BUILDING CIVIL SOCIETY POLICY ADVOCACY CAPACITY

Transcription

1 Building Civil Society Policy Advocay Capacity PMA Project Briefing Paper No.1 BUILDING CIVIL SOCIETY POLICY ADVOCACY CAPACITY Amplifying the Role of Civil Society in the Implementation of the Plan for Modernization of Agriculture Godber Tumushabe Onesmus Mugyenyi

2 PMA Project Briefing Paper No.1 Building Civil Society Policy Advocacy Capacity Table of Contents Introduction:... 1 The ACODE/VEDCO/EA PMA Project:... 2 Policy Advocacy: What and Why?... 3 Why is policy advocacy necessary?... 3 The Role of CSOs in PMA Implementation:... 4 Participants Understanding of Advocacy:... 4 Developing an Advocacy Plan:... 5 Lobbying and Advocacy: Are they the same?... 7

3 Building Civil Society Policy Advocay Capacity Introduction PMA Project Briefing Paper No.1 The Plan for Modernization of Agriculture (PMA) recognizes the important roles to be played by different actors if its objectives are to be achieved. This policy brief is a contribution to building civil society advocacy capacity to support the implementation of the PMA. It is premised on the understanding that other than being engaged in direct service delivery, civil society organizations are well positioned to influence the implementation of the PMA and ensure that it promotes the key principles that are supposed to guide its implementation. It is the role of civil society to ensure that the PMA encourages public participation, remains poverty focused and pro-poor, promotes sustainable management of natural resources and the public and private actors engaged in the process are accountable at all levels. 1: What Does the PMA Say About the Role of Civil Society? Civil Society is comprised of NGOs, CBOs, individuals, unions, professional bodies and associations that are involved in the promotion of effective and sustainable delivery of agricultural related services. Since the mid-1980 s, there has been phenomenal growth in the number of NGOs, CBOs and other categories of civil society organizations, all of which enjoy freedom of operation and collaboration with the government. This is a reflection of the respectable mileage covered by the country in the road to good governance over this period. Government recognizes the importance of national partnerships with NGOs and CBOs in the delivery of basic services. The civil society is already a key player in the design and management of the programmes financed under the Poverty Action Fund (PAF). While it will continue to coordinate direct and facilitate the provision of basic services, Government will continue to support the empowerment of organizations, targeting women, youth and local communities and also ensuring their participation in agricultural modernization. NGOs, CBOs and the poor will be involved in the process of planning, implementing, financing and delivery of services especially at local levels of Government. Public sector resources will be used in building the capacity of the civil society, facilitating their participation in public sector activities and in contracting them in the delivery of public sector services. The civil society organisation will also be expected to integrate and harmonies their programmes with those of other players especially at local government level. This will allow for ease in monitoring the impact of their activities especially when they use public sector resources. Plan for Modernization of Agriculture, 2000, pg43. However, in order for civil society organisation to take up its rightful place in the PMA implementation process, they will need specific skills and capacities in policy analysis, policy advocacy and lobbying. These skills are essential especially in undertaking independent monitoring, influencing policy and promoting accountability. In addition to disseminating information generated under a series of policy advocacy skills workshops, the policy brief is an attempt to highlight key issues in the area of policy advocacy that are important in the context of the PMA. Civil society and the PMA The Plan for Modernization of Agriculture is targeted at addressing the needs of farmers at different levels. How then does civil society come into the picture? What is the Government s perceived role of civil society in translating the objectives of the PMA into tangible activities at different levels? And what are the actual roles of civil society organizations in the entire process of agriculture modernization in spite of those perceptions? Civil society is one of the key actors in Uganda s agriculture sector. The PMA takes a broad definition of civil society and for its purposes, civil society includes NGOs, CBOs, academic institutions, individuals, unions, professional bodies, and associations that are involved in the promotion of effective and sustainable delivery of agricultural related services. Within the PMA context, civil society is envisaged to play a major role especially in the area of service delivery. Indeed, the PMA notes that Government recognizes the importance of national partnerships with NGOs and CBOs in the delivery of basic services. However, it ought to be noted that services delivery is only a small segment of what civil society does. In particular, organized civil society such as NGOs, CBOs and others have key roles to play in fostering the key principles of the PMA. This policy brief highlights the roles of civil society in monitoring PMA implementation, fostering public participation and creating conditions for accountability at all levels. 1

4 PMA Project Briefing Paper No.1 Building Civil Society Policy Advocacy Capacity The ACODE/VEDCO/EA PMA Project In January 2002, the Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE), Environmental Alert (EA) and Voluntary Efforts for Development Concerns (VEDCO) formed a partnership under a project aimed at enhancing the role of civil society in the implementation of the PMA. The Project Implementing the PMA Through Field Lesson and Experiences draws on the lessons of civil society organizations working with farmers and use those lessons to influence policy reforms within the context of the PMA. The Project which is supported by DFIDEA Uganda selected four key areas of intervention. These are: Butamira Preasure Group Members meeting with the Natural Resoures committee Photo: NewVision The process to formulate a national food security and nutrition policy; Developing best practices for farmer group formation and mobilization; Demonstrating the linkages between PMA, Poverty Eradication Action Plan and environment policies; Monitoring PMA/NAADS funds and influencing the existing funding modalities. In March 2002, the three partner organizations organized a national workshop for policy focused civil society organizations. The objective of the workshop was to initiate a process of capacity building in policy advocacy and analysis in relation to the implementation of the PMA. In this policy brief, we have synthesized the key issues that were considered at the workshop. The brief has also benefited from a series of policy advocacy skills training workshops organized under the British Council-DFID In Country Training Programme and facilitated by ACODE. The CSO PMA Advocacy Skills Workshop The workshop was conducted using participatory methods, which involved the plenary and random group discussions; where, the working groups reported back to the plenary. The plenary discussed the findings and recommendations from groups hence facilitating interactive learning. Box 2: Why the Workshop The Partner Organizations organized the workshop mainly to: Improve the understanding of the status of Civil Society s initiatives on the PMA- the need to know what each organization was doing about implementing the PMA. Increase knowledge and skills for lobbying and advocacy initiatives for policy making. This is because CSOs are the people who work closely with the local communities: hence the need for CSOs to stand up and advocate for the needs of the poor with whom they work. Group discussion at the workshop Improve CSO skills to build effective advocacy and lobbying action plans to influence the implementation of the PMA. 2

5 Building Civil Society Policy Advocay Capacity PMA Project Briefing Paper No.1 The goal of the workshop was to equip CSOs with skills needed to effectively participate in influencing participatory decision-making in the implementation of the PMA with the broad aim of empowering the local communities to benefit from the outcomes of a transformed agricultural sector. Policy Advocacy: What and Why? Trainees in policy advocacy workshops often ask what is policy advocacy? Yet, there seem to be no consensus or there are considerable variations on the definition of the term. In the dictionary, advocacy is defined as to plead in favour of, or in support of. Generally defined policy implies an intended set of actions. But policy advocacy in our context is more restricted to public policy expressions of what Governments intend to do or not to do to address a specific public policy problem. Consequently, in the context of that policy being used among civil society organizations, it suggests advocacy within the public sector aimed at promoting positive social change. Quite often, CSO policy advocacy is premised on the emotional reaction to the disparities which exist in the power relationships throughout society, and thus seeking to reduce the inequities of those relationships. Box 3: In typical CSO PMA advocacy workshops, the participants want to: enhance their advocacy and lobbying skills on the PMA related issues. strengthen Civil Society links and focus on issues related to the implementation of the PMA so as to create synergy in formulating and addressing best practices in the implementation of the PMA. develop and practice lobbying and advocacy skills that enhances effective representation for the poor and improves the role of Civil Society Organisations in influencing policy and decision makers in addressing the concerns of civil society in the implementation of the PMA. understand and analyze critical issues of the PMA while enhancing their understanding of the concept of the agriculture modernization; and develop skills in designing advocacy action plans for selected issues on PMA. Why is policy advocacy necessary? Sometimes, it is better to justify the need for policy advocacy by citing examples of some of the best development plans for grassroots development being undermined by existing policies or lack of appropriate policies. In Uganda, some examples may include the cost sharing policy in hospitals which ended up impacting more negatively on the poor; the failure of clarity on revenue sharing policy for revenues coming from national parks; or the decentralization and re-centralization of forest reserves. In such cases, the role of policy advocacy is to set up a counter dialogue or promote policy dialogue to demonstrate to policy makers where policy change is required. Practice now shows that policy advocacy can fill institutional and geographical space while bridging language and other communication barriers between policy makers and those unable to articulate their concerns and policy makers. Through the UPPAP for examples, policy makers are able to listen to the livelihoods concerns of the poor. Through advocacy, a community of tree farmers in Butamira Forest Reserve was able to bring their case up to Parliament. A consultative meeting Photo: NewVision 3

6 PMA Project Briefing Paper No.1 Building Civil Society Policy Advocacy Capacity For policy focused NGOs, the practice of policy advocacy also brings with it the indirect benefits by building the capacity and confidence of their staff enabling them to be effective players in the civil society. On the other hand, society also benefits by developing a better understanding of critical policy issues and by having the democratic process reinforced through the practice of policy advocacy. The Role of CSOs in PMA Implementation: Civil Society Organisations have a critical role in influencing policy makers on behalf of the poor. They must engage policy makers to take action on the needs of the poor regarding specific issues through mutual agreement and/or negotiation to reach a compromise position which best serves the perceived needs. There will therefore be positions of agreement, disagreement or compromise. Box 4: POWER: Participants were taken through the four types of power: 1. Power over - The power that one has to dominate or control others/the ultimate of strongest power. Examples were given by participants to demonstrate this type of power of people who have power over include: The President of a country, The Executive Director/manager has power over subordinate staff. Commander-in-chief has power to dominate the army. Donors have power over the funding policies. Husbands/wives have power over families. Members of Parliament have power over enacting laws. Speaker of Parliament over the business in Parliament, Committee Chairpersons over the business of the Committee, Traditional leaders over their tribal subjects, etc. 2. Power to The power, which enables an individual to control/manage a situation to one s benefit. Here, one either can or cannot: the power that enhances the abilities of an individual. 3. Power within This involves the strength arising out of self-acceptance and self respect: The resolve within this does not only depend on what we are able to do but what we are resolved to do, for example, our action of coming to this workshop shows the resolve that we have to change the policies of this country. 4. Power with This is collective power of a group to tackle problems, which an individual cannot do alone. For example, the idea of forming coalitions/teaming up with others in organizations. To this effect, CSOs need to be specific on what the actual needs are. While the policy makers have the power to change things, Civil Society have the responsibility to convince them on the perceived issues. In order to undertake effective advocacy, CSOs should understand the different forms and locus of power. The different forms of power are shown in Box 4 with accompanying examples as proposed by the participants. Successful lobbying and advocacy are achieved through identifying the power bases, and utilizing them enables the CSOs to achieve their desired goals as formulated from time to time. Participants Understanding of Advocacy: In the earlier sections, we attempted a definition of advocacy. But that definition is made complex by the growing usage of the term by Government. The question then arises as to whether Government and civil society organizations use the term to mean the same thing? During the workshop, participants were introduced to the term of advocacy and asked to provide their understanding of its meaning. The difficulty of understanding the meaning of the term advocacy can be seen from the varied definitions provided by the three 4

7 Building Civil Society Policy Advocay Capacity PMA Project Briefing Paper No.1 Question Group 1 Group 2 group 3 What is advocacy? When is advocacy applied? Who undertakes advocacy? What is advocacy? It is an act or process taken to cause change in favour of the interests of ones constituency, eg; The people affected by the issues o o When a given environment is not conducive. When there is a need to advocate for policy change (removal, initiation, implementation). The affected people eg farmers; Those who speak on behalf of the affected eg. NGOs & CBOs; The legislators eg. MPs & Councilors; Government ministers and technical officers. Representation, Speaking for the voiceless Bargaining Defending Acting on behalf of others Campaigning for. o When there is marginalization / lack of information or awareness such as highlighting the matters related to persons with disability, women, children and other marginalized groups. o In cases where there is low capacity to bargain. o When the rights of individuals and/or groups are usurped/ violated and may need an advocate. o When there are unattended Community needs etc. Civil Society Organizations because they work closer to the people. Civic leaders, Opinion, traditional, religious and other leaders as well as community workers vested with the responsibility of promoting participatory development. However, the main players are the CSOs because they are closest to where the need is. Advocacy is a process of articulating a position on a particular cause. It involves engaging relevant power centers and influencing the policy makers to take that position or abandon a particular position. When there is a difference (disparity/ inconsistency in positions over a particular policy i.e. when there is a gap to be filled. Interest groups when they are affected by a particular policy or they want a particular issues addressed. The Media They have got the ability to reach a wide audience. More so and in most cases, advocacy issues make good news. Donors are willing to fund advocacy programs because they aim at addressing the needs of the needy. They fund specific programmes which meet their objectives and which activities target at changing policies and plans or programs, which help to bridge the gaps of injustice, inequality, insensitivity and marginalisation. Linking with International Advocacy groups, such as, the Human Rights, Africa Watch, etc. gives the advocacy an enlarged profile into the international arena, thus profile attraction for support both in resources and perception. groups during the workshop. The groups were asked to answer selected questions as shown in Table 1. Obstacles to policy advocacy and lobbying Obstacles to effective policy advocacy vary from campaign to campaign. However, from experience, one can draw general conclusions of key limitations to NGOs and practitioners engaged in policy advocacy. Policy advocacy NGOs often complain of: lack of democratic space; questions about the legitimacy of NGOs to advocate for the poor; lack of relevant policy advocacy information; limited access to policy makers; lack of appropriate advocacy skills and having a good understanding of the politics of the policy making process. Developing an Advocacy Plan: Box 5: Generic Policy advocacy goals Although, many policy advocacy campaigns have very specific goals, there are generic goals that resonate throughout all these campaigns. These can be best set out at different levels. Quite often, policy advocacy planning suffers from the confusion of the terms used. Practitioners often confuse the ters goal and objective. Although the terms are not particularly important in themselves, they are important in as far as they enable us to 5

8 PMA Project Briefing Paper No.1 Building Civil Society Policy Advocacy Capacity Policy level: Many of the advocacy campaigns at this level aim at achieving favorable policies, legislative and administrative changes or what ever shift in policy that is being sought; Civil society: Strengthening civil society organizations and its other sections in their capacity to keep government accountable and responding to community needs; Community level: Ensuring that policy implementation does not impact negatively on the poor and other disadvantaged groups; understand what a policy advocacy strategy is intended to achieve. The strategy ought to set out what is intended to be achieved in the long-term (goal) and what short-term steps (objectives) will be pursued in order to achieve the long term goal. Distinguishing between goal and objective provides us with the basis upon which to evaluate progress and success of our advocacy campaign. All levels: Expanding democratic space in which civil society organizations function, increasing their political legitimacy and improving attitudes of government officials and other actors. It is not only setting out the goal and objective that are important for a successful policy advocacy plan. In order for your advocacy strategy to be effective, one ought to always think through the following critical aspects: Objective Goal Activity Financial and other resources Timeframe Issue Target Implementation strategy Evaluation Power with. A community consultative meeting with ACODE and UWS researchers Box 6: The SMART Magic Criteria S- Specific M-Measurable A- Achievable R- Realistic T- Time-bound In each aspect, one should always go through the Advocacy building blocks: People must always evaluate themselves at each stage in order to ensure that there is relevance and progress towards the desired goal. The objective must always conform to the SMART magic criteria: In the case of implementation of the Plan for Modernization of Agriculture, there is need to be focused on lobbying and advocating for issues which best serve the peasant farmer groups. After developing the objective, research must be carried out and different policy options for addressing the problem analyzed. Policy options are analyzed for the efficacy, cost effectiveness and possible impacts. In this case, CSOs should collect as much empirical data as possible to back up their policy proposals. Compared to policy makers, CSOs have exceptional capacity in researching the needs of the communities because their work is closer to these communities. This ability is enhanced through: 6

9 Building Civil Society Policy Advocay Capacity PMA Project Briefing Paper No.1 Box 7: A Policy Advocacy Message Should Create awareness of the problems in issues; Focus attention on the policy problem; Generate support for the advocacy campaign; Organize and motivate more people to act; Motivate policy makers to act; Convey the message to the policy makers in specific terms; Include usable materials such as fact sheets, case studies, etc. Sharing of information and lessons learned between organizations. Employing and or/contracting technical expertise to realize refined policy proposals. Identifying targets (both primary and secondary). Analyzing the power centers, which ought to be targeted in order to realize optimum gains. In the majority of cases, using a coalition (power with) is better than working as individual organizations. It is therefore important to build a coalition and sustain it through out the advocacy campaign. Ensure regular information exchange, building consensus, regular meetings as well as commitment. Effective advocacy depends on the quality of the message and the art of presentation. The message should be owned by all members of the coalition to enable them speak one voice. The message should be packaged to suit your audience. You should consider the words, the message, the presenter as well as where and how to make the presentation. Ensure that the message conforms to the magical KISS format: [K-eep I-t S-imple and S-weet] FUNDRAISING: Everyone in the coalition must be willing to contribute and in this case, there is need to develop the tools for an effective advocacy programme. Box 8: Key Points to Consider in Advocacy In advocacy, we should always be able to face those with power over like the president to influence advocacy. The idea of legal opinion in research is important whether from a consultancy firm or a sister organization in order to enrich one s advocacy campaign. Advocacy needs a lot of Determination. The slogan is Do not give up. Advocacy and lobbying is a friendly battle between the two forces: allies and opponents. A coalition is very important in Advocacy to use a win-over strategy: identify the allies and opponents and build on them to develop the advocacy programme. An advocacy issue can be at any level; policy, programme, project, etc and it should be measured according to how appropriate it is, realistic and beneficial to the poor. At any level, if there is any thing lacking or does not conform to the perceived expectations; the plan has to be revised from time to time, if need be, so that it does not affect the implementation cycle. Advocacy must always confirm to the policy framework because outside the framework, and unless it is intended to influence the framework, it becomes irrelevant. In the targets, one must be able to identify the decision makers and influencers. Advocacy is action oriented. Choosing an Advocacy objective is being clear about: What you want to change Who will make the change By how much By when The targets must be specific. A list with names of all those who are the target of influence must be made at the beginning. This could for example include individuals and groups at various levels such as: The local Government Central government Civil society Diplomats Donors etc EVALUATION: This is the last stage in Advocacy because it is important to keep checking how the advocacy objective is fairing so that one can know the next step. Evaluation should lead to re examination and developing new strategies if negative trends are realized at any stage. Members of Butamira Preasure Group meeting on the fate of their forest. Photo: NewVision 7

10 PMA Project Briefing Paper No.1 Building Civil Society Policy Advocacy Capacity Lobbying and Advocacy: Are they the same? When you facilitate a workshop on advocacy and lobbying, it is not unusual to be asked the difference between these two commonly used terms. Is advocacy the same as lobbying? The answer to this question is often as vague as the thin line of distinction between the two terms. Existing opinions on lobbying and advocacy suggests that these are two routes of getting to the same destination. Lobbying may be described as the process of influencing policy through direct contact with the policy makers sometimes referred to as the inside game. Hence, CSOs will organize breakfast dialogues with legislators and policy makers; participate in high-level policy committees; participate in joint monitoring programmes; and prepare background policy documents for policy makers. On the other hand, advocacy may be described as the outside game of influencing policy change. In this context, policy advocacy CSOs mobilize the grassroots, the donors or the constituents of policy makers in support of a particular cause. Policy Advocacy Issues under the PMA and NAADS Through the workshops organized under the ACODE/EA/VEDCO Project and a series of workshops facilitated by ACODE under the In- Country Training Programme of DFID and the British Council, several specific advocacy issues have been identified. Some of these need national advocacy plans while others need to target local level policy processes and implementation. Without attempting to present a detailed catalogue of these proposals, we can highlight a few of them to promote further debate within the context of the PMA and the NAADS. Box 9: When Undertaking Lobbying, Ensure at least the Following: Promoting and highlighting the issue (investigate and get to know and research all that is essential to be highlighted and keep a record. Moving to get others/organizations with similar objectives convinced and committed to the issue. Identify those who support or oppose you. Lay strategies through which you will attempt to achieve the objective. Keep to the plan of implementation with zeal. If you meet any hostility, it is only normal. Do not give up. Remember to allocate adequate resources for the plan. Tactics are very crucial in lobbying as they help to advance your cause and explain it. A good lobbyist catches the best opportunity -wherever you may be e.g. in letters, in person, or in meetings. Always be as sharp as your need: If you write a letter, follow it up with a phone call, if no reply, try a reminder. If you are telephoning, be specific, to the point and be polite. If you are lobbying in person, the relationship matters. Decide the appropriate manageable numbers. Decide for the meeting to be either formal or informal and go right to the point. Use the most influential and agreeable person to add credibility to your cause. Prepare and build your network. Track progress and ensure follow up e.g. CSOs have triggered off openness in the parliament of the republic of Uganda. Representation: A contentious issues that continues surfacing is about civil society representation on the various structures of the PMA and the NAADS. During the PMA design process, a number of civil society organizations were selected to represent civil society in the various structures of the PMA including the PMA Steering Committee. CSO representatives attending CSO training workshops under the Project often question the legitimacy of the process in which this representation was determined and the abcence of a proper feed back mechanism to the CSO constituency. 8

11 Building Civil Society Policy Advocay Capacity PMA Project Briefing Paper No.1 Through follow up consultations by the Project on this matter, the PMA agreed to address the issue of representation by supporting a workshop at which a review of the current representation structures will be conducted. Agro-Processing and Marketing: Participants in several of the workshops so far conducted express dissatisfaction about the operations of the PMA Sub-Committee on Agro-Processing and Marketing. This Committee is perceived to be making very little progress compared to the other components of the PMA; National Food Security Policy: While there are efforts going on to formulate a national food security and nutrition policy, the process has no clear time-table and the principle of the market as enshrined in the PMA is not based on proper empirical scientific information. Monitoring of PMA and NAADS Funding: CSOs are keen to ensure that funds set aside for PMA activities at the local level are properly targeted to address poverty eradication. Implications of PMA and NAADS on Natural Resources Management: Both the PMA and the NAADS recognize the central role that natural resources play in poverty eradication. However, CSOs are keen to contribute to defining strategies and policies that ensure win-win options for PMA and environment. Conclusion This policy brief has highlighted key elements of policy advocacy and lobbying in the context of the PMA and NAADS. The policy brief derives from a workshop for civil society organizations organized under the auspices of the ACODE/EA/VEDCO Project on Implementing the PMA Through Field Lessons and Experiences of Civil Society Organizations. The policy brief has also benefited from experiences gained by ACODE staff in facilitating CSO policy advocacy training workshops under the British Council In- Country Training Programme. We hope that the policy brief will act as useful material for civil society organizations especially at the local level as they try to understand the intricacies and art of policy advocacy and lobbying. 9

12 PMA Project Briefing Paper No.1 Building Civil Society Policy Advocacy Capacity