ADVOCACY: Are civil society organisations any good at it? (And what exactly IS it anyway?)

Used in the context of civil society organisations (CSOs), the term advocacy has become something of a catch-all term, encompassing a wide range of activities carried out by NGOs. Advocacy can be broadly defined as activism, or campaigning, around a particular issue. However, its precise definition and content are still an evolving concept.

To open a broad discussion on the theme of advocacy, EUMAP called for papers on the theme of CSOs and advocacy, and asked readers to take part in an informal survey.

^{(Image © Kirk Anderson, www.kirktoons.com)}

SURVEY: CSOs and effective advocacy

We asked, what do you understand by "advocacy"? What is the key to effective advocacy? In your own work, do you have clear advocacy targets, or do you just 'muddle along'? How do media relations and government interaction fit into your overall advocacy goals? How is advocacy organised in your organisation?

Miriam Anati, who is responsible for the advocacy work of EUMAP, reviewed the responses and identified the main points they highlighted - providing EUMAP's own take on each. We hope those takes in turn will spark further input, and she would be pleased to receive any comments or responses to the article.

"ADVOCACY: Are civil society organisations any good at it? (And what exactly IS it anyway?)" -- Results of an EUMAP survey

FEATURE PAPERS ON ADVOCACY

EUMAP is pleased to publish two rounds of Features that analyse the opportunities and pitfalls that advocacy work presents to CSOs.

A total of six papers include both overall analyses and presentations of individual case studies and examples of good practice. Every time, general lessons are derived from the individual examples, and overall considerations are illustrated with concrete examples.

Part 1 – Lessons from the field; deriving good practice from on-the-ground challenges

Publication date: 17 July 2006

GONG: Advocating for Change
GONG Team
The Croatian CSO GONG undertook several election monitoring campaigns, encouraging citizens to participate in the elections and working to safeguard the legality and transparency of those elections. A reflection on its experiences can serve to formulate lessons learned regarding successful advocacy work. This paper outlines what GONG did, how it did it, and what results it achieved, in order to identify effective advocacy strategies.

Supporting User Led Advocacy in Mental Health
Paul Cutler, Robert Hayward and Gabriela Tanasan
Mental health advocacy provides a fascinating test case for the wider role of advocacy in civil society. Mental health issues are likely to affect up to 1 in 4 people, and there is a little known but vibrant network of service user led mental health initiatives. This paper explores their experiences, and presents lessons for both advocates, and governments and international organisations, illustrating them by the experience of user group work in Campulung-Moldovenesc, Romania.

The NGO role in advocacy for the human rights of people with disabilities in Bulgaria
Prof. Lucia Ilieva – Club "Sustainable Development of Civil Society"
The treatment of people with disabilities in Bulgaria fails to meet relevant international standards. There is a need for radical change in societal attitudes to enable them to participate actively in society. CSOs have a vital role to play in this process, and this paper highlights the main advocacy goals Bulgarian CSOs have been tackling. Specifically, it describes three projects that illustrate the different focuses of NGO advocacy in Bulgaria.

Part 2 – Evaluating advocacy: Identifying effective strategies and assessing results

Publication date: 5 September 2006

EUMAP: Advocating for Change. Some lessons learned in conducting advocacy in Europe’s transition countries
Miriam Anati, Advocacy and Communications, EUMAP
In the past five years, EUMAP has witnessed a substantial evolution in the capacity of local civil society to conduct advocacy. EUMAP has striven from the beginning to ensure that its monitoring reports go beyond an academic exercise and have a real social and political impact. Over the years, we have become well acquainted with our environment and have developed some advocacy lines that we would like to share here.

Postcard from the Frontline: Lessons Learned in the Battle for Hearts and Minds in the New Europe
Mercedes Sprouse
The author draws on her experience working as a consultant, both for CSOs across Central and Eastern Europe and for programmes and foundations of the Soros Foundations Network, to outline a model skills set that CSOs of all shapes and sizes may use to sustain results. The paper illustrates proven strategies and tools to carry out and evaluate advocacy interventions. The essential message: Civil society organisations (CSOs) need to work smarter, not harder.

Advocacy in the field of social rights: A story with a bittersweet conclusion
Ferenc Hammer, ELTE University
This paper recounts the experience of the Eastern Europe Center for Democratic Education and Governance, a now-defunct Budapest-based NGO, in launching a national campaign in 1998 aimed at improving housing opportunities for young Hungarians. It illustrates an inherent problem for any organisation carrying out advocacy — how to evaluate its impact? How to assess the extent to which one organisation’s advocacy activities have contributed to overall, national policy change?