Essential Elements of Advocacy Presented by D. Tola Winjobi (PhD) @ a 2-day capacity enhancement workshop on advocacy organized by Southwest FOIA Network
Presented by D. Tola Winjobi (PhD) at a 2-day Capacity Enhancement Workshop on Advocacy organized by South-West Freedom of Information Advocacy Network
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Essential Elements of Advocacy Presented by D. Tola Winjobi
(PhD) @ a 2-day capacity enhancement workshop on advocacy organized
by Southwest FOIA Network
A Project Supported by the Democratic Governance for
Development (DGD) II Project
ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF ADVOCACY Understanding Essential Elements
of Advocacy in Engaging the Authorities on FOI Act: Some Useful
Tools for CSOs
Definition/Meaning WHAT ADVOCACY IS NOT: Advocacy is not a
noise making exercise as some people are wont to believe. Though it
might be necessary to drum the beat of change into the hearing of
the target authorities, this goes beyond noise making; it is
speaking out. Advocacy is not blind agitation, though it involves
the use of pressure to effect a change. Though implied, advocacy is
not just proposing changes to the existing policies; it subsumes
creating new policies where none existed before. Advocacy is not an
information-education-entertainment initiative though it can
inform, educate and communicate to the people the benefits of
socio-economic policies that might impact on the lives of all
irrespective of gender or status.
TearFunds seeking with, and on behalf of, the poor, to address
the underlying causes of poverty by influencing the decisions of
governments, companies, groups, and individuals whose policies or
actions affect the poor (Tear Fund 1999).
Meaning of advocacy The word advocacy takes its roots from the
Latin ad vocare meaning to speak for someone. not only speaking for
but also speaking with the people proposing or recommending
something or someone for better options It implies identifying a
cause, believing in it, mobilizing and influencing others to
support it so as to change the policy or programme that is
negatively affecting that cause.
Kinds of Advocacy The following are common kinds of advocacy;
though the list is not exhaustive: Feminist advocacy: focuses
campaigning solely on womens identity and ideology. Gender
advocacy: believes in equity of resources between male and female,
young or old. Policy advocacy: may be targeted towards the
executive or the legislative arms of government, works towards
changing the existing programme of actions or set of principles and
policies or enacting a new one for the benefit of all especially
the common man. Legislative advocacy: sometimes used
interchangeably with policy advocacy which may emanate from the
executive arm of government, focuses on working with and using only
the parliament to effect a change in policy or enact a new
one.
Kinds of Advocacy (contd) Confrontational advocacy: this deals
more with strategy of achieving a change at all cost by all means
without necessarily promoting dialogue. Legitimate advocacy: This
is advocating for a change through compliance with recognized
rules, standards or traditions. Egocentric advocacy: suggests
pressing for a change for a selfish reason. Demonstrative advocacy:
This is a type of advocacy in which the advocates themselves take
up the responsibility of the target of advocacy so as to show
deficiency of the latter or to challenge the latter to take a
cue.
Kinds of Advocacy (contd) Sectoral advocacy: while focusing on
campaigning for a reform and a change in policies it targets the
specific sector of the economy such as health, water, agriculture,
education, land and housing etc. both in public and private
sectors. Economic advocacy: focuses attention on economic issues
affecting the nation such debt cancellation, reform, due process,
pro-poor budgeting, extractive industries etc. Social Service
advocacy: this is related to both economic advocacy and sectoral
advocacy as the main focus here is campaigning for social welfare
of the people in which donors, for example, should provide funds
directly to the government who will factor this into the national
budget example is Direct Budget System (DBS).
Kinds of Advocacy (contd) Media advocacy deals with strategy of
achieving advocacy goal through the use of media both print and
electronic. Other kinds of advocacy are self-explanatory including
self-advocacy, customer advocacy, consumer advocacy, child
advocacy, cycling advocacy, trails advocacy, prison advocacy,
patient advocacy and so on and so forth.
Purpose and Objectives of Advocacy The main purpose of advocacy
is to engage authorities or governments in dialogue so as to effect
a change in their existing policies, practices, beliefs and ideas
that are anti-people and not poor-responsive. In addition where
there were no policies before, advocacy would aim at causing the
authorities to enact new policies on emerging issues that are
adversely affecting the lives of the people.
Purpose (contd) Advocacy is necessary in order to: influence
the policy makers as a means of addressing roots and causes of the
particular problem; contribute more effectively to reducing poverty
and preventing deaths and suffering through the use of wide range
of intervention; reach a large segment of population and broaden
the scope of program impact; and increase financial and material
support for programmes.
OBJectives of Advocacy change laws/policies, enact new
legislation (e.g. pre-2011 FOIA), change position of policy makers
and or authorities, change action of policy makers and or
authorities.
Secondary Objectives In the process of carrying out each or all
of the above objectives, we could be carrying out and achieving
other objectives that we might or we might not have planned for.
Secondary objectives could be increasing social organization and
participation, strengthening CSOs (NGOs, CBOs, FBOs)etc alliance,
increasing public awareness, increasing media awareness on an issue
that is not necessarily germane to the issue on focus, or
increasing access to policy-makers by the poor masses.
Qualities of an Advocate Whether as a group or as an
individual, there are certain qualities an advocate should possess.
These include but are not limited to: Being passionate; Being
diplomatic; Being persuasive; Being sensitive Being tactful; Being
resilient; Being credible; Being dependable; Being knowledgeable;
Being resourceful; Being strategic; Being pleasant; Having
communication skills and; Using lobbying skills
Stakeholders Analysis WITHIN GOVERNMENT OUTSIDE GOVERNMENT The
legislature: various committees The executive: ministries and
departments (health, education, water, sanitation etc) The
judiciary The auditor-generals office The statistics office
Commissions Boards Agencies Parastaltals Military/Police
Customs/Immigration Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps Etc
etc The intended beneficiaries The general public ( CSOs ,NGOs,
CBOs, CDAs, Faith-based groups, Media (print, electronic +soc )
Private sector Religious organizations Business groups Community
leaders Private individuals (wealthy) Professionals like teachers,
nurses, Universities and research centres Trade unions Activists
Donors Etc etc
Stakeholders (contd) ALLIES/SUPPORTERS A further analysis could
be done through asking some questions based on two key groups of
people or OPPONENTS individuals the supporters and opposition. A
matrix below could help: Questions to raise may include: Who will
gain if we achieve our goal? Who are the beneficiaries? Who already
supports the issue? What are the strengths, strategies and
relationships of the supporters? Are there religious groups that
support our cause? Which agencies, ministries, departments in
government will gain if the goal is reached? Do officials support
the goal in private but not in public? Are there allies from
private/commercial sector e.g media? Are there some allies from
unexpected sectors? Questions to raise may include: Which groups
will lose, or think they will lose if our goal is achieved? What is
their relationship with other groups? Which agencies, ministries,
departments in government will lose if the goal is reached? Which
officials oppose the goal diplomatically? Is there opposition from
private sector?
Methods/strategies/tools Advocacy methods might be used
synonymously with tools or strategies for the purpose of this
discourse. In order to make advocacy effective, it should be
communicated through a variety of methods and activities. It is
vital when advocating to use methods that complement each other in
order to have the greatest impact on the widest selection of
targets possible because if methods are not coordinated, resources
can be wasted and objectives undermined. It is also important to
represent the interests and views of the widest selection of people
as advocacy sometimes is a game of number.
LOBBYING Lobbying, derived from the word lobby, is a tool used
in advocacy by the pressure group that tries to influence a
politician on a particular issue. Lobbying involves two or more
people. It is building of alliances in order to exert pressure on
decision-makers and accomplish expected results; it can sway
decision-making in a favorable way for the best interest of the
community; and it also plays a major role for organizations
striving to influence government policies towards their interests.
Therefore, lobbying is considered as an action consisting of
conducting interventions intended to influence directly or
indirectly the development, implementation or revision processes of
legislative (or executive) measures, standards and rules.
Different kinds of lobbying strategy Lobbying a decision-making
body: Initiating a bill for legislation could emanate from any arm
of government or the public =The executive bill or The legislature
or members of the public At whatever level the bill is initiated
lobbying might be necessary in order to fast-track the bill into
law or make the executive accede to it. Lobbying could take place
within the legislature among the lawmakers themselves or within a
particular committee or between one committee and the other while
members of the public could also lobby the legislators in their
surgeries or in the house of parliament.
Lobbying Decision-makers contd. This strategy calls for five
different functions of the members of parliament that can be used
by pressure groups: Contribute to improving a bill in committee
Question decision-makers Liaise with the executive on behalf of his
constituency Make suggestions Assist the executives Remind
authorities
DIRECT LOBBYING Direct lobbying: This is an approach built on
personal communication between the lobbyists and the lobbied.
Personal communication subsumes: presentation, contact, meetings,
letters, informal conversation, telephone conversation and so on.
It involves getting ones position across to the decision-makers
without an intermediary. The techniques used in direct lobbying
are: Oral presentation; A letter to a VIP; Informational meeting;
Approach to support committees and; Contact with Clubs,
Associations or Foundations etc. An example of a situation in which
direct lobbying could be useful is when a personal contact is made
to, for example, the Chairman House Committee on Legal Matter so as
to pressure her committee to enact a bill on FOIA in the
state.
INDIRECT LOBBYING Indirect Lobbying: This strategy aims at
achieving the same result as in direct lobbying but with the help
of an intermediary but one is more efficient than the other. In the
example given above, the chair of the House Committee on health is
a woman, her committee is a committee that is directly involved in
enacting such bills on health-related issues, and the committee was
approached directly. However, an issue might be on increasing
budgetary allocation to education to 26 percent, for instance. A
group of two or three unskilled lobbyists might decide to approach
a lawyer to draft such a bill on their behalf for the benefit of
the community and submit it to the House of Representatives through
the Speakers Office or the Clerk of the House. The Speaker might
assign this bill to the appropriate committee to handle it and for
subsequent presentations (readings).
Lobbying (contd.) The 3-man lobbyists do not make any move
about the bill other than the job given to the lawyer. Lobbying
only takes place at the instance of the lawyer who uses his
professional skills to draft the bill and persuades the Speakers
office to help submit the bill to the appropriate house committee
for hearing. More indirect method is for the lobbyists to approach
the family members, friends, and associates of any of the
legislators requesting them to engage the latter in such
(legislative) matter of interest since they are likely to listen in
deference to such relations and cronies.
Community Leaders Lobbying community leaders: (Gate keepers)
Among the community leaders are the traditional rulers, the heads
of the households, heads of towns unions, political leaders, heads
of markets and trade groups, and religious leaders. The non-state
actors could approach these people so as to lobby them to support a
legislation that would impact on the wellbeing of the community. To
influence the community leaders on issues dealing with tradition,
one should know how to develop arguments drawing from their own
references since they are keepers of tradition in their own right.
For instance, one needs tact and wisdom to convince the traditional
leaders the need to support the legislative campaign on the harmful
effect of the female genital mutilation or widowhood practices, for
example, as the practices are rooted in the tradition of the
people. However, it is important to prove to them that their status
is not threatened.
Public Opinion Lobbying aimed at public opinion: The best
methods of lobbying are often those that are discreet as described
above. Some of the time, those methods do not succeed because of
the unskillful manner lobbying is handled by the personalities
involved or because of lack of understanding or the ulterior motive
of the authorities concerned. However, when it is clear that the
latter factor overbears the former, then public opinions should be
resorted to in order to influence the decision-makers. In this
case, every available strategy at the disposal of the lobbyists
could be used. This includes media campaign, mass protest, mass
mobilization, propaganda, letter writing, petition, strike action,
stakeholder lobbying etc. A combination of these methods are being
used in Nigeria to garner support for and pressure the National
Assembly to pass the Freedom of Information Bill.
Collaborat ing/partnering These are situational agreements in
order to defend a common interest or to oppose a common opponent.
It is a forming a group of organizations or individuals committed
to working in the long-term on the issue of advocacy. There are two
types of collaborating: Collaboration of individuals: it is made up
of a large pool of volunteers with strong personal commitment;
freedom to come in consensus on issues without external influences.
Collaboration of organizations: this type of collaboration is made
up of organizations. Each organization comes with its strength,
followers, resources, expertise and reputation.
Collaboration Contd. The main advantages of collaboration are:
There is strength in numbers, achieving goals that single
organization or individual cannot. More publicity. Expanded pool of
resources and varied skills. Expanded knowledge/support base. A
leadership/staff with good diplomacy and negotiating skill. To be
successful in advocacy, it is important to build alliances. This
allows for uniting forces, better complementing each others effort
and having more leverage. This requires trust relation between the
advocacy group and its allies. Building alliances is carried out in
five stages
Contd. Identification and choice of partners Getting to know
the partners through its name, mode of operation, orientations,
strategies, activities and interests. Sharing the objectives with
the partners and taking interest in achieving the same objectives.
Definition of each partners participation. Managing and maintaining
partnership once it is established6.
Media work Media work is also a very important method of
advocacy; the media work has the chance to influence the image of
the government because most governments care about their image.
Because the media is the maker and shaper of images, their role is
then very important in making advocacy successful. There are three
types of media: Print media ( news paper, journals, magazine etc)
Electronic media ( television and radio) Social media (twitters,
facebook, netlog, etc)
Media contd. The media can play a key role in: Building
awareness and changing public opinion on issues Generate action
from its audience Put direct pressure on government by placing it
in the spotlight Protect and enhance reputation Investigate and
expose issues Influence government policy, both directly and
through its power to influence and mobilize opinions. Different
campaign demands different media strategy, it is therefore
important to identify target audience and find the specific media
that will best reach an audience or a number of different audiences
and media strategy should specify about what action is
needed7.
Campaigning Campaigning is choosing a specific course of action
on the basis of available information and resources which will be
most effective in achieving identified objectives. It is an
organized course of action to achieve change by convincing the
target audience. When campaigning, the following principles must be
put into consideration: focus, clarity, credibility, relevance,
timing and commitment.
Mobilization Mobilization is a very important method of
advocacy that subsumes synergizing the critical masses of the
people, financial, material and technical resources for a common
purpose. In simple terms, the types of resources concerned are
individuals, groups, money, contribution in kind, labour, expertise
and administrative support, including premises for meetings,
supplies and equipment10. It is important to mobilize the community
that will benefit from the change. Among the benefit of community
mobilization is that it improves program design, quality result and
evaluation. Also, it increases community ownership and community,
individual and group capacity to identify and satisfy their
needs9.
Resource Mobilisation Resource mobilization is also playing a
vital role in advocacy because without resources, advocacy could
not survive. In order to maintain this effort in long term, time
and energy must be invested to secure the necessary funds and
resources. Types of resources and sources that could be used:
Mobilisation (Contd.) Personal contributions which comprises
subscriptions, contributions in kind, income generating activities,
from all the members of the advocacy group. External contributions
which comprise donation, legacies, sponsoring, collections,
contributions from institutions, companies and various
organizations that have been approached. Letter writing It is a
written message packaged and sent to someone for a purpose
including the conventional messages sent by post and email messages
sent through the internet. A large number of letters can be a good
way of demonstrating the extent of awareness and concern in the
society about certain issue. Individual letter can demonstrate a
depth knowledge and personal concern, while letters from eminent
people can have a particularly great impact. However,
letter-writing is such a flexible technique that it can be used in
many different ways. Letters can be directed to the necessary
authority to make a change on the issue addressed11.
Petition Petition is a written document signed by a large
number of people that asks somebody in a position of authority to
do or change something. Petition is also used as an advocacy
method. It has a tradition in public protest that goes back many
centuries. Some of the benefits of petition are: It can provide a
good focus for group and public activities. It is a simple way of
allowing people to express their support. It can illustrate the
level of public/community on an issue. It is easy and cheap to
organize12.
choosing appropriate advocacy methods There are no simple rules
for choosing the best advocacy methods. Your choice will depend on
many factors: a) the target person/group/institution; b) the
advocacy issue; c) your advocacy objective; d) the evidence to
support your objective; e) the skills and resources of your
coalition; and f) timing - for example, external political events,
when a law is still in draft form, immediately before a budgeting
process, time of year, stage of advocacy process.
FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN COMMUNITY MOBILISATION ON ADVOCACY
CONCERN FACTORS TO CONSIDER CONDITIONS THAT FACILITATE ADVOCACY
CONDITIONS THAT INHIBIT ADVOCACY Magnitude of the problem Political
support Socio-cultural context Resources (time, money, skills of
staff, and community, equipment and supplies) Organization
Feasibility of response History of community participation
Accessibility (geography, climate etc Representativeness of other
areas in the country Remarks: Weigh your pros and cons to draw
Supported by the Democratic Governance for Development (DGD) II
Project
THANK YOU D. Tola Winjobi (PhD) Southwest Coordinator, FOIA
Network Convener, Campaign2015+ International Principal
Coordinator, CAFSO-WRAG for Development Plot 5, Akingbade Street,
Off Old Ife Road Box 15060, Agodi Post Office, Ibadan, NIGERIA +234
8082008222+234 8030618326 [email protected][email protected][email protected]