Advocacy-Theory to Practice

1. WHRAP-SEA Partners Capacity Building Workshop on Advocacy And Mid Term Progress Meeting 4-7 April 2011 Hanoi, Vietnam Advocacy-Theory to Practice

2. What does advocacy mean to you? What is not advocacy? What is your role as an youth advocate ? Exercise 1:

3. Some Definitions of Advocacy? • Influencing change in political and bureaucratic processes on behalf of someone or some group • The process of using information strategically to change policies that affect the lives of disadvantaged people (BOND 1999) • Advocating on behalf of the voiceless. Global Women in Politics 1997 • Advocacy is a planned strategic process which development agencies, civil society groups and individuals can use to bring about change.

4. “Advocacy is the act or process of supporting a cause or issue. An advocacy campaign is a set of • targeted actions in support of a cause or issue. We advocate a cause or issue because we want to: • build support for that cause or issue; • influence others to support it; or • try to influence or change legislation that affects it.” —International Planned Parenthood Federation: IPPF Advocacy Guide 1995

5. Definitions of Advocacy • “Advocacy is speaking up, drawing a community’s attention to an important issue, and directing decision-makers toward a solution. Advocacy is working with other people and organizations to make a difference.” -CEDPA: Cairo, Beijing and Beyond: A Handbook on Advocacy for Women Leaders • “Advocacy is defined as the promotion of a cause or the influencing of policy, funding streams or other politically determined activity.” - Advocates for Youth

6. Exercise 2:

7. Advocacy can occur at different stages of decision making, can lead to change in : • Who makes the decisions: community representation, participation of civil society • What is decided: legislation, polices, budgets, programmes practices • How it is decided: accountability and transparency; participation of local communities to be affected • How it is enforced or implemented: accountability, awareness raising.

8. Are there any ethics or principles we should be clear on before engaging in any sort of advocacy? Exercise 2:

9. Ethics and principles • Are we advocating ‘for’ or are we advocating ‘with’?- Community controlled process or people-centered advocacy • Accountability • Transparency • Self-awareness

10. Since the community controls the process it has a voice and is enabled to learn new skillswhich: • Strengthens its capacity, organisation and power and its involvement in decision-making • Increases the legitimacy of community participation • Improves the accountability of public institutions • Improves the material situation of individuals • Expands their self-awareness as citizens with both responsibilities and rights.

11. Making an Advocacy Plan

12. 7 steps to advocating Analyze the Issue Research. Speak to people. Understand everything you can about the issue to know you are interpreting the problem correctly. Find credible and recognized data that supports and is evidence for your cause. Be clear on your basic message Be extremely clear on your information, your understanding of the issue you are advocating for. • What change do you want? • You should be clear of your objectives. What are you advocating for? What’s the aim of this entire process? What are some of the challenges you could address or the compromises you would address? • Identify your Targets • Identify who the right person is that you need to be advocating to. Who can effectively help you begin the process of change? Consider a simultaneous strategy to build support. Community/Media/Government-Policy Makers/Young People/Educational Institutions/Adults-Parents/Community Leaders. • Identify your Resources • Whose support do you need? What is the right time to do this? • What resources are required to get this done? How much is this going to cost you?

13. 7 Steps to advocating Identify Your Allies and Know Your Opposition Who are the people likely to support you? Can you build partnerships with them? Who are your opponents? What are some of their arguments likely to be? Who can you create alliances with? Create An Action Plan Deliver Short Messages Effectively. Global Need – Local Context. Facts. Make it about more than you. • Precise, short, memorable, customize it to your audience. • The concept of resonance • Prioritize! Prioritize! Prioritize! • Different ways of delivering messages (lobbying, print, statements, media, demonstrations) • [Tools: position papers, fact sheets, newsletters, statements, draft language…] • Be strategic • Offer language examples, preferably negotiated text (agreed language) • Offer data, statistics, report findings (relevant, recent, reliable) • Use media (be strategic, be prepared, own the agenda, redirect questions) • Implement. Monitor. Evaluate • Carry forward relationships. Get feedback. Keep pushing your message out there!

14. Process of Advocacy • Step 1: Research, Analysis and Gathering Data • Organizational analysis (SWOT) with different stakeholders –Youth organisations and youth advocates • Analyzing the Issue • The Problem Tree Analysis-separating the main problem, consequences and root causes • This can be done in different ways with a variety of stakeholders

15. Step 2: Setting Goals and Targets Smart objectives are: Specific: what do you want to happen? Measurable: will you know when you’ve achieved it? Achievable: is it possible to achieve given your resources and time? Relevant: is it relevant to all stakeholders and the real problem? Time-bound: when do you want it to happen?

16. Step 3: Identifying Key Players • Beneficiaries • Allies, • Opposition (degree of opposition) • Influencers • Decision makers Create strategies for building alliances (networks, coalitions, support groups) Transparency: Common Purpose Acceptance of different approaches

17. Step 4: Choosing your approach Policy analysis proving the case for change and alternatives Demonstrating solutions through positive project work Action research documenting the impact of the policies or good practice of other groups especially their impact on the poor Awareness raising either with the individual or the general public Campaigning highlighting, publicising and mobilising public support

18. Step 4: Choosing your approach Building partnerships and networking Media work raising awareness to the media, and through them the general public and others Mobilising the general public to put pressure on the decision makers Creating ways for people to act for themselves (WaterAid – A guide to advocacy, p48)

19. Tools that can be used

20. Step 5: Create a Plan of Action

21. Step 6: Monitoring and Evaluation • What are you monitoring and looking to evaluate? • What are the indicators of success? • Based on these indicators- what are the questions you will ask to assess whether indicators are being met? Examples of indicators: project progress, organisational reputation with targets/influencers, media coverage , stakeholder attitudes, public opinion.

22. Advocacy for CSE should lead to: • Developing a learning climate that firmly and frequently re-affirms the principles of respect, responsibility, diversity and rights is extremely important. • Capacity training & rights inclusion – Peer educators, especially teachers, require skills building disseminating information based on principles mentioned above. • Sustainable stakeholder involvement: Not isolating young people, as well as the involvement of multiple stakeholders within communities is important as any prevention/ awareness strategy cannot be focussed solely on the youth.

23. Some Sources • Advocacy in Action-Council of International Development Resource Unit • Advocacy Building Skills for NGO Leaders-The CEDPA Training Manual Series • Advocacy in Action Toolkit-HIV/AIDS Alliance