove olic and ractice at a local level the ork

as then shared at regional and international level. VS RIS shared the examle around the

artners at the annual conerences. nd no VS RIS is orking to make sure that good

ractice is adoted b wH and SD, the most imortant intra-government level institutions

in the region.

dvocac ith artners

lthough it is ossible to do advocac ork on our on, oten it is more eective to ork incollaboration ith others.

VS collaborates ith artner organisations on advocac in various as, such as :

placing a volunteer to build advocac skills and suort the artners advocac

Suorting advocac ork led b a artner

sking artners to suort an advocac cause that VS is leading on

VS also has artnershis aimed secifcall at rogressing advocac initiatives or examle

ith national G netorks, trade unions, or coalitions.

Mp

Valuing Teachers research carried out in eal identifed a lack o meaningul articiation

o teachers reresentatives as a core roblem aecting teachers terms and conditions. The

develoed a artnershi ith the teachers uni on and arranged various volunteer lacements,

covering areas such as strategic lanning, advocac and lobbing. The then orged alliances

ith other Gs and international Gs, such as Save the hildren, and linked u ith the

local chater o the Global amaign or ducation.

The result as that the union no articiates in round table donors meetings, the ealese

government has agreed to rovide lie insurance to ermanent teachers, and a code o conduct

has been reared to imrove minimum standards.

who eads the dvocac?

There are various aroaches and, in VS, each case should be discussed b the rogramme

ofce in order to decide on the most aroriate. The olloing guidance ma hel:

Single-owner doa, vS: Here advocac is carried out b VS (sta and/or volunteers)

alone. This aroach is discouraged as VS is essentiall a artnershi-based organisation.

There ould be onl a e excetions to this rincile. For examle:

one-o advocac oortunit that is imlemented at short notice

dvocac on a ver secifc issue o interest to VS but not to our artners (e.g. the legal

rameork or volunteer agencies, access to visas, etc)

Single-owner doa, Partner (vS neutral): where a artner that is suorted b VS

carries out advocac on their on account, ithout VS involvement. This ill oten be the case,

VSOs programmework, with partners onthe ground, informsits advocacy.

VSOs advocacywork assists itsprogramme work.

2. For more inormation about each dvocac

strateg lease see .vsointernational.org

/hat-e-do/advocac


10/51

8 19

or examle, i the advocac covers an issue that is not in VSs rogramme. In this case, the

minimum that VS should do is to be aare o the ork, and carr out a risk-analsis could it

iminge in a negative a on our volunteers or our reutation?

Single-owner doa Partner (vS supportie ut not isile): where a artner that is

suorted b VS ishes to carr out advocac on an issue that ould contribute to a VS

rogramme. VS has ull knoledge and understanding o the ork, but it ma be controversial

or cause olitical difculties, VS can usuall suort behind the scenes, but not be seen

ublicl to be suortive. This is considered as artners-on advocac, ith the artner

carring the risk. In an case o this nature VS must carr out a risk-analsis and sta

inormed o the ork as it develos.

Shared doa vS + Partner: where an advocac rogramme is shared and co-ordinated

beteen VS and a artner or set o artners. This is the most common aroach or VS i

the advocac contributes to VSs rogramme and has snerg ith our volunteer lacements.

In this case, lanning should be joint, orkload allocated according to ossibilities, and

visibilit shared.

princiles o partnershi dvocac

There are rinciles and recommendations that al secifcall to advocac ork. These are

summarised brie belo.

NEGN

dvocac should not be seen as something searate to rogramming and the lacement o

volunteers. dvocac ork should be integrated into the countr strategic lan (Sp), the

programme rea plan (pp), the programme rea Revie (pR) and the budgeting rocess.

The rocess o choosing artners and develoing joint rogrammes should take into account

the ossibilities o carring out joint advocac, as ell as their abilit to utilise volunteers ell.

JN PLNNNG / PLyNG SENGHS

I ossible, advocac should be lanned rom an earl stage ith the artners. This might

useull include joint strategic lanning and a joint steering grou.

SHE vSbLy

The rincile o conducting advocac ith artners imlies that e ill share visibilit that

accrues through the ork. n reorts roduced as art o the ork should include the logo

o each o the main author agencies. Similarl or an ublic events (conerences etc), consid-

eration should be given to ho each agenc can be credited.

FcUS N cPcy EvELPMEN

This is a ke strength o the VS model. ach iece o advocac should leave the artner in a

stronger osition. The oortunit e have to bring in volunteers ith skills i n advocac, media,

communications and olic analsis is a ke beneft e should build on. are should be taken,

hoever, because o the olitical sensitivities o conducting advocac. partners should be made

aare that although volunteers bring invaluable outside skills, the ma also have some gas in

their understanding o the local olitical situation. suall volunteers should not take a ront-

line role in advocac.

Mp LNKS stud tours

ten the best a or VS to be eective in advocac can be in caacit building and behind-

the-scenes ork. For examle in 2007 education artners rom our countries visited Malai

and Zambia in a stud tour to learn rom the education advocac exerience o the local

education coalitions. This enabled man o the artners to go back to their on countries

aterards more confdent to argue or imrovements in terms and conditions or teachers.

Volunteer dvocac placements

There are man activities a volunteer can sort and man tes o advocac activities that can be

led b volunteers, artners or rogramme managers. n the D there is a brainstormed list o

samle advocac activities a volunteer can suort.

Mp

VS in hina have laced an dvocac Volunteer ith Mangrove Suort Grou, a grou ho

ork to suort peole iving ith HIV/IDS. ne challenge or most hinese Gs is a lack

o aareness o hat is haening in other countries. Thereore one role or the volunteer has

been to collect examles o HIV communications materials rom around the orld. The volunteer

has been able to do this through her abilit to netork orldide; internet research skills and

language skills. These ere abilities reviousl missing in Mangrove, ho no eel less isolated.

Volunteers can be given a ide variet o advocac lacements. The olloing list includes examles

o hat such lacements ma involve (B. this is not an exhaustive list, just selected examles):

ong-term volunteers

ndertaking partiipator researh (using STRT), and then orking ith the programme

Manager and/or artner(s) to disseminate researh, assist ost research adoa strateg

planning, and begin advocac strateg implementation.

colleting aseline data. where volunteers collect disaggregated data at district/local level in

order to build inormation needed to share learning about services in dierent districts/areas

at the national level, and advocate or its relication nationide (modelling advocac).

working as oalition or network oordinators/assistant oordinators . oordinating netork

meetings, acilitating advocac lanning rocesses, accomaning netork members to

lobbing meetings, coordinating research, camaigns or media activities.

working on adoa apait uilding. Heling one or more organisations to build caacit

in areas such as: advocac strateg, lobbing, media ork, engagement in coalitions, etc.

Volunteers oten strengthen links and sharing beteen coalitions in the region, and ma set

u stud tours to neighbouring countries ith more exerience.

Short-term volunteers (2 eeks to 6 months):

ndertaking partner needs assessments to determine hat ork a long-term volunteer might do.

ndertaking short partiipator researh or feasiilit studies (on secifc, ocused issues that

do not require large-scale, in-deth stakeholder consultation).

Heling rogramme ofce sta, artners or coalitions/netorks to revie advocac ork alread

undertaken and plan future strategies and activities.

rganising and acilitating one o large-sale onferenes, or stud tours. rganising awareness raising/ampaigning eents such as ction Da/week activities

e.g. world Teachers Da, world IDS Da activities, or organising national level events ith

Ministers or the president etc.

Mp Working against orporal punishment in hailand

Sometimes olicies on the rovision o volunteers can bring about olic change.

In Thailand, VS sta and volunteers have been orking to combat cororal unishment in

schools or ears. This has included volunteer activities such as modelling alternative methods

or classroom management. The programme fce set a standard that VS ould onl ork

ith schools that develoed a olic banning cororal unishment. This led to VS ithdraing

rom some institutions. But the tin aroach has resulted in schools across the countr

abandoning cororal unishment.


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0 21

pRT THR: RSRH & ySIS

An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.

Ben Franklin

his setion explains the importane of effetie researh to proide redile eidene for our

adoa work. t examines different aspets of researh and analsis, inluding not

onl the poli issue, ut also the poli enironment, sstem, and the organisations and

people inoled.

he mportane of Partiipator esearh

what is particiator Research?

wh is Research Imortant?

Methodolog

STRT

Research Methods and Sources

who could do the Research?

he ssue

Selecting a polic Issue

problem auses and Imacts

he Poli Enironment

as and Regulations

polic-Making Sstems

a making, dministration & norcement

People and rganisations

polic-Makers, poer & Inuence

poer

doa esearh & nalsis




2. Define the Issue

3.TargetedResearch

4.StrategicPlanning


ReviseAdvocacy Plan

Broad Researchon Problem

Research onDefined Issues

Research on theirPolicy Context

InternalIssue Report

Published Reports

Stages

Current Stages Inputs

Outputs


12/51

2 23

esearh & nalsis op ips!

Follo the methodolog contained in STRT

nsure research and analsis is articiator

Build a thorough understanding o both our issue and the olic context (including as in

hich social change is achieved in our social and olitical context)

place our issue in context determine i its reall imortant

nsure that our research is credible and easil understandable

Identi the causes and solutions or our olic issue

Build understanding o ke decision-makers their interests, motivations and oer bases

Identi the ke targets o our advocac, and then ork out ho to inuence them

Determine the target audience or our research reorts, then ensure the are tailored to

inuence this audience (in terms o content and timing)

he mportane of Partiipator esearh

what is particiator Research?

In order to ersuade olic-makers to change their olicies or las,ou ill need inormation. So ou need to do some research. That

could mean anthing rom combing through documents in a librar to

searching the Internet, or talking to itnesses.

VS believes that or research to be legitimate the oinions o the eole

directl aected b the olic issue must be sought. Their voices should

be used as the basis or advocac. For this reason VS recommends that

all research undertaken or commissioned b our sta and volunteers is

articiator research:

caution!

The next section o this toolkit deals ith research methodolog. Hoever, this onl contains a

brie overvie o rinciles. more detailed descrition is contained in VSs STRT (Simle

oolkit or dvocac esearch echniques). In order to lan our advocac research eectivel,

e strongl recommend that ou obtain a co o STRT at an earl stage and use this in

conjunction ith this toolkit. STRT is included on the D at the end o this toolkit, or on the

VS ebsite.

Making our research eective

I research is to be useul to olicmakers, it ill need to be:

General - providing extensive background inormation, not just selective cases and anecdotes

essile and Easil Understandale bod o good evidence, ell analsed and resented

in a user-riendl ormat

argeted - Findings resented in dierent ormats, tailored to dierent audiences, ith the

inormation needs o olic makers being taken into account

eleant - roriate to their area o ork and interests

Measurale - Incororating acts and statistics

imel to date and rovided at the right ti me

Pratiall Useful Grounded in realit, and roviding ractical solutions

jetie & urate without unsubstantiated value judgements

credile - Reliable, sourced aroriatel, using acceted methods

uthoritatie - arried out b an organisation that olic makers erceive as credible

ip

Remember: legitimac and credibilit are necessar or olic inuence. oule-hek and

referene our soures. nl use recognised and credible sources

useul lo is to use our targets or our oonents inormation here ossible (as the

cannot contest it!).

General background inormation hels to lace the issue in context, roviding the bigger

icture against hich the local roblem can be examined or examle: b roviding acts and

fgures, or researching the international and regional dimensions o a roblem. Sometimes it is

useul to reer to international human rights rameorks or conventions. See the D-rom or a

list o relevant declarations.

Research also hels to ersonalise our issue and build emath. you can do this b using

methods such as case studies, quotations rom those aected, hotos etc. s ar as ossible,

the research and the identifcation o otential solutions should be based on the voices o those

ersonall aected.

ective research should:

Focus on a roblem that directl aects disadvantaged communities

Be linked to our rogramme ork. (Indeed, man programme Managers have used the fndingso articiator research to inorm the uture direction o their hole programme rea).

ook into the root causes o roblems ound on the ground

nalse the olic environment to uncover imlementation gas

ink local, national, regional & international asects

ollect evidence in a sstematic a

wh is research imortant?

particiator research hels ou to gain a clear understanding o the causes and eects o

develoment issues rom the ersective o the eole aected, hich makes it ossible to

build a consensus about ractical solutions.

Research is the oundation or successul advocac. It is imortant or both:

Suessful adoa work - b roviding accurate evidence to suort advocac; and

n effetie adoa strateg - b enabling thorough strategic analsis

ip

Do not see data under the caret i it does not suort our case. nticiate and unearth the

arguments against ou and deal ith them in our advocac ork and reorts.

PcPy ESEcH cN: Give our advocac substance

stablish our reutation as an exert on the issue

provide easible and orkable solutions to our issue

provide ou ith case studies, anecdotes and examles to make our issue come alive

provide cost-beneft arguments, including the (oten hidden) cost o alternatives and inaction

Demonstrate ublic suort or ublic concern

Hel ou to analse our issue rom dierent ersectives

Hel to disrove mths, rumours and alse assumtions

nalse and rovide counter arguments to ositions held b stakeholders ho ma not be

smathetic to our cause

provide evidence or our ositions

xlain h revious strategies have or have not orked

provide the basis or media and ublic aareness ork


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4 25

It is said that ever dollar sent on research is orth ten sent on lobbing. I our research is

thorough, it ill be easier to develo a inning advocac strateg.

Mp Nepal Good researh gets good results

Folloing the ublication o their Valuing Teachers reort, VS eals national advocac led to

imrovements in re-school education and textbook deliver in rural areas and changes in

government olic. This included ne lie insurance or teachers, the introduction o ositive

discrimination in teacher recruitment and romotion to increase the numbers o emale, disabled

and minorit teachers and head teachers. These changes ere resonses to recommendations

made in eals 2005 reort: essons From The lassroom, and the result o months o

coordinated lobbing b VS sta, volunteers and artners.

Stes in the dvocac process where Research ould be eeded:

Methodolog

STRT: Simle oolkit or dvocac esearch echniques

VSs STRT toolkit is a comrehensive guide to carring out articiator research on an

advocac theme. It is recommended that this is used to guide advocac research.

STRT hels to refne understanding o comlex roblems, and to identi otential solutions

or areas here advocac is needed to achieve changes in olic or olic i mlementation.

STRT covers the olloing areas:

Defning the research question

arring out a literature revie (background reading beore the research)

hoosing research methods and articiants

Setting u the research itinerar and logistics

Guidance on: one-to-one intervies, ocus grous and questionnaires

nalsis o the research fndings, including ormulating recommendations and solutions

dvice and tis on riting a olic reort

Research Methods and Sources

The frst stages o research ill include gathering acts and fgures and revieing materialsalread roduced. ter this stage, there are various other research methods available:

In-deth intervies

onsultations or ocus grous

inion olls

Surves and questionnaires

omuter based eb-conerences or eb-discussions

Field visits and investigations

ase studies

pilot rojects

There are man useul sources or research, and using a ide range ill add deth, context and

interest to our ork. Remember that there are man other organisations out there collecting

inormation (including government deartments, universities and other Gs) and man

ould be illing to share it ith ou.

who could do the research?

within VS, research can be carried out b sta, volunteers or artners. ne o the big strengths

o VS is the abilit to recruit volunteers ho have research skills. when research is carried out

b a volunteer, it should be done i n collaboration ith one or more local artner organisations,

or ith a netork. The volunteer should not onl hel carr out research but should also aim to

build the caacit o the local artner.

s background or their lacement, each volunteer should be given a co o an olic

briefngs or research reorts that are relevant to their role, even i the are going to a service-

deliver job. This hels to lace their role into context, and ma also to make it ossible or

them to advocate eectivel ithin the context o their job.

The volunteer, and national civil societ colleagues, should:

Identi the causes o overt and discrimination, or olic issues

nderstand the structure o olic-making bodies

nderstand ormal and inormal olic making rocesses

Identi ke actors and institutions that make decisions about olic, as ell as those ho can

inuence olic makers

nalse the distribution o olitical oer among ke actors

Research Steps

Undertake broad background research

Outputs

Define Issue

Design ResearchProgramme(use START)

Policy context research

Undertake issue research

Strategic Planning

Targeted issue research & analysis

Background research, Internal report

Policy environment and systemsoverview (report for internal strategizing)

Issue report and communicationsmaterials (case studies, photos etc.)

Targeted & timed publishedreports for external distribution

Organisationalcommitment toone priority

Commitment toprovide resources(time, money etc)

CompletedAdvocacyStrategy


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6 27

he ssue

Selecting the ke olic issue

within VS, advocac issues tend to arise in dierent as.

Barriers arise to the imlementation o our lacement activities that could be overcome

through advocac

The disadvantaged eole that ou are orking ith identi a articular roblem that cannot

be overcome through roject ork

Develoment activities that ou suort have resulted in successes that could be relicated

more idel. dvocac can hel in sharing and scaling u the imact o the ork

Institutions hose olicies aect the lives o the oor announce ne roosals that need to be

resonded to either b resisting or modiing these roosals

These are all reactive as in hich a erceived need or advocac arises. you can also take a

roactive aroach. This ill usuall be initiated b research and analsis, or examle as art o

the ountr Strategic planning rocess. when an advocac issue is identifed in thi s a, it can be

meaningull integrated into rogramme ork, and used as a tool to achieve rogramme objectives.

The number o advocac issues it is ossible to tackle ill deend on our resources. you

should ocus our ork on onl as man objectives as ou can realisticall achieve (hich ma

be just one or each rogramme area). dvocates ho attemt to fx everthing run the risk o

changing nothing.

ool 1. he ssue choie Matrix

This tool is designed to assist ith the choice o advocac issue. See part ight or a ull descrition.

In making our choice o advocac issue, remember that:

The issue must be o relevance to our rogramme area.

The issue should be something ou care assionatel about and ant to advocate on.

you need to carr out a risk analsis to ensure that our choice o issue ill not bring harm to

VS or our artners (or that the envisaged benefts ar outeigh an risk o harm).

problem auses and Imacts

nce ou have identifed our main issue ou need to identi the causes and imacts o

the roblem.

ool 2. Prolem ree nalsis

This is a tool or analsing roblems. It also hels to

establish aims and objectives or our issue. This tool is ell knon

and can lead to roductive discussion about real causes o disadvantage.

caution!

whilst the roblem tree can be a useul tool it also has negative connotations, because it ocuses

on roblems, rather than looking at solutions. you ma ish to also use idea-generating

aroaches. reciative Inquir methods, examine ast successes and achievements, ith

a vie to relicating or imroving on these.

se articiator tools to generate ne and creative ideas.

nce ou have maed out the roblems, b using the roblem tree, ou ill ant to make sure

our reort comes alive or the reader. your research reort should include case studies relevant

to our issue and target audience.

ool 15. esearh doa case Studies

This tool rovides guidance on roducing eective research case studies.

he Poli Enironment

The olic environment includes all asects surrounding olic-making. So hile our narro

ocus might be on the legislative rocess, the broader socio-economic environment is also

imortant. you need to be aare o hat are the ressing concerns o the da including in the

media, research institutes, donors, trades unions and civil societ.

ool 16. he context, Eidene, Links Poli Framework

This tool hels ith the assessment o dierent external actors that imact uon the olic-

making rocess, and rovides ointers on ho to inuence olic and ractice.

Ke questions to be asked hen analsing the olic environment include:

re the roblems ou have identifed imortant to societ?

what are the existing olicies and las that cause these roblems and ho are the imlemented?

Ho could changes in olic hel resolve the roblems?

what te o olic change is needed (legislation, regulation, legal decision, or other)?

what are the fnancial imlications o the roosed olic change?

ne asect o the olic environment that ill have an enormous imact uon our advocac

is the level o transarenc. In some oen and democratic regimes, it is ossible to obtain all

relevant inormation through ofcial channels, and also to take art in relevant meetings and

consultations. onversel, in regimes that lack oenness it ma be difcult to meet ke decision-

makers and achieve involvement. dvocac is more likel to be successul in a more democratic

olitical sstem. Hoever VS has ound that olic or examle in Health or ducation

ministries can be inuenced in almost an countr.

as & Regulations

your research should include an existing las (acts and regulations) that ma aect our

issue. Dierent countries have dierent legislative sstems so these ill take dierent orms.

nce research has identifed legislative rovisions, it is necessar to go one ste urther, and to

research enorcement. International conventions and agreements ma need to be incororated

into national legislation and successull imlemented, or the ma be directl alicable.


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8 29

To change the world, we must frst understand it

Former Secretar General Kof nnan

polic-Making Sstems

Dierent countries have dierent legislative sstems, hich ill imact uon their olic sstem.

Sometimes the rovincial or local government might be the target or our advocac rather than

national government. There are also dierent legal sstems (civil la, common la and religious la).

critical element in the success o an advocac camaign is a good understanding o the olic-

making sstem o our countr. This includes the ormal and inormal as in hich olicies are

made at dierent levels. This analsis hels ou to understand the oortunities that exist, including

critical oints o timing (olic indos).

This knoledge also revents Gs rom making tactical mistakes that can alienate olic-makers.

In man countries, government and olitical leaders remain scetical about including civil societ

in olic-making, believing that the lack aroriate exerience, skills, and knoledge. The a to

overcome this ercetion is to become a skilled and knoledgeable advocate.

Being aware o the political environment is very important. There are times

when our fndings have not been taken seriously, or have been set aside,because the political timing was not right or the research came at an

inopportune time in terms o the politics around the research fndings.

Mavuto Bamusi o the Malai conomic Justice etork

a making, dministration & norcement

polic-making rocesses should be maed and understood. This includes the legislative rocess,

hich can be quite comlex. These rocesses aect timing and oortunities or inut and inuence.

It is also necessar to ma and understand ho olicies are administered and imlemented. In

man cases, las are agreed on aer but not enorced. Factors aecting imlementation ill

include: the nature o the bureaucratic rocesses, incentives, caacit, and the level o racticalit

and accetabilit o the olic.

In this categor, it is necessar to include research into actors such as budget allocations. Some

VS artner organisations carr out budget monitoring o major ministries, to determine i unding

is arriving here it has been romised.

peole and rganisations

PLcy-MKES, PWE & NFLUENcE

peole and organisations are at the heart o olic-making. To succeed in inuencing olic, it

is necessar to understand their motivations, and the a in hich oer and inuence ork.Successul advocac involves building and maintaining relationshis that enable ou to inuence

olic-making in avour o our issue.

First, identi the institutions and individuals involved in decision-making. This ill include all

stakeholders associated ith the desired olic change, or examle:

Decision-makers (major oerul laers regional, national or local, here relevant)

dvisors to decision-makers

Inuencers (eg - nesaer editors)

Disadvantaged eole

llies and suorters

onents

ndecided on the issue (ho ou ma be able to inuence)

ext, research and analsis is needed to uncover:

Relationshis and tensions beteen the laers

Their agendas and constraints

Their motivations and interests

what their riorities are - rational, emotional, and ersonal

ool 3. eision and nuene Mapping

This tool hels to analse decision-makers and their sources o inuence.

ool 4. llies and pponents Matrix

This is a matrix that is used to categorise the allies and oonents o our advocac issue.

ool 23. ther Plaer nalsis

This tool is a matrix that can be used to consider other organisations orking in our feld, and

the nature o our relationshi ith them.

ool 5. venn iagram

tool to ma stakeholders involved in the olic sstem, and the relationshis beteen them.

nce ou kno and understand olic-makers and the a the think, ou are better able to

judge the channel and tone needed to reach them. The ill also assist to identi the best

targets (and indirect targets) or our advocac ork.

ip

Kee a database o organisations and eole, and udate as ne inormation is received.

Remember ersonal inormation, as ell as organisational since this ma hel in

building relationshis.

PWE

poer is a measure o a ersons abilit to control the environment around them, including the

behaviour o other eole. In historical terms, it has been monoolised b the e, creating

idesread overt, marginalisation and the violation o human rights. Much o civil societ

orks to reverse this attern and bring reviousl excluded grous and individuals into arenas

o decision-making, hile at the same time transorming ho oer is understood and used.

ights based pproahes and nlusie Programmes

VS believes that overt is a result o unequal access to a livelihood, education, healthcare,

olitical articiation and access to justice. ll o these are uni versal human rights.

B inclusive rogrammes e mean those that:

1. Identi those eole ho are at most risk o exclusion. Ticall, exclusion occurs on the basis

o gender, race, class, disabilit, mental health, HIV and IDS, age, language, religion and

sexual orientation.2. Strengthen the voice o excluded grous and strengthen the abilit o dut bearers (or examle

Ministries o ducation and Health, local government and other service roviders) to resond.

n understanding o ho oer oerates is vital to successul advocac. This includes the

oer sources o the organisations and individuals involved in olic-making and the roles and

balance o oer amongst these. you should also analse our on oer sources, and lan

ho to use and develo these.


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0 31

I you want to change anything, you need frst o all to think about your

source o power.

harles Hand

ool 6. Fore Field nalsis

This is a tool or assessing the driving and restraining orces o an advocac issue. This hels to

identi the aroaches that are likel to be most eective in changing the balance o oer in

avour o our issue (shiting the equilibrium).

Mp Sometimes just an implied threat an ring aout hange.

VS has suorted the advocac task orce o the ational ssociation o peole iving ith

HIV/IDS in eal to tr and bring about imrovements in service rovision in the Teku hosital.

There as still no rogress ater more than our months o meetings, including ith the

hosital director. So TF gave an ultimatum that i their demands ere not met, 200 HIV and

IDS activists ould rotest directl to the prime Minister. This resulted in a meeting ith the

Health Minister and rogress on man o their demands, including a ne 15-bed HIV unit at

the hosital hich ill remain oen around the clock and the romise to establish a centre o

excellence or HIV and IDS.

dvocac is most eective i it is ocused on the individuals or grous that have the greatest

caacit to introduce the desired olic change. These are called targets.

nce e have a clear icture o the decision-making sstem, e ill be able to i denti our

advocac targets. ten, the most obvious advocac target is not accessible or smathetic. This

means it is necessar to ork through others to reach them. This involves orking ith those

ho can inuence those ith inuence and ho have smathetic vies, rather than targeting

the decision-maker directl. These are sometimes called indiret targets.

This means that in addition to determining targets, ou need to assess the most eective as

in hich to inuence them. This involves research into the osition and motivations o each

actor, and their sources o advice and inuence, in order to decide on the best channels or

reaching them on our issue. This aroach is knon as inuence maing.


The main tool to ma and analse decision-makers and their sources o inuence.

The more inormation ou have about the actors that ma inuence and aect olic change,

the easier it is to devise an eective advocac strateg. The olloing is an examle hich

shos some ossible indirect targets that could hel to inuence a minister.

NEc GES NFLUENcE HE MNSE

These indirect targets can also be lobbied in a a that encourages them to lobb other indirect

targets, thus making the aroach more accetable to the Minister. For examle, an G

lobbies a think tank to make aroaches to the permanent Secretar or Secial dviser, ho

then aroaches the Minister. r a riend or amil member o the Mini ster aroaches his ie,

ho then tackles the issue ith her husband.

ip

ever underestimate the inuence o donors and researchers in the olic-making rocess.

Mone talks Research rovides the ultimate inormation oer.

The Minister

Ministers family

Ministers Advisers

Special Advisers

Personal Secretary

Permanent Secretary

InternationalOrganisations

Junior MinistersPresidentialCommission

Think TanksRegionalOrganisations

Indirect targets

Opposition Party Trade Unions Business Leaders

Ministers partner

NGOs Academics/Scientists


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2 33

pRT FR: STRTGI pIG FR DVy

This section exlains hat an advocac strateg is, including the elements that build a strateg.

t also explains the steps needed to deelop an effetie strateg.

doa Strateg Explained

The Value o Strateg

producing a Strateg Document

Strategi nalsis

Introduction

Defne the Issue

ssess the xternal Situation (nvironmental analsis)

ssess the Internal Situation (rganisational analsis)

ssess other Stakeholders

Strategies or Dealing ith onents and llies

Risk nalsis

Strategi choie

Introduction

Defne the rganisational iche

Defne im, bjectives, Indicators and Ke sks

hecklist ssessing your Strateg

Strategic planning




2. Define the Issue

3.TargetedResearch

4.StrategicPlanning


ReviseAdvocacy Plan

Stages

Current Stage Inputs

Outputs

OrganisationalAnalysis

StakeholderAnalysis

Issue (problemand solution)

EnvironmentalAnalysis

Risk Analysis

VSO Nicheand approach

Action Plan,with budget

Consult on andfinalise strategy

Aim, Objectives,Indicators andKey Asks


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4 35

doa Strategi Planning op ips!

Kee it relativel simle dont be too ambitious at frst

I ou are ne to strategic lanning use a acilitator to lead a orksho

Make our strategic lanning articiator in order to gain commitment

Ma our stakeholders, deciding ho to consult at each stage

se a variet o tools, ith creative methods, to ensure that analsis includes creative thought

Base our Strateg on the research ou have carried out

The choice o olic issue should be based on analsis o the develoment, countr and olic

environment, as ell as VSs rogramme riorities

Formulate our asks in order to gain maximum suort or our aim

xlore as o joint orking netorks and alliances

Identi rimar targets and as o reaching them (messages and activities)

nsure our objectives are clear and ocused

Dont orget risk analsis

doa Strateg ExplainedStrateg is concerned ith deciding the nature and scoe o an organisations activities. what

the advocac ill be like, here and ho it ill ork, and ho its results ill be measured. The

attern o activities in strateg include:

The allocation o a set o available resources b the organisation.

Managing the netork o relationshis beteen stakeholders.

sing tailored messages to ersuade target audiences.

Strateg should look or our cometitive advantage or niche, and ill rovide direction, hich

hels organisations to achieve their aims.

The Value o Strateg

dvocac can be comlicated, but a ell-ocused and defned strateg can simli things b

roviding a route ma.

The olic changes e ish to see are contested (i others agreed, the ould

alread have been adoted). we have limited resources, eseciall hen

comared to government and other organisations e ma be tring to

inuence. Thereore e need to harness the resources e do have at

our disosal; strategic lanning hels us to achieve this.

ne ke success actor or advocac is to have

idesread suort and articiation. Strategic

lanning is a sstematic aroach that makes

it ossible or others to be aare o our

lans and to become involved. In our

lanning orksho ou should

break don broad aims into

manageable stes.

he step-wise approah

See the D-Rom or some dvantages and hallenges o Strategic planning or dvocac

producing a Strateg Documentsuall to develo an dvocac Strateg ou ill hold a strateg orksho or at least a series

o meetings ith other colleagues. The more articiator the strategic rocess is (ithin

limits), the greater the likelihood o commitment to the end strateg.

ip

Engage an expert failitator: I ou are ne to strategic lanning, it ma be desirable to have

a acilitator to run a Strategic planning orksho or ou. The can design and manage the

rocess, mediate beteen diering actions, and handle the varied concerns o articiants.

I this is not ossible, share out tasks beteen various members o our grou

Keep it simple: Design a simle rocess ithout too man tools. se just a e o the tools rom

part ight o this manual. lso, use simle terminolog here ossible, and clari commonl

used terms beore beginning, to avoid misunderstanding.

imesale to deelop an doa Strateg

There is no defnitive time scale or running a rocess but e recommend the olloing as

a minimum:

Preparation: Background research and lanning (identi stakeholders & decide on their level

o involvement; examine existing situation and internal organisational exeriences; external

environment, designing the articiative rocess etc.). t least two das.

Partiipator strateg proess: This is the ke orksho stage or strategic analsis and

decision-making. im or as much articiation as ossible rom ke stakeholders, but

ithin budget and resource constraints. t least two das (more i volunteers / artners/

disadvantaged eole are consulted searatel).

rafting: writing u the drat strateg. wo das. (Ti do it as soon as ossible ater the

orksho, beore ou orget the discussions).

consultation: Drat strateg sent out to all those ho ma have some role in delivering the

strateg or hose advice ould be valuable. t least a two-week onsultation period.

collation: ollate and revie comments, make necessar amendments to the strateg to create

fnal document, send out fnal strateg document. ne da.

Activities to achieve

year 1 objectives

Year 1 Objectives

Project aim

Activities to achieveyear 2 objectives

Year 2 Objectives

Activities to achieve

year 3 objectives

Year 3 Objectives

Activities

Outcomes


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SUcUE F N vccy SEGy cUMEN

The olloing is a basic structure ou can ollo. Dont let it get too long or no-one ill read it.

I ou ant other arts it might be best to ut them i n as annexes:

lear Title, and ontents age

Short Introduction and short Methodolog

dvocac Issue

ontext nalsis a descrition o the environment and hat it means or the advocac

problem & Solution

dvocac im

dvocac bjectives

dvocac sks

Risk nalsis

nnexes, e.g. ossibl ith analsis tables, action lan, budget narrative etc.

Strategi nalsis

Introduction

The main areas that need to be analsed are:

he issue

Enironmental analsis (external situation)

rganisational analsis (the internal situation, e.g. - skills, resources and other lans)

Stakeholder analsis (e.g. - allies, cometitors, adversaries and targets)

isk analsis

These are covered in more detail belo. The order i n hich the are considered should var

according to individual circumstances.

Defne the Issue

The choice o issue as covered in part Three. It should comlement our rogramme ork,

and it should be an imortant theme that, i tackled successull, ill make a real dierence to

the lives o the disadvantaged. Ideall b the time ou come to the Strategic planning orksho

ou have agreement or the main issue ou are going to ork on. But in the orksho ou ma

change the nuance, or the sub-theme o the issue. The other urose o the Strategic planning

orksho is to discuss all asects o the issue and in suort and bu-in or a sustained

eriod o ork on that issue.

ools that help determine our issue.

s ell as tools described in part ne, e.g. The Issue hoice Matrix (Tool 1) or problem Tree

nalsis (Tool 2) ou could use.

ool 19. creatie rawing

This tool encourages intuitive thinking about the imrovement o a current situation. It is a

creative envisioning tool that can hel to generate a uture vision.

ssess the xternal Situation (nvironmental analsis)

To develo an eective advocac strateg, ou need to understand the broader environment in

hich the organisation oerates (and to hich the issue relates). seul tools include:

ools 6. Fore Field nalsis

This tool is helul to assess the driving and restraining orces o an advocac issue (the actors

that are orking to romote olic change and those that are reventing this rom haening).

ool 7. PESLE External nalsis

This tool hels to scan or revie the broader environment, and to sort and analse ke actors

that ma aect the advocac camaign.

nvironmental analsis should also consider the question o timing, hich is a vital element o

strateg ormulation. Ke questions might include

what is the timing or the legislative rocess?

when are ke meetings hen decisions are taken?

re there elections coming u? The might mess u our schedule, but might be an oortunit.

Mp: Working towards free health are

VS believes that health care or the oor should be ree at the oint o service. DFID also

orks to this aim. n ofcial in the health team at DFID has ound that their major successes

in inuencing government olicies come hen the resident is u or re-election. ering ree

health care is a ver attractive olic during an election camaign. The lesson thereore is that

i ou are lanning an advocac strateg to the health ministr ou should begin a ear or so

beore the election date, and build u. you need to have our targets convinced at the time the

election maniesto is decided.

ssess the Internal Situation (rganisational analsis)

your organisational resources aect our caacit to do the advocac ork, and ill determineho and ith hom ou collaborate. n organisational skills and resources audit could include

the olloing asects:

N PcUL:

esoures: ook at the fnancial, hsical and human resources that are available to ork on

the advocac roject. Include the undraising otential o the advocac roject.

Knowledge & Skills: Identi the knoledge and skills that are available or can be dran uon

in order to do eective advocac. re there knoledge and skills gas that need to be flled?

Should ou do this in house, or b joining others ith the exertise?

I ou are looking more idel at advocac ork in an organisation, there are some deeer

organisational actors that can be assessed. In articular, check that our advocac contributes

to our organisations vision and mission, hels to ulfl our overall cororate objectives and is

integrated into our broader organisational strateg.

Physical

Tangible

Resources

Financial

Intangible

Technology

Human

Knowledge & Skills

CultureReputation

MotivationCommunication


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8 39

ools that an help with nternal nalsis

ool 12. SW nalsis

This is a commonl used tool or undertaking an organisational assessment and is used

to consider the Strengths, Weaknesses, ortunities and hreats relevant to the

advocac camaign.

ool 13. doa Self ssessment

tool to hel ith identiing strengths and eaknesses.

ool 14. change Management eerg

diagram shoing the essence o change in articular, hat lies beneath the surace or

managers and olic-inuencers seeking to achieve change.

ool 22. Pathwas of nuene

diagram that can be used as a guide hen determining advocac strategies.

ssess ther Stakeholders

dvocac should be a delierate rocess, involving intentional actions. Thereore, beore

choosing an aroriate advocac strateg, it should be clear ho ou are tring to inuence.

when ou have identifed our issue ou ill be clear hich individuals are aected b the issue

or can inuence a decision on it. These eole are collectivel termed stakeholders.

Be aare o all the otential stakeholders. It is useul to break this large grou don into

smaller categories o like-minded eole in order to recognise here articiants ft into the

camaign. These ma include:

isadantaged people peole hose lives ill be imroved b the olic change.

Disadvantaged eole are the most imortant stakeholder grou, but the can oten be assive

stakeholders (hereas allies are activel involved).

nternal stakeholders peole ithin our on organisation ho are involved in the advocac

roject in some a e.g. sta, volunteers, management board etc. Some ma be onl lukearm

about the advocac roject or be resource cometitors.

llies peole ho are on our side either because the ill directl beneft rom the olic

changes, or because the ant to bring about these changes or reasons o justice.

dersaries or opponents peole ho are oosed to the olic change. The ma be activel

oosed to the olic change. r the ma be ignorant or uniormed these could be otential

allies, given greater understanding. dversaries could be the targets o our advocac camaign.

argets - peole hom ou ish to inuence. primar targets are those ith the abilit to aect

our objective directl. Secondar targets are those ho can i nuence rimar targets.

peole can be in more than one o these categories at an one time. ter listing the main

stakeholders ou ill have to consider ho to ork ith them eg hether the should be

involved in the strategic lanning or not. See the D or more on stakeholder involvement in

the strategic rocess.

ool 9. nolement of the isadantaged

ssists ith the rocess o involving disadvantaged eole in the strateg rocess.

In addition to deciding on the involvement (or otherise) o various stakeholders in the strateg

rocess, the a in hich stakeholders are dealt ith in the camaign is a major art o the

strateg rocess itsel.

MPPNG ELNSHPS bEWEEN SKEHLES

Stakeholder analsis can also be used to ma relationshis beteen stakeholders, avenues o

inuence and oer relations. poer maing is essential or lanning and calculating risks.

you can also then consider the easibilit o moving eole - e.g. turning adversaries into allies.

ools


This tool hels to ma and analse decision-makers and their sources o inuence.

ool 15. Power Mapping (venn iagram)

This tool hels to ma the relative oer and relationshis beteen dierent targets.

Strategies or Dealing ith onents and llies

The main strategies or dealing ith opponents are likel to be:

persuading them that our osition is right, or eakening their oosition to our osition

Reducing their inuence (oten b aecting their credibilit b successull countering

their arguments)

Seeking some common ground on some issues and agreeing to disagree on others

The main things ou need to fnd out about our oonents are:

wh do the oose ou?

Ho activel ill the oose ou? will the be reactive (just counteracting our moves)

or roactive?

what ill the do to challenge ou? what battleground are the likel to choose?

Ho much oer do the have (mone, inuence, numbers)?

what are their strategies and tactics?

what are their olicies and belies? re there areas here ou might agree?

who inuences them? who is inuenced b them?

SEGES F ELNG WH LLES

The main strategies or dealing ith allies are likel to be:

persuading the all that our osition is right

persuading the all that the issue is imortant enough to arrant action

Building alliances

The main things ou need to fnd out about our allies are:

Ho ell do the suort our advocac issue?

Do the have an misgivings about our advocac camaign? I so, hat are the?

what do the hoe to gain rom the advocac?

Ho ell resourced are the in terms o the camaign?

what are the illing to do to suort the camaign?

Ho involved and inormed do the exect to be?

Do the have issues ith an other rosective allies?


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The rincile ojoint engagement should come in the s