Why Do Advocacy Work?

Advocacy and Civil Society

Advocacy campaigns by those with less power attempting to influence those with power over them have existed for as long as the power inequalities themselves. They have been documented in many countries for centuries (for example: nationalist and anti-taxation movements in colonized countries; and land’ reform and protectionist movements in post-colonial countries). Advocacy campaigns led by the privileged advocating on behalf of others have included the movements against slavery, racial discrimination, and for women’s rights.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, leading development NGOs became aware that development and emergency work alone was unlikely to produce sustained improvements in the lives of the poor. This lead them to re-examine their strategies, and they started to become increasingly focused on advocacy work. Advocacy work enables them to draw on their program experience to show the impact of existing policies on the poor and marginalized, and to suggest improvements.

The increased democracy, transparency and openness of many governments make advocacy an increasingly effective method of achieving social change. The general trend is for civil society to focus increasingly on advocacy, making government take responsibility for social issues (as opposed to taking over service delivery to ‘fill the gaps’). There are an increasing number and range of advocacy initiatives, with a greater degree of professionalism – and these are now often supported by private foundations (like the Ford Foundation), bilateral donor countries and international donors (such as the World Bank, which has established a ‘Community Empowerment and Social Inclusion Learning Program’ (CESI)).

Advocacy and the Animal Welfare Movement

The animal welfare movement is also developing its advocacy work. There have been animal rights/welfare demonstrations, and animal welfare lobbying, for many decades. Federations, coalitions and alliances have also been formed, including the World Society for the Protection of Animals and one of its predecessors – the World Federation for the Protection of Animals (WFPA), which was founded way back in 1953. However, the movement has been relatively slow in developing effective strategic advocacy, with integrated research and investigations, networking, campaigning and lobbying.

The first truly international animal welfare campaign was launched by WSPA in 1988. This was its successful ‘No Fur’ campaign, which was led by Wim de Kok (now WAN President). It was adopted by over 50 WSPA member organizations and took the arguments against the wearing of fur to all corners of the globe. One of the reasons for the successful roll-out of the campaign was its appealing campaign materials, which used the image of a baby fox with the message: “Does your mother have a fur coat? His mother lost hers…” The campaign keeps on running. It was recently used in China - in a strategic campaign launched by ACT Asia in the autumn of 2011.

These days many of the leading animal welfare organizations carry out strategic advocacy. But many organizations in ‘developing’ countries and local groups continue to concentrate on compassionate, practical animal welfare work – i.e. service delivery, as opposed to advocacy.

There are, however, strong reasons for developing advocacy work. These include the following:

• Traditional practical/rescue & emergency work alone are unlikely to produce sustained improvements in the lives of animals.
• Advocacy is vital to ensuring that the authorities take responsibility for animal issues, including: policy, legislation and enforcement; education and awareness; research and training; and practical programs to improve the lives of animals.
• Advocacy can change attitudes and political will.
• Advocacy is a key tool for addressing the root causes of animal suffering. Advocacy does not merely deal with the symptoms of animal abuse and neglect, but ensures that the underlying educational and structural causes of suffering are addressed.
• In summary, advocacy can improve both the status and welfare of animals in an enduring way.

We also recognize that advocacy can benefit other aspects of our work including: visibility, recruitment, fundraising etc. It can help animal welfare organisations to be recognized as a serious player in civil society circles and provide greater public exposure.

High Impact NGOs

Research carried out at the USA’s ‘Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship’ confirms that although high impact NGOs may start out through designing great programs on the ground, they eventually realize that they cannot achieve large-scale social change through service delivery alone. So they add policy advocacy to change legislation and acquire government resources.

Other NGOs start out by doing advocacy and later add grassroots programs to ‘supercharge’ their strategy. But, ultimately, all high-impact organizations bridge the divide between service delivery and advocacy. They become good at both. And the more they serve and advocate, the more they achieve impact. The NGO’s grassroots work helps to inform its policy advocacy, making legislation more relevant, and advocacy helps the NGO to achieve its policy and program objectives.

Course Glossary

Acronyms

AW

Animal Welfare

CESI

Community Empowerment and Social Inclusion Learning Program

CIWF

Compassion in World Farming

ECEAE

European Coalition to End Animal Experiments

ECFA

European Coalition for Farm Animals

EU

European Union

FAO

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

FIAPO

Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organizations

HSI

Humane Society International

IFAW

International Coalition for Animal Welfare

IFC

International Finance Corporation

IMF

International Monetary Fund

INGO

International NGO

ISPA

International Society for the Protection of Animals

M&E

Monitoring and Evaluation

NGO

Non-Governmental Organization

OIE

World Organization for Animal Health

PAAWA

Pan African Animal Welfare Alliance

RSPCA

Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

SADC

Southern African Development Community

SARAWS

Southern African Regional Animal Welfare Strategy

SMART

Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound (Objectives)

SWOT

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats

TNCs

Transnational Corporations

VSO

Voluntary Service Overseas

WAN

World Animal Net

WFPA

World Federation for the Protection of Animals

WSPA

World Society for the Protection of Animals

WHO

World Health Organization

Advocacy Terms

Allies

Groups or individuals who share your policy change aim

Ask

The core request of your advocacy campaign

Audience

The person selected to receive your message (this could be a direct or indirect target)

Indirect Target

Person selected to bear influence on your advocacy target (also known as a secondary target)

Issue Research

Research on your advocacy issue

Messages

The main points that you want to get across in your advocacy, in support of your ask

Messenger

The person chosen to deliver your message(s)

Monitoring &
Evaluation

Monitoring is ongoing checking (that your advocacy is 'on track', and evaluation is a final assessment

Opponents

Groups or individuals who counter or oppose your policy change aim

Other Players

Other organizations working in the same field and/or on the same issue (similar organizations)

Policy Context
Research

Research on the policy environment affecting the issue (including: the policy environment, the policy system, and people and organizations)

Policy Windows

Brief periods where there are unusual opportunities for policy change

Target

The policymaker selected to be the person to whom your advocacy message is addressed - because they have the best opportunity to make policy change also known as a primary target)

Transparency

The openness of the policy system and procedures (to the public and civil society)

What Type of Advocacy?

Types of Advocacy

There are many different types of advocacy work. These should be carefully considered to ensure that the approach adopted is appropriate to your organisation’s ‘ways of working’, the national strategy and country situation, and the aims of the advocacy campaign. There various ways in which to categorize types of advocacy including:

Geographical
Advocacy can take place at any level – in a particular village, community, district, country, region or globally.

Timing
An advocacy campaign could be ongoing or time-limited (e.g. a specific event or action).

Issue
Advocacy can cover a single-issue, or range of issues. In general it is easier to achieve success if you have some specific and focused objectives.

Approach to Issue
Approaches can vary from abolition to reform. Abolition is when advocacy centers around stopping an unpopular policy, whereas reform is where it seeks incremental change. Abolition is likely to be more confrontational (and publicly critical of the existing ideology), whereas reform is usually viewed as more co-operative and/or practical.

Targets
Advocacy can be directed at a number of targets: government, businesses, groups of people or individuals.

Approach to advocacy targets
This can vary from conflict to engagement. Conflict or ‘adversarial advocacy’ is often associated with ardent abolition or protest movements who document the failures of government or policy makers, criticize them ('mobilizing shame'), and thereby effect change. ‘Programmatic engagement’ is more commonly undertaken by organisations that work with government to deliver services. It involves constructive discussion of policies to effect internal reform and capacity building within existing systems.

Channels or methods used
The channels or methods used can range from direct advocacy (direct dealings with policy makers) to grassroots lobbying (mobilizing the public to make representations to policy makers), and include other intermediate approaches such as the use of networks and coalitions.

Different Approaches to Advocacy

Advocacy that is aimed at changing the policies and practices of institutions has been categorized under the following four approaches:

• Collaborative - working with the policy maker to jointly identify an appropriate solution to a particular problem.
• Rational - persuading the policy maker to change their policies through presenting a rational argument, based on evidence and analysis.
• Political - getting the policy maker to change their policies by building support for your case among other groups who have influence on the policy maker, sometimes including public pressure.
• Judicial - forcing the institution to change its policy or practice by using the legal process to get a judgment of the courts.

A collaborative approach can be very effective if the policy-maker is open to change.

The rational approach can work if policies are made on a rational basis (rather than from political or self-interest motives). However, even when this is not the case, the rational approach is often an essential foundation for other approaches.

The political approach recognizes the different forces acting on policy decisions, and tries to build its own agenda into these forces.

The judicial approach can work when the judicial system is fair and independent, and has the authority and power to enforce its judgments. However, it is confrontational and can be slow, expensive and demand specialist skills.

Effective Advocacy

Advocacy is both a science and an art. From a scientific perspective, there is no universal formula for effective advocacy. However, experience shows that advocacy is most effective when it is well-researched and strategically planned. Successful advocacy networks frame their issue, research the policy environment and audience, set an advocacy aim and measurable objectives, identify sources of support and opposition, develop compelling messages, mobilize necessary funds, and collect data and monitor their plan of action at each step along the way.

Advocacy is also an art. Successful advocates develop a ‘sixth sense’ about opportunities, timing, and people – and harness their knowledge in support of the campaign. This comes with experience, and from paying attention to these aspects.

The 'art' of successful advocacy involves:

• Seeking, recognizing and using opportunities.
• Developing a keen sense of timing.
• Developing an understanding of the people involved in the process - there positions and power bases, and their views and motivations
• Framing and articulating issues in ways that inspire targets and motivate them to take action.
• Becoming a skilled negotiator and consensus builder.
• Looking for opportunities to win modest but strategic policy gains while creating still other opportunities for larger victories
• Developing interpersonal skills.
• Learning how to incorporate creativity, style, and even humor into advocacy (in order to draw attention and support to the cause).

The recipe for successful advocacy will differ from country-to-country – depending on the culture and political environment. In some countries the development of personal contacts is vital. However, this does not negate the need for thorough research and an effective strategy.
 

Introduction Documents