Key approaches of Advocacy

N. Assifi UNFPA/CST, Bangkok

Key advocacy approaches

• Involving leaders • Building partnership • Mobilizing the

community groups

• Capacity building • Working with mass

media

Involving leaders

Leaders refer to those who are extremely influential in facilitating changes in national issues of population and reproductive health.

Law makers : Those who make laws Policy makers : Those who make policies Decision makers: Those who implement policies

How to reach leaders

Formal settings….Meetings, seminars, conferences, etc.

Informal settings...Public gatherings, festivals, sport events, at home, etc.

Directly…………..

Meetings, letter, media, etc Indirectly…………Through their colleagues, friends, spouse, etc.

Building Partnerships

Partnerships are formed by groups of individuals that join together aiming to accomplish a

common purpose.

Coexistence Communication Cooperation Coordination Collaboration

Working in partnership Advantages

• Enlarges the of support • Provides safety for advocacy efforts • Magnifies existing resources • Increase financial and programmatic resources • Enhances the credibility and influence of

advocacy efforts

• Help develop new leadership • Assists in individual and organizational

networking

Working in partnership

Disadvantages

• Distracts from other work • May require to compromise your

position

• Views of larger organization may

influence the view of others

• Individual members may not get credit

for their work

• If partnership breaks down it may

harm all members’ advocacy efforts

Building effective partnership

Key questions to ask yourself before approaching potential partners

•Who should constitute the partnership? •Who should lead the partnership? •How will resources be accounted for? •How big should be the partnership? •Should it be limited to the national level or

other levels should be involved as well?

Mobilizing community groups Purpose

•To draw attention of the leaders to key

population and RH issues and to encourage them to take action

•Provide feed back on community needs and

feelings

•Help planners to collect data, testimonials and

other information in support of a given issue

•Disseminate information among public and

create public support for a given issue

How to organize and mobilize community groups?

•Involving community leaders, influential and

religious leaders

•Identifying key existing community groups •Identifying existing community channels for

information dissemination

•Organizing the group (identify group

members, group leader, terms of reference)

• Mobilizing the group through village

meetings, group discussions, folk and traditional media, live entertainment etc.

Capacity Building

Capacity building approach is used to:

• Leadership development • Expanding network of advocates • Maintaining high level of

knowledge and skills

• Keeping up with new trends and

new challenges

Requirements for an advocate

Academic Background and skills

• Academic background and experience in

communication

• Work experience in population, health, RH, FP etc. • Experience in group organization/mobilization • Ability/skills in public speaking and group

facilitation

• Ability/skills in speech writing, writing articles etc. • Experience in working with media (media relations) • Orientation on research, capability to translate

research-based information to advocacy messages

Requirements for an advocate

Personal Qualities

• Articulate, good listener, good

communicator

• Interested to work with people at

different levels

• Willingness to be trained and open for

further professional growth

• Committed to the programme

Working with mass media

Reasons for Dealing with Media

  

Enhance visibility of your programme and/or organization (name recognition) Inform the decision makers and the public about your activities Stimulate discussion on issues you are promoting

Dealing with Media… (cont’d)

 

Generate public support for your activities and organization Increase fundraising (sponsorship) or membership or supporters to your cause

Promote a Good Media Coverage

1.

2.

3.

4.

Invest in building media contacts (Roster) Keep up with media trends, techniques and technologies Facilitate journalists’ access to relevant information and data Treat journalists and other media professionals with respect.

Promote Good media…

5. Be guided by the “Five Fs” of media relations: Fast, Factual, Frank, Fair and Friendly 6. Establish a channel of regular communication with media gatekeepers 7. Thank and reward deserving journalists and other media professionals through awards and other motivators.

8. Develop a media strategy

Develop a Media Strategy

Two Critical Elements: 1.

Your message

 

Briefly tell journalists what your organization stands for and does: Central message Ensure everyone in your organization shares the same message: Consistency

Media Strategy…

(cont’d)     

Audience and appropriate media Identify the information needs of target audience Identify media they use – and trust



Determine for what purpose you want to reach them:

To stimulate discussion    To inform them on new issues To educate them on values To help them form opinions

Choose your media accordingly based on above

  

Media Strategy…

(cont’d)

Audience and appropriate media Printed media



Tends to be an elite medium Radio

 

Tends to be a medium for a very broad audience Remains in places where TV has arrived Television



Tends to be a medium for entertainment

  

Appropriate to reach influential people, politicians & policy makers Appropriate for information dissemination, e.g. news, interviews Entertainment function but useful for information dissemination