CRITICAL WEBS OF POWER AND CHANGE - Participatory Methods€¦ · Adhikari, Gyan Bahadur, Jagat...

CRITICAL WEBSOF POWER

AND CHANGERESOURCE PACK FOR PLANNING, REFLECTION

AND LEARNING IN PEOPLE-CENTRED ADVOCACY

SUMMARY BOOKLET AND CD ROM

JENNIFER CHAPMANALMIR PEREIRA JUNIOR

SARAH OKWAARELAYA PRASAD UPRETY

VINCENT AZUMAHVALERIE MILLER

EDITED BY

JENNIFER CHAPMAN ANTONELLA MANCINI

NOVEMBER 2005

1

Critical webs of power and change

SUMMARY BOOKLET AND CD ROM

AUTHORSJennifer Chapman, Almir Pereira Junior, Laya PrasadUprety, Sarah Okwaare, Vincent Azumah, Valerie Miller

SUMMARY BOOKLET EDITED BYJennifer Chapman and Antonella Mancini

MAIN RESOURCE PACK EDITED BYJennifer Chapman, Almir Pereira Junior and Valerie Miller

BASED ON THE ACTION RESEARCH,LEARNINGS AND DISCUSSIONS OF:ActionAid International

Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP), Ghana

Centre for Sustainable DevelopmentInitiatives (CENSUDI), Ghana

Community Self-Reliance Centre (CSRC), Nepal

Dalit NGO Federation (DNF), Nepal

Saraswoti Community DevelopmentForum (SCDF), Nepal

Uganda Land Alliance (ULA)

Union of Heliópolis’ Residents’ Associations and Centres (UNAS), Brazil

THIS PUBLICATION HAS BEEN MADE POSSIBLE THROUGH THE COLLABORATIVE WORK OF A NUMBER OF PEOPLE AND ORGANISATIONS.

BRAZILThe members of UNAS (Union of Heliópolis’ Residents’Associations and Centres)

GHANAElizabeth Adu Bofuor, Margaret Mary Issaka, FlorenceManamzor, ActionAid International Ghana, EducationCoordinator and Regional Programme Team

NEPALAdhikari, Gyan Bahadur, Jagat Basnet, Som PrasadBhabdari, Chakra Biswakarma, Durga Biswokarma,Ganesh Biswokarma, Hira Biswokarma, Tirtha Burma,Dilip Kumar Chaudhary, Sonalal Chaudhary, JagatDeuja, Ambika Gajmer, Yamuna Ghale, Ganesh B.K,Ishwori Karki, Sujeeta Mathema, Yukti Marik, Sam Nepal,Suklal Nepali, Gita Pandit, Manesh Gopal Pradhan, IndraRai, Bal Dev Ram, Bikas Ranapailee, Dr ShibeshChandra Regmi, D B Sagar, Madusudhan Sapkota,Shambu Sapkota, Him Prasad Sedain, Tej Sunar andKhem Upadhyaya

UGANDAThe Benet leadership, mainly Moses Mwanga, Kiptala Moses, Cheptegei William and Sunguka Steven;the Paralegals of Kapchorwa District; the Land RightsDesk Officer in Kapchorwa David Mukwana; the Uganda Land Alliance secretariat with a special mention for Rita Aciro Lakor

CRITICAL WEBS OF POWER AND CHANGE

RESOURCE PACK FOR PLANNING, REFLECTION AND LEARNING IN PEOPLE-CENTRED ADVOCACY

2

www.actionaid.org

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FROMRos David, Renee Kantelburg, Antonella Mancini, Lucy Southwold, Louise Sunderland, Koy Thomson and Laurie Adams

DESIGN AND ARTWORK - SUMMARY BOOKLETCover and layout design by Jo Farmer

Cartoons by Julie Smith

Additional artwork by Dennis Dracup

DESIGN AND ARTWORK - MAIN RESOURCE PACK (ON CD ROM)Cover and layout design by Ranch

Layout and additional editing by Louise Sunderland

Cartoons by Julie Smith

Additional artwork by Dennis Dracup

CD Rom design and input by Hannah Beardon

ACTION RESEARCH FUNDED AND SUPPORTED BYActionAid International

Comic Relief

Just Associates

UK Department for International Development (DFID)

The Department for International Development havepart-funded this project. However, the views expressedin this resource pack do not necessarily reflect DFID'sofficial policies.

MANY THANKS ALSO TO ALL THOSE PEOPLE, TOO MANYTO NAME INDIVIDUALLY, INVOLVED IN THE PRODUCTION OF ALL THE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO INCLUDE IN THE ACCOMPANYING CD ROM. THEIR CONTRIBUTION GOES A LONG WAY TOWARDSMAKING THIS A COMPREHENSIVE AND RICH RESOURCE.

3


INTRODUCTION 4

WHAT THIS BOOKLET IS 6

KEY CONCEPTS 8• Social change 8

• Power 13

• Rights-based approaches 20

• Women’s rights and gender equity 24

• Empowerment 30

IDEAS FOR PLANNING, REFLECTION AND LEARNING 36• Introduction 37

• Planning 38

• Monitoring 48

• Review and reflection for learning and re-planning 56

ESSENTIAL BUILDING BLOCKS 63• Critical thinking 63

• Participation 65

• Facilitation 68

• Questioning and listening 69

• Democratisation of information 72

• Sharing and accountability 74

APPENDICES 78• Guide to CD Rom 78

• Glossary 87

• Selected bibliography 89

CONTENTS OFSUMMARY BOOKLET

4

www.actionaid.org

This booklet is intended for development practitioners,activist organisations and their supporters. It pullstogether practical ideas and experiences fromorganisations involved in social justice and advocacywork in four countries, as well as building on theexperiences and struggles of other groups around the world.

Between 2002 and 2005 ActionAid International, aninternational non-governmental organisation (INGO)working in more than 42 countries, supported actionresearch by community groups, coalitions, NGOS andsocial movements from Brazil, Ghana, Nepal andUganda. Issues ranged from land rights, women’srights, housing rights and, in Nepal, Dalit rights1.

Our research was initially aimed at developing betterways to monitor and assess the impact of people-centred advocacy. But as it progressed we began to realise that in order to do this effectively we couldnot look at monitoring and impact assessment2 inisolation from planning. And to carry out planning foradvocacy effectively we needed to develop betterunderstanding of how change and advocacy happen in different places and circumstances. We also neededto focus on how planning, monitoring, and learningprocesses can better support advancing the rights and leadership of the poor and marginalised andtransforming power relations.

During the course of the research we explored theapplication of various tools, frameworks and methodsfor people-centred advocacy with our partners. Some ofthese were adapted and refined, some were rejectedand new ones developed. More often than not our workhas challenged us to ask further questions. Overall, wefound that:

• people frequently do advocacy without payingenough attention to how power operates, howchange happens and how it is sustained

• too often advocacy strategies and resources focusalmost exclusively on developing solid policyanalyses and arguments as a way to influencegovernments and international bodies. Theassumption that information is the principal way topromote change goes largely unexplored. Policy-driven advocacy work tends to ignore the voice and role of the marginalised and excluded.

Action research is a process thatcombines learning and action toproduce more effective change.When focused on empowerment,it helps people set their own

agenda and learn from their experiencesso they can take those lessons andimprove their work and lives. It assistspeople in investigating and studying theiractions, reflecting on them anddeveloping ways to increase theireffectiveness and impact. As a result, itpromotes deeper understanding andlearning, and greater commitment to thechanges being pursued.

*

1Dalit is the name given to a group of people who over the centuries have been labelled as unclean and untouchable and thus have been marginalised from making decisions in society or exercising their rights

2Impact assessment is a broad understanding of change, and can be done throughout the lifecycle of an intervention and the different effects of these changes on people’s lives. After completion, an assessment of impact looks at the lasting effects an intervention has had

INTRODUCTION

5


• it is very hard to carry out meaningful monitoring,evaluation and learning processes without good initial planning – indeed, in many instances impactassessment and learning tends to be seen inisolation from planning

• too much emphasis is put on what method,framework or tool is used and not enough on theprocess: who is involved, whether they are reallythinking, questioning, learning and using the learning.

This booklet is primarily aimed at those working onpeople-centred advocacy themselves. However, whilewe worked with local organisations on local issues andnot international or northern campaigns, we feel thereare many insights arising from our collaboration that arealso very pertinent to:

• those involved in campaigning internationally or in the north

• those accompanying or supporting localorganisations in their struggles

• those working on development education to build a worldwide movement for social change.

Our work has shown a real need to change the focusand purpose of traditional planning, monitoring andevaluation systems if we really want to support people-centred advocacy. We need to develop planning,assessment and learning processes not as technical

responses but as genuine empowerment processesthat strengthen individual and organisationalknowledge, hope and creativity, so that impoverishedand marginalised people can take their rightful place indecision-making and efforts to bring change.

But if we really do this it has profound implications forINGOs, particularly when working with partners:

• It means we have to start seeing reporting andaccountability processes as developmentinterventions and therefore political acts in supportof the rights and empowerment of people living inpoverty and facing injustices. They need to benegotiated with more care and attention paid torelationships and power differentials.

• The development of planning, assessment andlearning systems has to go at the pace that works forthe organisation concerned, not a pace that suits theINGO. This means more investment in staff time andcapacity, and a lighter hand regarding frameworks,methods and tools.

• We need to pay more attention to the interpersonaland critical analysis skills of those involved in impactassessment and their understanding of how powerand change operate, and put less emphasis ontechnical knowledge of particular methods.

• We need to give a lot more attention to who isinvolved, who assesses, who learns, whose opinioncounts and who has access to information.

IF WE WANT THE DARKNESS TO FLOWER, IF WE WANT TO ESTABLISH LANDSOF DIGNITY AND INTEGRITY,…LANDS WHERE PEOPLE CAN LIVE IN LIGHT AND

JUSTICE, THEN OUR GUIDING STARS MUST BE STRUGGLE AND HOPE

PABLO NERUDA, CHILEAN POET, 1904-1973NOBEL PRIZE ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

6

www.actionaid.org

Introduction to the key conceptsunderpinning a people-centred advocacy approachThis gives a brief overview of some of the conceptsthat we found to be critical to our work:

• social change

• power

• rights-based approaches

• gender and women’s rights

• empowerment

Ideas for planning, reflection and learningThis gives some practical ideas, examples, methods,frameworks and tools to support planning, monitoring,review and reflection processes.

Essential building blocks in a planning,reflection and learning processThis provides a brief overview of some of the buildingblocks that we believe are integral to people-centredadvocacy planning, reflection and learning processes:

• critical thinking

• participation

• facilitation

• questioning and listening

• democratisation of information

• sharing and accountability

Additional resourcesThroughout the booklet we point you to additionalresource materials that can be found on theaccompanying CD Rom that contains:

• Critical Webs of Power and Change – A resource pack for planning, reflection andlearning in people-centred advocacy (hereaftercalled main resource pack.) This main resource packdraws from the action research and providesadditional reading material on concepts, processes,tools and methods. It also provides case studymaterial and ideas for workshops and reflectionexercises.

• Working papers – these longer papers look atparticular topics or cases arising from the actionresearch.

• Other useful resources – a selection of otherresource materials produced and developed byActionAid International on learning, rights-basedapproaches and people-centred advocacy.

A detailed guide to the CD Rom can be found at theback of this booklet in the appendices.

We have tried to synthesise our lessons about advocacy and learning which we share inthis booklet. The booklet covers the overall concepts and processes for planning,monitoring and assessing the impact of people-centred advocacy work. Each section linksthe concepts and ideas closely to case study material and the approaches and tools thatwere developed and used during the research.

WHAT THIS BOOKLET IS

7


THIS RESOURCE PACK IS NOT A MANUAL OR A TOOL KIT.THE INSIGHTS, EXPERIENCES AND IDEAS WE PRESENT INTHIS BOOKLET AND THE RESOURCES ON THE CD ROMARE NOT INTENDED TO GIVE THE READERPRESCRIPTIONS OR SPECIFIC ANSWERS. INDEED SOMEOF THE IDEAS AND APPROACHES WILL ALREADY BEWELL KNOWN TO YOU. NEITHER DOES THE RESOURCEPACK CLAIM TO BE COMPREHENSIVE OR EXHAUSTIVE.BUT RATHER WE HOPE TO STIMULATE YOUR THINKING

AND IDEAS ON HOW THE CONCEPTS, PROCESSES,METHODS AND TOOLS DESCRIBED HERE MIGHT BECHALLENGED OR ADAPTED SO THEY CAN BE TURNEDINTO SOMETHING USEFUL FOR YOUR OWN WORK.

WE HOPE THAT YOU ENJOY THESE MATERIALS AND THEY CONTRIBUTE SOMETHING TO YOUR OWN PROCESS FOR FIGHTING FOR GREATER JUSTICE ANDEQUITY IN THE WORLD.

HEALTH WARNING IDEAS ONLY, INNOVATE AND LEARN!

For additional reading and resources on CD Rom see:

Main resource pack: Why and how we developed this resource packIntroduction to resource pack

Working Paper 1: Summary of Learning

8

www.actionaid.org

INTRODUCTIONBefore we start to look at the details of how to carry outplanning, reflection and learning in people-centredadvocacy, it is helpful to begin by examining some keyconcepts. This can support us in thinking about ourwork in ways that help us to understand it more deeplyand develop new and creative ways to approach it.

SOCIAL CHANGEAdvocacy is often undertaken without realunderstanding or critical analysis of how change occurs in a specific context – and in particular whatkind of changes promote justice and how thosechanges can be sustained. Social change is of coursehappening everywhere constantly, driven by a wholevariety of positive and negative forces. To ensure thatas activists and development workers we chooseeffective strategies that take these dynamics intoaccount it is important for us to be clear and realisticabout how we believe social transformation can happen and be sustained over time.

The combined experience of activists from many placesover many years shows us that policy change on itsown is never enough. Change to make society morejust and equitable will only be viable in the long term ifit alters the balance of power in our societies andtransforms inequitable access to rights and resources.

Dimensions of social changeThe following framework tries to synthesise differentareas of change that we have found necessary forlong-term sustainable social transformation aimed atensuring the rights of the impoverished andmarginalised. As with many frameworks, it attempts tosynthesise complex processes and relationships andthus is never quite complete. We present it in the hopethat it will be useful in stimulating your own discussionson the dynamics and key factors shaping change.

At the core of the framework are positive shifts in the empowerment of people as agents of social change, able to undertake collective action (as shown in the starburst). The engagement ofmarginalised groups in public debate and decision-making allows them to participate fully in the strugglefor rights, it helps challenge the historic domination by a few and reinforce the concept that all people, inparticular the excluded and women, are citizens withrights and responsibilities. Strengthening their collectiveaction, critical consciousness and leadership shouldalways be a crucial strategy within people-centredadvocacy, but will rarely be the only strategy.

KEY CONCEPTS

9


SOCIAL CHANGEFRAMEWORK

IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO DREAM.IT IS NECESSARY TO KNOW HOW TO BUILD DREAMS.

PAULO FREIRE, BRAZILIAN EDUCATOR AND RADICAL 1927–1997

SSHHIIFFTTSS II

NN TTHHEE

EEMMPPOOWWEERRMM

EENNTT OOFF

PPEEOOPPLLEE AA

SS AAGGEENNTTSS

OOFF SSOOCCIIAA

LL CCHHAANNGGEE

SSOOCCIIAALL CCHHAANNGGEE

SSHHOORRTT--TTEERRMM SSHHIIFFTTSS

LLOONNGG--TTEERRMM SSHHIIFFTTSS

SSHHIIFFTTSS IINN SSOOCCIIEETTAALL AARREENNAASS•• OOFFFFIICCIIAALL PPUUBBLLIICC GGOOVVEERRNNAANNCCEE•• ‘‘PPAARRAALLLLEELL’’ GGOOVVEERRNNAANNCCEE•• MMAARRKKEETT •• CCIIVVIILL SSOOCCIIEETTYY•• CCUULLTTUURREE AANNDD SSOOCCIIAALLIISSAATTIIOONN•• SSEELLFF AANNDD SSOOCCIIAALL IIDDEENNTTIITTYY

SSHHIIFFTTSS IINN

•• PPOOWWEERR DDYYNNAAMMIICCSS

•• RRIIGGHHTTSS

•• RREESSOOUURRCCEESS

•• IIDDEEOOLLOOGGIIEESS

10

www.actionaid.org

We also need shifts and transformation in varioussocietal arenas including3:

• Official public governance: changes in unjustlaws and policies and in public institutionsresponsible for implementing those changes (in theirstructures, practices, and staff values and attitudes).

• Parallel governance: changes in the ‘parallel’ andunofficial structures of power and decision-makingwhich affect people’s lives, for example, drug gangsin Brazilian shantytowns or the councils of elders insome African communities.

• Market: changes in the capitalist market system tocounter the way it works to concentrate wealth, powerand resources, and undermine the environment.Advances in worker rights and the accountability ofcorporations.

• Civil society: changes in the organisations of thepoor and excluded, and organisations that supportthem - in their strength, their leadership, their ability to collaborate with others and in members’ capacitiesand attitudes.

• Culture and socialisation: changes in processesof socialisation and overall societal values and beliefsthat support and reproduce inequality anddiscrimination. This will include changes in attitudestowards women’s rights and position in society and inthe household.

• Self and social identity: changes in people’s lives– eg their ability to earn a fair living, get an education,make decisions about their own lives, and their senseof individual and collective self-worth and rights andresponsibilities.

These arenas are interconnected and self-reinforcing,so we may need to adopt strategies to promote changein several at the same time. Even if we choose to act inone arena alone we still need to understand how theothers affect the power dynamics in our struggle.

We also the need shifts in power dynamics, access torights, resources, and in ideologies:

Shifts in power dynamics to break the structuresof dominance and impoverishment, in all the wayspower operates: shaping norms, values andconsciousness; shaping the political agenda;determining whose voice is heard; and framingformal decision-making and implementation ofpublic policies (see section on power page 13).Power dynamics between men and women are an important element of this.

Shifts in rights and resources to guaranteequality of life and political participation of the poorand excluded, in particular women.

Shifts in the ideologies that reinforce inequities,changes that challenge belief systems such aspatriarchy and neo-liberalism and develop alternativeworld views.

Often people-centred advocacy requires focus on a complex mix of all these dimensions – promotingchanges across the many factors and arenas necessaryfor social transformation.

The major changes we want to achieve in our work willundoubtedly take a long time. They build on smallerchanges that occur as we take action. Our frameworkillustrates this political process in which long-term shiftsand short-term shifts are interconnected:

• The long-term shifts correspond to our vision thatanother world is possible, where the root dynamics ofsocial injustice no longer block the fulfilment ofpeople’s rights.

• Short-term changes can be seen as the strategicsteps that open doors and create bridges for thelong-term achievement of our aims. While they mayseem insignificant, these small shifts need to berecognised and celebrated as important milestones.

At times success will be seen in terms of defendingexisting rights or stopping an unjust project ordevelopment.

3 This builds on the work of Valerie Miller and Lisa VeneKlasen A New Weave of Power www.justassociates.org/ActionGuide.htm

11


MANY ADVOCACY EFFORTS ARE BASED ON INSUFFICIENT UNDERSTANDINGOF HOW CHANGE TAKES PLACE AND HOW LONG IT MAY TAKE

* Short, medium and long-term changes

CENSUDI in Ghana, works with communities and formal legalstructures to achieve change in women’srights. Community discussions classifiedchanges as short, medium and long-term.Short-term changes are ones they feltcommunity members, individuals or familiescould, with support, make themselves. This includes activities such as sending girls to school.

Medium-term changes involve shifts inindividual beliefs, gender roles andstereotypes that do not need formalpermission of elders, but which are culturallymore challenging. For example men rarelyprepare meals from fear of being seen as‘less of a man’. These sorts of changes arelikely to need collective discussion andconscientisation.

Long-term changes involve the moredifficult influencing of local power structuresand societal practices – also ingrained inbelief systems. Cultural and religiouspractices, such as marriage and funeralrites, are viewed as integral to the way thecommunity operates and would need theapproval of chiefs to change.

CENSUDI is simultaneously working toachieve all these types of change. Theyhope that success in the issues they see as short and medium-term will helpinfluence change in those they see aslonger term.

Of course, whether or not families actuallydo start to send girls to school, and howmany years they are able to complete will be influenced by many other factors such as the economic implications andpatriarchy.

12

www.actionaid.org

Most advocacy strategising is focused on shorttimeframes of action with a requirement to producecost-effective and quickly measurable results. There is asubsequent danger of losing sight of how powerdynamics undermine social justice on many levels andhow long it takes to produce the changes we desire. Asa result, selected strategies and actions may neitherpromote the changes necessary for addressing the rootcauses of problems, nor build toward the goals we areultimately trying to achieve.

Questions for reflection

Think about a major change – positive or negative – that has happened in yoursociety over the past ten years

1 What do you think were the drivers of change?

2 Do you think this change will be sustained?

3 How might activist or developmentorganisations have been (more)effective in ensuring that this changeworks to the benefit of poor andmarginalised people?

See also Treatment Action Campaign case studyin Section 4 of the Main resource pack

? For additional reading and resources on social change on CD Rom see:

Main resource pack: Section 1

Social change: Vision, values and actionPower over tableSUCAM: complexities of change (case study)Rights-based development approaches:combining politics, creativity and organisation.

Section 3

Some ideas to support planning: methods and tools

Section 4

Workshop case study materials:CEDEP’s work to Stop Violence Against Women in Ghana

Social Change and Empowermentin a Brazilian shanty town.

13


POWERThinking critically about power is vitally important whenplanning effective people-centred advocacy. But whatkind of ‘power’ are we talking about? There is atendency to view power almost exclusively in sinister oroppressive terms and as something that is unchanging.Such a perception of power can paralyse people sinceit seems to indicate there is no hope. Yet power is notstatic, but rather constantly shifting, providingopportunities for action. Nor is it intrinsically negative orpositive. Its value depends on how it is structured andused in each context. For some it may mean controland coercion, but for others it means the capacity tofight for justice.

These different ways of understanding powershow us that:

• it is always established through human interaction

• it works at many different levels

• it is found everywhere in public and private, in theworkplace, market and family, in relations with friendsand colleagues and even at a very personal levelwithin each individual.

The dynamics of power (who has power over others,who can build power with, who can exercise theirpower to, who can feel powerful within or not) isdefined within each context and each relationship. Forexample, a small farmer living in poverty is vulnerable tothe power and sometimes violence of vast estateowners and multinational agribusiness. Yet this samefarmer may establish an authoritarian and violentrelationship with the women and female members ofhis family since he is immersed in a patriarchal andmacho culture.

In historical terms, access to resources, rights anddecision-making has been monopolised by a few. Thisconcentration of power has contributed to widespreadpoverty, marginalisation and the violation of humanrights. It is crucial to reverse this pattern and bringpreviously excluded groups and individuals into arenasof decision-making, while at the same timetransforming how power is understood and used.

Different ways ofunderstanding power

The most common way of understandingpower tends to be negative:

Power over other people: using coercion orforce to control resources and decision-making processes.

Alternative ways to understand and usepower focus on collaboration and affirmpeople’s capacity to act creatively andwork together for a better world:

Power to act: the unique potential of everyperson and social group to shape their lifeand world and create more equitablerelationships and structures of power.

Power within ourselves: people’s sense ofself-worth, values and self-knowledge,central to individual and groupunderstanding of being citizens with rightsand responsibilities.

Power with others: finding common groundamong different interests and buildingcollective strength to challenge injustice.

*

14

www.actionaid.org

Power over operates in various ways to maintain thestatus quo and discourage poor and excluded peoplefrom exercising their rights. Sometimes it is visible andother times it is hidden or invisible. Power over operates by:

• shaping norms, values and consciousness.Influencing how we, as individuals and groups,perceive the world and the roles of government,market etc, as well as our own self-value, status and worthiness to be agents of change and holders of rights.

• shaping the political agenda. Defining whichrights or issues are priorities for public debate andpolicy decision-making, and which are not legitimate.Controlling the production of, and access to,information to give credibility to some issues over others.

• determining whose voice is heard in decision-making arenas. Defining who is able to participatein, and to influence, the shaping and implementationof public policies by privileging certain groups andde-legitimising others.

• framing formal decision-making andimplementation of public policies. Setting thestructures and mechanisms for governance thatbenefit some members of society over others.

Many advocacy approaches do little to change powerstructures or dynamics; instead they assume that policychange – with its focus on lobbying and pressuringgovernments – is the best route to achieving realchange in people’s lives. While these are importantstrategies for change, such efforts rarely examine oraddress how power plays out in a society to affectwhich policies are passed or implemented. Similarly,they also frequently neglect how cultural and socialfactors of power influence the ways people view theworld and behave – profoundly shaping theirwillingness to take action.

Multiple strategies are required to counter the differentways power over operates. These strategies tapalternative forms of power – power with others, powerwithin self and power to act individually and collectively.The table below summarises strategies that can behelpful to counter the different ways power over acts to control participation and maintain the status quo.

Power relations are not always evident at first sight.They can be:

• visible – the most well known andobvious: observable decision-makingprocesses and structures, both formaland informal, such as legislatures,parliaments, or councils of elders orvillage chiefs etc.

• hidden – the behind-the-scenesdynamics that shape who participates in the visible decision-making processesand whose voice is heard, as well aswhat issues are deemed legitimate for consideration as part of the political agenda

• invisible – the socio-cultural systemsand related ideologies that shapepeople’s consciousness – their beliefsabout the world and themselves, andtheir beliefs about their own capacity to participate in decision-makingprocesses.

[Veneklasen and Miller, 2002]

*

15


Given the complex dynamics of power, strategies that only address formal decision-making processes and rely solely on good information andreasoned arguments will almost never result in long-term favourable social change. Informal decision-makers such as chiefs and religiousleaders also need attention as do strategies that address all other forms of power over.

Strategies to counter the different ways power over operates

Strategies to counter power thatshapes and maintains unjustand inequitable norms, valuesand consciousness

Consciousness-raising:

Challenges ideologies andbelief systems that perpetuateinjustice through participatoryanalysis and awareness-building, work to promote self-esteem, confidence, sense ofrights and responsibilities(citizenship), politicalawareness, analysis ofproblems, sense of solidarity,collaboration, respect etc.

Strategies to counter power thatkeeps our issues off politicalagendas

Research anddissemination:

Investigation, action researchand sharing of information thatuncovers concealed data,develops alternatives andlegitimises and values theissues and agendas ofexcluded groups.

Organising and mobilising:

Building active criticalconstituencies and movementsaround common problems,concerns and injustices.Promoting and supportingefforts of poor and excludedpeople to act together and with others.

Changing public opinion:Through radio shows,campaigns etc.

Strategies to counter powerthat excludes voices of poorand marginalised people frombeing heard

Strengthening capacity:Strengthening poor people’sorganisations, skills & access toinformation.

Nurturing organisations andleadership building:

Strengthening constituencyorganisations, coalitions, socialmovements and democraticaccountable leaders andstructures.

Mobilising around shared agendas.

Participatory research &dissemination of informationthat legitimises excludedgroups & strengthens theirknowledge.

Strategies to counter power thatprevents formal politicaldecisions and implementationworking to favour the poor andmarginalised

Public and policyinfluence strategies:

Lobbying, advocacy,campaigning, monitoring;

negotiation, litigation;

public education, media; policyresearch, policy alternatives;marches,

demonstrations, vigils.

Voting, running for office.

Collaboration, modelling andpromoting developmentalternatives, etc.

16

www.actionaid.org

Assessing entry points:questions about policyengagement

Although a key advocacy goal is to createopportunities for citizen’s groups to directlyengage in policy processes, engagementdoes not always impact policy decisions inthe end. It is easy to believe that access topolicy makers will translate into influence,but in practice this is rarely true. Policymakers sometimes construct these policyspaces to educate citizens about thechoices they have made or to appearconsultative and thus diffuse publiccriticism. But they may have no intention ofchanging their agendas. For this reason,many activists or development practitionersworry about being ‘co-opted’ by policyengagement. Some NGOs that workclosely with governments are criticised forlosing their independence and connectionwith people at the grassroots, particularly ifworking with government starts toconsume all their energy and time.

Deciding when and how to engage withpolicy processes is not straightforward orsimple. Many different factors have to beconsidered and weighed against eachother. Once the decision is made toengage it must be reassessedcontinuously as the process unfolds.A plan to engage should include the option to disengage if the political costsstart to outweigh the benefits. Among themany questions to explore and revisitperiodically are:

• Is the policy space ‘created’ or‘invited’?4 If you come to the decision-making table as a result of politicalpressure generated by your efforts – a created space – you may be in astronger position to influence policychoices. In contrast, when policymakers invite citizens’ groups into thepolicy process, transforming the spaceinto a meaningful opportunity forchange will often involve demonstrating

your power once you get there, whichmany groups find very difficult.

• What are the opportunity costs ofengagement? How much time andresources will the meetings, researchand other activities consume? To whatalternative activities could thoseresources be dedicated?

• Are you making, or likely to make, animpact on policy priorities and choices?As groups involved in PovertyReduction Strategy Papers have seen,influencing a policy document does notnecessarily have a real impact onpolicy. It may be the first step in a longprocess of change, or it may be awaste of time.

• Can the policy opportunity be used to educate people about their rightsand the political process, and to buildyour constituency for the long-term?Although you may not have a realimpact on policy, the opportunity toengage may stimulate dialogue andgive your organising efforts increasedfocus, public visibility and credibility.However, people may expectsomething concrete from the processbeyond learning and organising, andcan become disillusioned.

• Will the policy opportunity translate into real change on the ground? If theopportunity to engage leads to newprogrammes, new opportunities andnew resources, then the risks ofengagement may be counterbalancedby these gains.

While these questions can help you tothink more deeply about the benefits andrisks of engagement, there is no substitutefor strategic, critical thinking. As groupsengage with power, they should be vigilantand may need to remind themselves towhom they are ultimately accountable in order to make sure the process is worthwhile.

[Shortened from Lisa VeneKlasen with Valerie Miller 2002 page 208]

*

4See Brock, Cornwall and Gaventa 2001 and IDS 2000

17


JOÃO MIRANDA, UNAS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DEBATING HOUSING RIGHTSWITH GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES

Understanding how poweraffects housing rights in aBrazilian shanty town

The first social movements in the Brazilianshantytown of Heliópolis were formed bypeople gathering together to find ways toovercome their common problems –especially around housing. UNAS (the Unionof Heliópolis’ Residents’ Associations andCentres) was created in 1986 as anumbrella body for these movements to builda stronger collective force to demand fairand democratic public housing policies.

As a Latin American grassroots movement,UNAS links its concrete problems andneeds to the ongoing struggle for justiceand rights. For these movements,understanding how power relations affecttheir struggles is essential. To address therealities of living in a shanty-town UNAS hadto learn how to deal with the visible andofficial structures of power (where publichousing policies are decided andimplemented) and also build strategies toaddress strong parallel structures of powerinside the shanty town – the drug traffickers.

In discussions, UNAS identified andanalysed the main forces (power over)denying its members’ right to have properhomes and live with dignity. For decadesthe population of Heliópolis has had tostruggle against local government agenciesthat use the police force to try to expel themfrom their community so that profitablemodern housing developments can be built.UNAS leaders are aware that real estateoperators and building contractors workagainst them, behind the scenes oftenhidden from view, to influence the localgovernment.

The leaders of UNAS did not use anysophisticated framework or academic theoryof power to achieve this understanding.Years of struggle have imbued many ofthem with an intuitive understanding ofpower dynamics and the need to posecritical questions about how such forcesaffect their lives. When the residents of

Heliópolis first came together to discuss theproblems of living conditions and the lack ofpublic policies to develop the area, theystarted to ask themselves some simplequestions: Why is this happening? Who hasthe power to guarantee or to block ourhousing rights in Heliópolis? How are publicpolicies on housing decided? Who makesthese decisions? Who might profit by thedenial of our housing rights? The answersto these questions drove the debate deeper,generating more questions and shapingtheir political strategy.

At the same time residents started todevelop their own power to advocate fortheir rights. They asked themselves: Whatwill we do about it? How can we face theseforces? How can we guarantee our right tohave a proper place to live with dignity?Through this process of coming together(power with) they started to build theirsense of citizenship and rights (powerwithin) and organise themselves (power to)to confront efforts to expel them from theshanty town. As they proceeded they alsorealised they needed to address invisiblepower dynamics related to class, patriarchy,gender roles and housing ownership. Theystarted to insist that wherever possiblehousing titles were given in the name ofan adult female and to address issues ofsocialisation within their youth work.

*

Analysing context and power

The following two exercises can help us think about context and how power operates.

Naming the moment

Ask yourselves:

• Who are the major powerful players (in the economic, political, civil society andcultural/ideological sectors) that we think are with us, against us and uncommitted on the issue? Include those at different levels from the international and the national to the local where relevant.

• Of these players, who are the key groups, organisations, institutions and personalities leading the organising and actions for and against – both publicly andbehind the scenes?

• What are the real and expressed interests of the major players?

• What are the most critical relationships and tensions between these players?

• What are the strategies used by different sides and how effective do you think they are?

• Who do you consider your allies and opponents?

• What key international and national trends or events are affecting your issue? How are they affecting it?

• In the current context, who’s winning and who’s losing?

• What does this analysis tell you about possible opportunities and risks for action on your issue?

Adapted from Deb Barndt 1989 and VeneKlasen & Miller 2002

Naming the powerful

This tool concentrates on naming major decision-makers that have power to respond toyour advocacy issue. It can be used to map their interests in a particular context and helpyou decide who you want to target in your advocacy strategies. Separate columns aredrawn, each one representing one question to be discussed (see chart below). Thisexercise is useful for both surfacing key information for planning and can help you assessyour achievements.

There are other ideas in Section 2 on planning in this booklet. Also see the Main resource pack Section 3:Analysing power and context for further questions and exercises on Faces of Power and Factors of Exclusion,Subordination and Privilege, which are useful for looking at other ways in which power operates.

*

18

www.actionaid.org

What are the maininstitutions,organisations, oragencies makingdecisions on yourissue/right?

Who are the mostinfluential andpowerful leaders orofficials in thesebodies?

What are the maininterests they arepromoting?

How do they promotetheir interests andblock those of otherson this issue?

Think about the advocacy issue that you are involved in…

1 In what ways does power over operate in this issue? Refer to the table on power overand consider the questions that UNAS asked themselves.

2 How are you working to counter these different forms of power within your own work?Consider the ways power works to: shape norms, values and consciousness; shape thepolitical agenda; determine whose voice is head in decision-making arenas; and frameformal decision-making and implementation of public policies.

3 In what ways are you working to develop more positive forms of power: power within,power to and power with?

19



Power: understanding how it works and how to use it positively.

Power over table

UNAS: Understanding how power affects housing rights in a Brazilian shanty town (case study)

Promoting justice and solidarity: the Treatment Action Campaign (case study)

Section 4

Workshop case study materials:

The struggle for land tenancy rights in Nepal: a case study from the Community Self

Reliance Centre

ULA: Moving from policy advocacy to also working at the grassroots

The struggle for Dalit rights in Nepal: the anti-carcass throwing campaign

Short case study on analysing power and choosing strategies

Short case study 2 on analysing power and choosing strategies

Working Paper 2: Rights-Based Development: The challenge of Change and Power

Other useful resources: Communication and Power - Reflect practical resource materials

Questions for reflection ?

For additional reading and resourceson Power on CD Rom see:

20

www.actionaid.org

RIGHTS-BASED APPROACHESMany social movements and NGOs have recognisedthe importance of integrating rights work intodevelopment work as an essential part of a holisticchange process. Here we unpack what we mean byrights-based approaches.

Rights have been articulated, defined and legalised bythe collective efforts and struggles of people overgenerations, and will continue to evolve (or be lost) astime goes on. This collective human struggle to win andprotect rights is a vital element of rights-basedapproaches to development. Rights are not coldlegalistic formulae to be arbitrated by well-meaning,well-educated and sophisticated experts on behalf ofthe majority. Rather they can only be made real by theinvolvement and empowerment of the community atlarge, particularly those whose rights are most violated.Efforts to gain legal acceptance of new rights are partof a never-ending struggle for justice.

Rights-based development incorporates a vision of ethics and inclusiveness. Value-based, it is grounded in the belief that impoverished andmarginalised people everywhere have rights andresponsibilities. Many of these economic, social, cultural and political rights have been enshrined in UN conventions and procedures that encapsulateuniversal aspirations for freedom and fairness andprovide a set of guiding principles. Other rights are notenshrined in law but are moral entitlements based onvalues of human dignity and equity. Rights areindivisible, ie there is no hierarchy of rights.

A rights-based approach is inherently a political justiceapproach – one that takes into consideration power,struggle and a vision of a better society as key factorsin development.

Rights-based approaches to development fulfil theirpromise when they integrate the political, organising,practical and creative aspects of work on poverty andinjustice. The political aspect focuses on making legalframeworks more just and supportive of impoverishedand excluded peoples, advancing their rights. Theorganising side builds people's organisations,leadership, political analysis and synergy for collectivestruggle. The practical and creative side supportscapacity building, solidarity and innovations indevelopment alternatives that give meaning to rightsand lay the basis for challenging oppressive practices and paradigms.

In some organisations that have adopted rights-baseddevelopment approaches there has been a tendency tosee any type of ‘service-delivery’ as an outmoded andinappropriate intervention. This ignores the role thatservice delivery efforts can play in strengtheningempowerment processes, local organisations,leadership development, alternative developmentmodels, trust-building and concrete changes inpeople’s living conditions. Indeed in many cases thesetypes of effort are a necessary prior condition beforeany work on rights is conceivable. The question is notso much whether service-delivery work is done at allbut how it is done, by whom, and how it will build inthe long-run to more transformative work.

There is a fundamental difference between servicescontrolled by others and provided to the poor asvictims, and service and development efforts intendedto support the planning, management and leadership ofthe poor and disenfranchised as protagonists andactive members of society. Depending on how service-delivery approaches are carried out, they can be charityand disempowering or can contribute to empowermentand community control.

In rights-based approaches, power analysis anddeveloping an understanding of how change canhappen and be sustained in a particular contextbecomes much more central in our work.

21


Main features of rights-basedapproaches from a people-centred perspective

• Identifying and clearly taking sides with poor and marginalised people who confront injustice in their daily lives.

• Attempting to address not only the effects of poverty, marginalisation and injustice, but also their causes.

• Facilitating and supporting poor andmarginalised people’s own empowerment,leadership, organisation and action to restore and advance their rights and promote social justice.

• Affirming that individuals and civil societyhave both the right and the responsibilityto define, defend and advance people’srights; the state has similar obligations and, most importantly, the fundamentalresponsibility to ensure justice and the application of those rights fairly across society.

• Recognising that making rights anddevelopment real in people’s lives requireschanges in deeply engrained attitudes andbehaviours at all levels of society.

• Understanding the inextricable linksbetween rights, development and power,and the resulting need for integratedstrategies that address the policy andpolitical aspects of making rights anddevelopment meaningful, as well as theorganisational and creative side whichinvolves leadership development andtesting, and promoting concretedevelopment alternatives.

Developed from ActionAid Asia 2000

*

22

www.actionaid.org

* Rights and development from a village perspective

In 1994, the Community Self Reliance Centre(CSRC), a Nepali NGO, carried outdevelopment appraisals in two areas. Theseshowed that a large proportion of inhabitantswere tenant farmers and that insecurity oftenure was a major cause of poverty. Thearea’s landlords collected large portions ofthe harvest as rent and could change theamount at will. Landlords could also transferpermission to cultivate from one tenant toanother, forcing tenants to farm with short-term perspectives, resulting in lowproductivity and increasing poverty.

CSRC subsequently held village meetings todiscuss and plan a development programme.Initially CSRC offered to support thedevelopment of irrigation to increaseproductivity. The response was notenthusiastic, as tenants feared benefits wouldgo largely to the landlords. Their need for landsecurity took priority over water systems. Soinstead of irrigation, CSRC began work withcommunities on the land issue and tenantrights – supporting local groups in exploringtheir problems further, linking them to theconcept of rights, strengthening their

leadership and eventually backing agrassroots campaign which spread to othervillages. By December 2003, over 3,000tenant farmers had received tenure rights totheir land and could no longer be arbitrarilyremoved from their parcels; almost 1,000received full land ownership titles.

Having achieved security of tenure, farmers are now showing considerable initiative inimproving the productivity of their own land.As one farmer said:

“I had never dreamt of getting my own pieceof land. I feel a sense of dignity now I havegained ownership. I got my land after twoyears of struggling for my land tenancy right.I used it as collateral at the local agriculturaldevelopment bank and got a loan to buy abuffalo. Now I sell milk and earn Rs 3,200 amonth. I want to pay the debt in one year’stime. The buffalo will then be mine and I willget more benefit from the milk sales. I ammeeting the household expenses. For me,ownership of land has encouraged me toincrease the productivity of the land andgrow more grains to meet the needs of my family.”

Questions for discussion

1 CSRC showed great flexibility inresponding to people’s concerns andswitching their work from irrigation toproblems of land tenancy and lack ofrights. Do the systems and strategic plansof your organisation support or hinder suchresponsiveness and links betweenpractical problems and rights?

2 How can we ensure we are addressingmajor causes of problems?

3 In your own work, what are somestrategies your organisation or partnergroups use that combine rights andempowerment and that supportpeople’s concerns, voice, political action and livelihood?

A GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL ACCEPTS A LAND TENANCY RIGHTS PETITION FROM THE LEADER OF A LOCAL FARMERS’ ORGANISATION, NEPAL

23



Rights-based development approaches: combiningpolitics, creativity and organisation

Section 4

The struggle for land tenancy rights in Nepal: acase study from the Community Self RelianceCentre (case study)

Working Paper 2:Rights-Based Development: The challenge of Change and Power

Other useful resources:

ActionAid Asia Operationalising a rights-based approach to development, 2000

ActionAid in practice – Understanding & learningabout methods and approaches in rights and empowerment, Ethiopia, 2003

Modules for learning about rights, Luis Morago

For additional reading and resources onrights-based approaches on CD Rom see:

? Questions for reflection

1 What do you consider to be theessential differences between rights-based development approaches andneeds-based development approaches?

2 In what way can they complementeach other?

3 Do you think your work takes a rights-based approach (does itempower people and respond to rootcauses of poverty and marginalisation)?If not why not? How could it change?

24

www.actionaid.org

There are at least two useful lenses for understandingand reflecting on women’s position in the world:women’s rights and gender. Each has a slightlydifferent emphasis and hence leads our analysis andactivism to focus in slightly different ways. Whicheverperspective is taken, there are two key sources of theinequality and domination that women face in today’sworld: patriarchy and a variety of fundamentalisms (see box below).

WOMEN’S RIGHTS AND GENDER EQUITYInequities based on whether you are a man or womanare one of the most challenging dynamics of powerand a critical factor in all situations of poverty andinjustice. Women have suffered systematicdiscrimination, violations and exclusions throughouthuman history. In many cases, they are denied rightsand opportunities in all economic, political and socialstructures from the workplace and government to thefamily. Thus how women are perceived and treated in society needs to be a central concern in any people-centred advocacy to achieve justice.

Patriarchy and fundamentalisms

Patriarchy is a social arrangementwhere a male is viewed as the head ofthe household and men dominate publicdecision-making and political affairs. Insome cultures patriarchy is so ingrained thatwomen are viewed by society and law aspermanent minors (children) without theability to make informed decisions on theirown behalf. Patriarchy is a very stronginfluence on gender relations in all spheresof life: the public, the private and theintimate. Common implications for womeninclude not being allowed to own property,keep the money they earn, accesseducation or make their own decisionsabout who they marry or how many childrento have. This lack of power can be literallylife threatening. Women denied the right tonegotiate safe sex are more likely than mento become infected with HIV duringunprotected intercourse. Other implicationsare internalised and affect how women and men view their own worth and position in society.

Fundamentalisms can be defined as the use of religion, ethnicity or culture tomobilise and gain political power in asociety. Though inherently political,adherents seek to place these ideologiesabove the possibility of open politicaldebate, on the basis of divine sanction orby appealing to supreme authorities, moralcodes or philosophies that cannot bequestioned.

Fundamentalist movements are commonlyseen as backlash against change, gainingstrength by playing on people’s fear ofchange and existing prejudices – whetherracial, ethnic or sexual. Among the majorpreoccupations fundamentalist movementsappear to have in common are genderissues. They attempt to regain social/malecontrol over what many perceive to bewomen’s growing autonomy in general, and over women’s sexuality andreproduction in particular.5

*

5Sources: Keslet 1996, Berer & Ravindran; no date

25


Looking at issues in terms of women’s rights helps usrecognise that the goal of advocacy work is to advancethe rights of women and girls. It also makes clear thatthese are political issues and that there is aninternationally accepted baseline set out in internationalagreements. Organisations that adopt a rights-basedapproach often look through the lens of women’s rightsfor their strategising and planning. This may lead someto a deeper analysis of power using the notion ofgender as a way to clarify and address inequalitiesbetween men and women.

Despite recent setbacks, women’s struggles for rightshave produced some important advances. The world’sgovernments have committed themselves to promotingand protecting women’s rights at all UN conferencesheld in the past two decades, including the WorldConference on Human Rights in 1993, the InternationalConference on Population and Development in 1994,and the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995.

As originally conceived, looking at issues in terms ofgender relationships leads us to focus on the unequalpower relationships between men and women, girlsand boys. The socialisation process and women’soppression and subordination often mean that womenthemselves believe that they are inferior while menbelieve in male superiority and privilege. These powerdynamics – often referred to as invisible power – aredifficult to address because they are deeply embeddedin all of us. Each individual’s experience of power andpowerlessness will also be influenced by factors suchas race, caste, class, age etc.

The concept ‘gender’ is useful in that it makes clearthat the unequal relationship between men and women is not natural, universal or fixed, but can anddoes change over time and across cultures. A genderlens also allows us to see how patriarchy constrainsmen’s options and behaviour. Unfortunately, as with so many other concepts in development, it has becomedepoliticised over the years and is sometimes treated as a separate add-on to programmes, or is‘mainstreamed’ and largely forgotten. Whilst carefulgender analysis in development projects can improveinterventions, on its own it doesn’t necessarily lead toan improvement in women’s rights.

Sex and gender

A person’s sex – whether they are male or female – is determined at birth and isthe same across all cultures: for examplewomen have wombs and thus women, not men, are capable of getting pregnant.

In contrast, gender refers to the set ofroles and characteristics that differentcultures and social groups prescribe forwomen and men, girls and boys. It is thusa culturally determined phenomenon thatcan change over time. Gender is learnedthrough socialisation in a particular society.From birth, boys and girls are encouragedto behave a certain way, to aspire todifferent goals and perform particular roles.Societies communicate that certain rolesare acceptable and appropriate for menand women while others are not. Forexample, nearly all societies give theprimary responsibility of caring for andraising children to women and theresponsibility for military service anddefence to men.

There is considerable variation in genderroles from culture to culture but almostalways men’s perceived roles are valuedand rewarded more than those seen aswomen’s. Gender roles are also influencedby other factors such as class, caste, race, disability, age, etc.

*

26

www.actionaid.org

Our own socialisation

Gender identity is one of the mostfundamental influences on our sense of whowe are and where we fit in the world. Wehave all been brought up in societies whereconcepts and prejudices around gender,race, age, caste, class and sexuality are very strong. We would be less than honestif we claim that these have not affected us in any way.

In order to do effective advocacy on issuesof women’s rights and gender – or indeedon any issue of social exclusion – it isimportant to also look inwards and askourselves difficult questions about our ownprejudices and reactions to these issues.Only by acknowledging our prejudices is itpossible to start to work on them andchange ourselves. This is important both asindividuals and within our organisations. It isunfortunately common to see oppressivepower relationships based on gender, class, race or caste even within social justiceorganisations.

Questions to reflect on as individuals:

1 In what ways has your culture andupbringing influenced your own behaviourand attitudes towards a) what is possibleand necessary for your own sense of well-being b) women and c) men?

2 How do you consciously try to overcome the negative aspects of the above?

3 What would you like to change in yourown attitudes and behaviours? And insociety? Why?

4 Can you think of examples in which youhave already challenged and changedyour own attitudes and behaviours? Whathappened? What did you learn from this?How did this affect your personal, homeand work lives?

Questions to reflect on as organisations:

1 In what ways does the organisation mirroror reproduce unjust aspects of genderrelationships and women’s positionprevalent in the wider world?

2 Who holds power in the organisation in terms of sex, race or other axes ofdifference?

3 What type of behaviour and working style are rewarded in the organisation? Do people only get noticed or promoted if they are confident, self-promotional or assertive etc?

4 How does the working environmentand culture support women?

Asking questions about other prejudicessuch as race, age, disability, language etc is equally vital.

*

27


* CENSUDI: Working with women in Ghana

The Centre for Sustainable DevelopmentInitiatives (CENSUDI) has observed manyexamples of the socialisation process(invisible power) affecting how men andwomen view themselves in the Bolgatangadistrict of Ghana, where CENSUDI works.There it is commonly accepted that at everygathering women should sit at the back andbe the last to speak – if allowed to speak atall. No one asks the women to sit at thefringes of the meeting but that is where they are. This custom perpetuates alow level of confidence in womenand has excluded women from thedecision-making process becausethey believe they do not have anything good to offer, or if they dotheir ideas may not be listened to.

CENSUDI found that men also feelpressured to show their masculinity,which in some cases is expressedthrough violence.

CENSUDI is working to improveself-awareness and confidence in women through education,workshops and discussions.Women are now able to makecontributions in meetings and, insome cases, take central roles inorganising such meetings. Theseefforts are preparing women toparticipate more actively in advocacy and public decision-making.

Questions for reflection:

1 In your advocacy work, how do you work to ensure all relevant women feelable to get involved and contribute?

2 How do you pay attention to how race,class, age and education affect women’sconfidence and ability to get involved?

CENSUDI HAVE FOUND STREET THEATRE TO BE VERY EFFECTIVE IN THEIR WORK ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

28

www.actionaid.org

Key questions to ask about women’s participation and gender at different moments of people-centred advocacy *

Key moments

Planning

Review and learning

Sharing andaccountability

Democratisationof information

Women’s fullparticipation

Did we create thebest possibleconditions for theparticipation andactive involvement ofwomen?

Did we providewomen-only spacesthat were organisedand facilitated bywomen?

Did we ensure theirvoice was heard,respected and takeninto account?

When we plan how toshare information dowe consider genderissues?

Are the methods wechoose user-friendlyto women?

Adoption of gender lenses

1 Is gender taken into account in:

a our contextual and power analysis?

b in our strategies and workplan?

c in the indicators and guidelines formonitoring?

1 Is gender taken into account in ourreflections and learning from ouradvocacy work?

2 Do our indicators help deepen ouranalysis and understanding of howgender inequalities affect our struggle forrights?

3 What lessons are we drawing from ourwork that will help others promotewomen’s and girl’s rights?

4 Is our work increasing women’s power over their own lives and decision-making?

1 Are our discussions, plans, reports andthe results of our advocacy reallyaddressing gender issues effectively?

2 Are we investing enough resources toaddress gender issues?

3 Are we fully engaging women in ourgovernance systems?

1 Does the information we share reflectand explain gender issues in an easy andaccessible way?

2 Do we make sufficient attempt to ensureeveryone engaged in the advocacyunderstands the gender issues in it?

29



Women’s rights and gender equity

CENSUDI: Work on violence against women inGhana (case study)

Section 3

Addressing gender and women’s rights

Section 4

Workshop case study materials:

CEDEP’s work to stop violence againstwomen in Ghana

The struggle for land tenancy rights in Nepal: a case study from CSRC

CENSUDI working on violence againstwomen in Ghana

Short case study on analysing powerand choosing strategies

Short case study 2 on analysing powerand choosing strategies


Communication and Power

ActionAid International Gender and women’s rights framework

For additional reading and resources on women’s rights and gender equity on CD Rom see:

At the core of empowerment are processes of reflectionand action that challenge and transform inequitablepower relations. These reinforce, and are reinforced by,learning and consciousness-raising, which in turn affectchanges in individual and collective identity andtogether eventually produce gains in rights, resourcesand power.

Empowerment in people-centred advocacy will alwayshave as its main aim strengthening the politicalawareness of individuals and groups and their potentialto become active protagonists in the struggle for rights.The most appropriate focus at any particular time willdepend on the context. In certain moments and placesit might be building collective action to influence publicpolicy, whilst in others it may be building individualconsciousness and a positive sense of self-worth. Inthe long-term however it is vital for empowermentstrategies to translate consciousness-raising(conscientisation) into action, where people collectivelychallenge and work to change the power dynamics thatproduce poverty and social inequalities.

30

www.actionaid.org

EMPOWERMENTEmpowerment puts the notions of ‘people’ and ‘power’at the centre of the struggle for rights and justice. It isrooted in a people-centred perspective of socialchange, in which the main force of transformation is theaction and active reflection of the individuals and socialgroups most affected by poverty and social injustice.

Empowerment is all about how we build and deal withour perception of ourselves (our self-worth and ourcapacity for action and activism) and of the world(whether it is possible to challenge systems and powerdynamics, and promote change). At its best the processhelps strengthen the abilities, confidence, analysis andpower of impoverished and excluded people and theirorganisations so they can challenge unjust andauthoritarian power relations. For women especially,however, it is sometimes painful because it can involveexamining power relationships in the family and withtheir spouses. Raising questions about suchrelationships may mean that their sources of emotionaland economic support may be threatened and theirplace in the community jeopardised.

THE MOST POTENT WEAPON IN THE HANDS OF THEOPPRESSOR IS THE MIND OF THE OPPRESSED.

STEVEN BIKO, BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS LEADER, SOUTH AFRICA 1946-1977

EMPOWERMENTFRAMEWORK

LLEEAARRNNIINNGG AANNDDCCOONNSSCCIIOOUUSSNNEESSSS

RRAAIISSIINNGG TTHHRROOUUGGHH

RREEFFLLEECCTTIIOONN AANNDD AACCTTIIOONN

CCHHAALLLLEENNGGEE AANNDDCCHHAANNGGEE PPOOWWEERR

GGAAIINNSS IINN RRIIGGHHTTSSRREESSOOUURRCCEESSPPOOWWEERR

CCOOLLLLEECCTTII

VVEE

‘‘IIDDEENNTTIITTYY’’

IINNDDIIVVIIDDUUAA

LL

‘‘IIDDEENNTTIITTYY’’

Developed by authors with the contribution of Jorge Romano, ActionAid International Brazil

31


Empowerment approaches in people-centredadvocacy closely link the personal with thecommunity dimension. Individual change shouldencompass both a positive sense of self but also asense of solidarity, community, democracy, socialjustice and respect for difference, and make aconnection with a communal perception of rights. So,depending on the context, both ‘individual’ and‘collective’ dimensions should be used as entry pointsto develop empowerment processes.

‘Empowered people’ perceive themselves asprogressively stronger and more confident to strugglefor rights in a collective process. Empowerment willbe manifested in different ways: in their capacity tounderstand and challenge power dynamics, in apositive shift in the way they view their own identifyand position in the world, in their openness to reviewtheir values and beliefs, in their ability and confidenceto mobilise and take action. In other words,empowerment is people building power withinthemselves and linking it to power with others inorder to exercise their power to promote justice and change.

RAISING AWARENESS WITH YOUNG PEOPLE IN HELIOPOLIS, BRAZIL

32

www.actionaid.org

At the heart of empowerment is the development of politicalconsciousness, or as it is

sometimes called, critical consciousness –a way of seeing, caring about and acting inthe world. Guided by a commitment torights and justice, it is developed, in part,through an understanding of how powerand inequity operate in social, political andeconomic systems, in cultural values andin human relationships. It’s meaning comesfrom the Greek word ‘polis’ which meantcity-state; the term political had to do withthe life of the community. For us, politicalconsciousness, therefore, involves caringabout community and coming together in amutual quest and struggle for dignity.

Adapted from Veneklasen & Miller 2002

* * Developing individual and collective consciousness

Dalit women in Nepal developed individualconsciousness and critical awarenessthrough involvement in REFLECT circlesthat gradually evolved into a powerfulcollective consciousness within theirentire community.

When discussing the root causes of theirmarginalisation, women in one circleconcluded that the traditional job requiredof them by the caste system was at thecore of their exclusion from society. As partof the ‘untouchable’ class, they wererequired to dispose of dead animals –universally seen as a demeaning, dirty andunhealthy task. They shared this newrealisation with the leaders and men intheir community who agreed with theiranalysis. Subsequently local Dalit leadersbegan to mobilise dalits to organiseagainst untouchability and caste-baseddiscrimination. They made a collectivedecision to stop disposing of animalcarcasses altogether, a powerful symbol of the community’s unwillingness tosupport a system that oppressed them.From this decision, a campaign grew thatincluded Dalits from other communitiesand resulted in Dalits in that area no longerbeing forced to carry out their traditionaloccupation of carcass disposal.

33


Empowerment assessment frameworkSometimes we can critically assess whetherempowerment is taking place by paying attention to changes in the way people talk about themselvesand what they can or cannot do. The shift in perspective from “can’t” to “can” is a significant signthat empowerment is taking place along with thedevelopment and strengthening of politicalconsciousness.

The empowerment process is shown in the centre ofthe assessment framework below, evolving from astage where a person is ‘without relative power’ to onewhere they are ‘empowered’ – having a sense ofconfidence, solidarity with others, critical analysis skillsand a willingness to act. Above the arrow is theindividual perception of a person’s capacity to changeand to make things happen, and beneath it thecollective dimension needed to ensure thedevelopment of political consciousness and a beliefthat social change is possible. Underneath –functioning as the driver of the empowermentprocesses – we find two key elements: the questioningand the challenging of our individual and collectiveassumptions. These include assumptions about: whowe are, what we can do, what sources of positivepower we can tap in our struggles and what forms ofoppressive power we need to confront in order bringabout social change and justice.

EMPOWERMENT ASSESSMENTFRAMEWORK

CCAANN II?? II CCAANN!!

WWEE CCAANN!!CCAANN WWEE??

II CCAANN’’TT!!

WWEE CCAANN’’TT!!

EEMMPPOOWWEERRMMEENNTT

CCRRIITTIICCAALLCCOONNSSCCIIOOUUSSNNEESSSS

QQUUEESSTTIIOONNIINNGG//CCHHAALLLLEENNGGIINNGG

EEMMPPOOWWEERREEDDWWIITTHHOOUUTT PPOOWWEERR

Developed from Amboka Wameyo 2001

34

Questions to ask ourselves about empowerment processes in our advocacy work during moments of planning and review, reflection and learning

www.actionaid.org

*Planning

What are the main power dynamics to beaddressed by our advocacy? In particularhow does power operate to suppresscertain people’s participation?

Who are the people and groups that we are supporting in their empowerment?

How can we deal with the inevitablechallenges and potential conflicts thatempowerment presents for people,especially women, at all levels of their lives,from the intimate and private to thecommunity and public?

What backlash might occur at all thedifferent levels, including the household?How will we deal with the different issuesthat might occur? What support can weoffer those affected?

How can we increase collective action topromote desired social changes?

What are the most appropriate strategies tobuild “power within” and link it with andstrengthen “power with” and “power to”?

What are the most appropriate strategiesfor empowerment taking into accountcontextual challenges and the need tochallenge diverse faces and dimensions of power?

How will we monitor, assess and share ourwork on empowerment, in order to improveit? How can we make the process itselfempowering?

How can the dimension of gender beaddressed in our empowerment work?

Learning and reflection

What shifts (positive and negative) havetaken place in power dynamics since ourlast power analysis – in particular powerdynamics that suppress or facilitatepeople’s participation?

Who has attained certain levels ofempowerment as a result of our support?

Are we helping to open space for newleadership?

Are people’s differences (especially relatedto power and gender dynamics) beingrespected and valued?

Are tensions and conflicts being addressed?

What backlash has occurred? Is there anyway this might have been avoided? How arewe dealing with it? What support are weoffering the people affected?

Were we able to create links between theindividual and collective dimensions ofempowerment processes?

Are our empowerment strategies creating abetter environment for collective action?

Are they facilitating more synergy andpartnership with other groups facing thesame or similar problems?

What strategies seem to be working thebest and why?

How are our empowerment strategieschallenging and changing the diverse facesand dimensions of power?

How can we show the results and impacts of the empowerment processes?

Do we have good case studies and stories to share?

Are the empowerment strategies reallyincreasing – as much as possible – accessto and exercise of rights, as well as accessand control of resources for poor andexcluded people?

How is gender, and specifically its impacton women and girls, being addressedthrough our empowerment strategies?

35


Empowerment indicators

Gender and development practitionerssuggest the following indicators aspossible measures of empowerment:

• Freedom of mobility

• Involvement in major householddecisions

• Relative freedom from family control

• Positive self-perception, sense of dignity and rights

• Political and legal awareness

• Involvement in community and political activities

• Economic security

• Awareness of choices

• Awareness of own health

• Participation in groups

• Desire for information and newexperiences

These ideas could help you develop yourown indicators relevant to the context andpeople you are working with.

[From Veneklasen and Miller, 2002, p 57]

*Main resource pack: Section 1

Empowerment

Section 3

Empowerment: Some ideas to support planning, assessing and learning

Monitoring empowerment: SCDF’s struggle for dalit rights (case study)

Section 4

Workshop case study material:

Social change and empowerment

For additional reading and resources on empowerment on CD Rom see:

VVIISSIIOONNSS OOFF HHOOPPEE

CCHHAANNGGEESS IINN CCOONNTTEEXXTT AANNDD PPOOWWEERR

EEXXCCHHAANNGGEESS OOFF

IINNSSIIGGHHTTSS AANNDD

IINNSSPPIIRRAATTIIOONN

RREEVVIIEEWW RREEFFLLEECCTTIIOONN

AANNDD LLEEAARRNNIINNGGRREEPPLLAANNNNIINNGG

CCOONNTTIINNUUOOUUSSMMOONNIITTOORRIINNGG OOFFAACCTTIIOONNSS AANNDDCCHHAANNGGEESS

DDEEMMOOCCRRAATTIISSAATTIIOONN OOFF IINNFFOORRMMAATTIIOONN,, SSHHAARRIINNGG AANNDD AACCCCOOUUNNTTIIBBIILLIITTYY

IINNIITTIIAALL PPLLAANNNNIINNGG

SSPPEECCIIFFIICC CCHHAANNGGEESS•• SSHHOORRTT AANNDD MMEEDDIIUUMM TTEERRMM•• PPOOSSIITTIIVVEE AANNDD NNEEGGAATTIIVVEE

AANNDD UUNNEEXXPPEECCTTEEDD

36

www.actionaid.org

IDEAS FOR PLANNING,REFLECTION AND LEARNING

37


Before we start it is very important to introduce a noteof caution. Tools and frameworks may be incrediblyeffective when used by skilled facilitators with anunderstanding of power dynamics and a commitmentto promoting the voices of the disenfranchised. Yet theycan also become another way of abusing ormanipulating power when used carelessly or bysomeone without the same commitments or values.Over and over we have seen the need to concentratemore on developing the qualities and skills of thepractitioner and less on the specific tools they use.Tools can only support us in our work – they shouldnever become an end in themselves. In the box wesuggest three simple questions that should always beat the back of our minds as we carry out planning,monitoring, and review and reflection processes.

INTRODUCTIONThis section presents ideas on how to carry outprocesses of planning, monitoring, and review andreflection. In people-centred advocacy these are notneutral technical processes, but ones that inthemselves should be empowering – helping build thevoice and power of people who have beenmarginalised by poverty and discrimination.

The diagram on page 36 represents the overallplanning, reflection and learning process. It has threekey elements (depicted by boxes)

a initial planning

b continuous monitoring of actions and changes

c review, reflection and learning which then leads to replanning.

This section gives you an overview of each of theseprocesses. Further information and ideas can be foundin Sections 2 and 3 of the main resource pack on theCD Rom. All of the ideas shared here are intended tostimulate thinking, not to provide a rigid blueprint tofollow. We hope they will contribute to your ownanalysis, questions and learning and allow you toinnovate and probe more deeply as you go.

ANOTHER WORLD IS NOT ONLY POSSIBLE, SHE'S ON HER WAY. AND IF YOULISTEN CAREFULLY ON A QUIET DAY YOU CAN HEAR HER BREATHING."

ARUNDHATI ROY, INDIAN ACTIVIST AND NOVELIST

? Questions for reflection

1 What does development mean to you?

2 In what way might planning, monitoring,and review and reflection processessupport or hinder development?

3 To what degree do our planning,monitoring and review and reflectionprocesses support our aims ofempowerment, alliance building andtransforming power?

4 How do our answers influence the waywe carry out these processes?

38

www.actionaid.org

PLANNING At its most basic, planning should help us:

• identify the key changes we want

• develop effective strategies to get what we want and

• design ways to monitor their progress

• determine what resources and knowledge are required

• ensure our work is cost-effective.

Planning for people-centred advocacy, however isparticipatory and also seeks to increase the capacity of marginalised groups, strengthen their organisationsand alliances and deepen their leadership by involvingthem in the process as analysts and decision-makers (see box).

Allowing sufficient time and attention to properly planadvocacy work is frequently neglected. Oftenorganisations rush into planning and decide on a wholeset of activities without paying enough attention to theopportunities and threats of the current context, or tohow power operates at different levels in their society.They haven’t examined how the particular strategiesthey have selected actually respond to these dynamicsor to the assumptions behind them about how changehappens. Contextual and power analysis should be keystages in the process to ensure more effective actions.

How we carry out planning in people-centred advocacydepends on the size and type of organisation ororganisations involved and the type of advocacy being done. A process that is appropriate for a largeinternational network or national coalition is unlikely tosuit the planning requirements of a small grassrootsorganisation.

39


Participatory planning for people-centred advocacy, with its joint

analysis, agenda-setting anddecision-making, can help:

Build organisations and networks ofthe poor and marginalised:Participatory analysis and decision-makinghelps strengthen leadership andcommunication within and amongorganisations and reaffirm values ofsolidarity, equality and respect.

Promote political awareness andconfidence: By developing criticalanalysis and deepening knowledge aboutpower and politics, people can developgreater understanding of power dynamicsas well as a sense of their rights andresponsibilities (citizenship), and self-esteem.

Strengthen planning for negotiation:By developing a clear idea of the changesthat people want and a map of interestsand levels of power among the keyplayers, activists can better prepare forpotential negotiation and the give and takeof power in advocacy.

Expand constituencies: When we reachout to people in our advocacy – particularlythose suffering most from the problem –more people will be informed, motivatedand active thus giving the campaign morelegitimacy and clout.

Advocacy planning is cyclical process sopeople and communities who were notinvolved in initial stages of planning can beincluded later when plans are beingreviewed and modified.

* When should planning take place?

Because advocacy has its own rhythmshaped by many external factors, planningshould fit this rhythm and NOT the rhythmof a project cycle or donor financial year.This timeframe will depend on the context.For example:

• The food rights campaign in ActionAidInternational decided its planning cycleshould be in step with the UN cycle ofInternational Conferences on World Tradeas these were key international advocacyevents.

• The SUCAM campaign in Kenya, whichinitially was trying to influence anupcoming parliamentary Bill, found itsplanning cycle had to be very short –only a month – as the external contextwas changing so fast.

• The Uganda Land Alliance in itsgrassroots work on mediation andeducation on land rights has found thecontext is not changing very rapidly and a cycle of a year usually works quiteeffectively.

In every case, unforeseen events andcircumstances can lead to the need tochange plans, alter or postpone activities,implement actions more quickly or invest innew initiatives. For example, theannouncement by the Government ofUganda that it was going to acquire landfor foreign investment became a priorityadvocacy issue for the Uganda LandAlliance even though it was not in theirstrategic plan for the year. While thisaffected their national level work, it did not immediately impact their grassrootsactivities.

*

40

www.actionaid.org

Analysing power and context

There are many methods and tools that canhelp us understand how power operates inthe context of where we work. Sometimes wejust need to add some new questions ordimensions to the frameworks and methodswe already use.

Questions that can help us include:

• What is the specific problem and issue weare working on and what right or rights arebeing denied or violated in the situation?What is their current status, eg are theyrecognised in law? If so, are they beingenforced?

• What has blocked poor and marginalisedpeople from exercising their full rights onthis issue?

• How do these power dynamics impact ongender relations in this situation, and morespecifically on the guarantee of rights ofwomen and girls?

• What societal players are involved indiscussions on this matter? Who are thepotential allies that we wish to develop?Who are the adversaries that we need toface or challenge? Who has not yetestablished a clear stance on the matter?

• What proposals and interests are beingdefended and challenged? Who will theseproposals benefit, and whom will they affect negatively?

We can then go deeperto investigate strategies:

• When you look at all the forces undermining the guarantee of this right, what is the mainleverage point that could make a realdifference in power dynamics? What couldunleash a process of change in publicpolicies in this area? What, if not achievedas quickly as possible, will work against thechanges we wish to obtain over themedium and long-term?

• How can we address the specific impactsof these unfair power relations on womenand girls?

• Taking into account the realities of theplayers engaged in the struggle, whereshould we concentrate our energy andresources? Where can we really make adifference in reversing the power relationsthat are blocking the access to rights and resources?

• What is our current power to make adifference and promote social change (both as an organisation within networks)?How can we develop power in the shortand long-term to make our advocacy more effective?

See Main resource pack Section 3: Analysing Powerand Context for Exercises on Naming the Moment,Naming the Powerful, Faces of Power and Factors ofExclusion, Subordination and Privilege which are usefulfor looking at other ways in which power operates. Seealso section on Power in this booklet.

*

Moments of planning can include:

Developing a vision of long-term changeDeveloping a common vision of a better world can help generate commitment, solidarity and a sense ofpurpose. Often this is done in terms of power relations– envisioning ideal decision-making processes ormore egalitarian relationships at different levels – from

families to communities, NGOs, social movements or governments. Sometimes it is focused on the specific problem a group is facing such as housingrights. Visioning can be done by just talking andsharing ideas or through short plays, drawings, songsand other creative methods. Such visions are helpful to groups when they enter into negotiating processes as they give them direction about what is negotiableand what is not.

41


Looking at ourselvesBy clarifying our individual and organisationalperspectives, values and ideas about change andjustice, we can explore differences in a respectful wayand strengthen our sense of community and synergy.Similarly we can challenge ourselves to be moreconsequent with our commitment to overcomingpoverty and discrimination. We can do this by exploringthe forces that have shaped us as well as our personaland organisational histories, political assumptions and values.

Analysing the context, problem and power dynamics This includes assessing the current situation (oftencalled a baseline or assessment study) and analysingthe context, problem, possible issues and related power dynamics. A variety of questions can be useful:

• To narrow down the problem to an issue: What aresome of the key causes of the problem we are tryingto overcome? Which of these can we best tacklegiven our resources and the current context?

• To understand the context and overall powerdynamics: What do we think are the most importantforces, players, trends and events affecting thisparticular issue either to our advantage ordisadvantage? (See box on Analysing powerand context for more detail).

Developing an overall long-term change strategyWith the specific problem and issue in mind, thismoment identifies the concrete changes and results wewant to achieve in the long-term - changes in people’slives and in the relations and structures of power. Herewe also critically examine our assumptions, concepts,underlying ideas (theories) and perceptions about howchange happens and how power operates to begin tooutline the mix of strategies appropriate for achievingthe desired changes. Exercises such as pathways ofinfluence can be useful here (see page 45).

Developing a time-bound plan Here we discuss what we want to achieve in themedium and short-term to provide direction for eachadvocacy initiative we undertake. Again we focus firston the concrete changes and results we want from ourwork in this timeframe and then we develop ourspecific strategies and activities for the initiative.

Questions to ask might include:

• Taking into account the long-term changes, we wantto ask what changes are possible and important inthe short and medium-term?

• Being more specific, what changes are needed inempowerment and organisation of the impoverishedand marginalised, and in government, business, civil society organisations and alliances, culture and ourselves?

• Who in power can make the decisions that will helpbring about these changes?

• Who will oppose us and who will support us?

Again the pathways of influence exercise can be useful(see page 45).

Deciding on strategies, tactics, actions oractivities for the short and medium-term. Once we are clear about the changes we want andhow context and power dynamics may affect our workwe can better assess which type of strategies, tacticsand activities are most appropriate. We will need torevisit our analysis of power to assess any risks orpotential backlash that our actions may incur. After wehave set forth a variety of potential activities andactions, we then need to stand back and reflect onwhat is actually possible given the context andresources. Prioritising becomes crucial.

The following questions can be useful:• If we are correct about the situation, our analysis of

power, and the short and medium-term changes wewant, what actions and activities do we think willcontribute to these changes? What hidden andinvisible forms of power may affect our success andhow do we address them?

• Why do we think those actions will deliver thoseoutcomes in that situation? Do they really address theway power is operating to prevent change on thisissue?

• What level of resources would these actions requirein terms of time and money?

• Given our resources and the overall context, whichones can we do most effectively?

42

www.actionaid.org

* Using contextual analysis: Nepal’s Dalit Federation

Activists from the Dalit NGO Federation(DNF) used a contextual analysis to analysethe power structures, forces and trends inNepal that cause discrimination againstDalits as a way to provide useful informationfor planning and strategising future advocacy.

They used a Venn diagram to map differentstructures and forces with the size of the circle representing relative power andoverlaps suggesting relationships.They then discussed the following questions:

• Does one force or structure seem to be more important in affecting dalit’s lives?

• What challenges andopportunities does that pose to us foradvocacy and change?

• What does the diagram say tous about our advocacyopportunities, obstacles andpotential risks?

They identified culture (bothreligion and tradition) as the mostimportant influence perpetuatingcaste-based discrimination anduntouchability in Nepal’spredominantly Hindu society. Thisis also seen as responsible for thesub-caste stratification that existsamong dalits and for sustainingthe schism between and amongdifferent dalit groups.

Next the activists identified specificinstitutions and organisations within thepower structures in their Venn diagram andidentified the key decision-makers withinthese organisations, pooling their knowledgeon the opinions of these people regardingthe Dalit issue. They were able to draw up a list of their key allies, supporters and strong opponents, along with the maindecision-makers and those with the mostinfluence (visible or invisible) in the decision-making process. This was then used toidentify opportunities and challenges foradvocacy work.

MEMBERS OF DNF CARRYING OUT CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS

43


Some suggestions fordeveloping strategies ininternational campaigns

Strategy development should be undertakenby all members of the campaign teamworking together and should be based onprocesses that encourage joint agenda-setting, analysis and decision-making withnational and local groups as much aspossible. It should include:

• Analysis of the issue. Breaking the issueinto its component parts and assessingwhich is most important. How does theissue affect the people you are workingwith/for – what changes do they need orwant to see?

• Selecting the most strategic issue foradvocacy by exploring the root causes ofthe problem and analysing what needs tochange for the problem to be resolved.

• Clearly defining what it is you want to seechanged. What solutions are beingproposed by you and others?

• Analysing the decision-making space.Which institutions can make decisionsregarding the issue? Who decides andwhen? Identifying primary and secondary‘targets’ for advocacy and policy influencing– those who can make the decision andthose who can influence these decision makers.

• Thinking about the opportunities thatexist to influence the issue. When arepolicies reviewed? Are there other eventsthat could be used to influence the debate?

• Identifying potential allies for this work.Prioritisation amongst allies and methodsneeded to bring them together.

• Identifying potential opponents. Whatarguments will they make, how can thesearguments be dealt with?

• Analysing your institutional capacity toundertake the advocacy, alongside thecapacity of allies. Who will do what? Whenwill human and financial resources beneeded? Brainstorming solutions to addressany weaknesses.

• Developing a strategy for influencing theprimary and secondary targets, usingvarious activities – lobby meetings,seminars and conferences, policy briefingsand research documentation, exposurevisits, media coverage, campaigning, etc.

• Agreeing clear goals/aims and objectivesand planning activities and individualresponsibilities. These should all be SMART– specific, measurable, achievable, realisticand time-bound.

From: Hilary Coulby Guidance note on planning and monitoring internationalcampaigns in ActionAid International 2005 Advocacy Action ResearchWorking Paper 3, ActionAid (see CD Rom)

*

44

www.actionaid.org

Who makesdecisions?

Local government

Architects andcontractors

Population ofHeliópolis

What do wewant?

Influence localgovernment toimplementdemanded publichousing policies

How to do this?

Participate inHousing Forumwhere projects aredebated; meetwith localgovernment

Inform andmobilisecommunity

Who among uswill do it?

UNAS Housing taskgroups andHeliópolisHomelessMovement will lead

Groups ofmobilised dwellersin project areas

Are we faror close?

Meetings tomonitor progress

Weekly: UNASHousing taskgroups

Monthly: Resident’sassembly

Indicators:• is government

implementingproject asapproved bycommunity?

• are residentssupervisingproject?

What have we achieved?

Agreed design ofhousing projectwith localgovernment

Project incorporatescommunitysupervision ofimplementation

Project houses tobe registered inname of one adultfemale

One line of UNAS’s planning summary chart

* UNAS: a social movement and participatory planning

UNAS, a grassroots movement in Heliópolis,Brazil, has been undertaking action learningto strengthen its planning. They started byrevisiting why it is so important to plan theiradvocacy work. The answer was clear: tomake their struggle for housing rights inHeliópolis more effective. Past experienceshowed clearly that lack of careful planninghad resulted in wasting energy, time andresources on activities that hadn’t led to thedesired changes. As one leader said:

‘We started to see that if we do not investour time in thinking before we act, we canjust run around a lot without arrivinganywhere.’

UNAS decided to base their planningexercise on some simple but importantquestions:

a What do we want? For this year, what isreally fundamental for us to achieve in ourstruggle for housing rights?

b Who makes decisions? Who are the key players with power who can blockor support the changes we want topromote this year?

c How to do this? What are the beststrategies for dealing with these playersand gaining the changes in ourhousing rights?

Starting from these questions the debateflowed very easily, with all participants ableto contribute. They had interesting debateson power and gender – drawing on Brazil’slong history of social struggle. But they alsostarted to feel that something was missing.So, three further questions were added:

d Who among us will do it? Who,specifically, in UNAS and Heliópolis would be in charge of ensuring eachstrategy was actually carried out?

e Are we close or far? How will we know if we are near or far to achieving whatwe want?

f What have we already achieved?

Using these questions UNAS found theyused less time to build a better and clearerplan, compared to previous experienceswhen they had used a complicatedframework which many did not understand.

45


Pathways of influence6

This builds on questions for developing an overallchanges strategy in a more visual way to show howinfluence on social actors may be achieved by moreindirect routes. We ask ourselves:

• what are we trying to achieve (this could be in theshort or long-term, but the long-term change desiredshould always be clear first, and we should examineif the short-term changes we seek will actually buildtowards it)?

• who are the main social actors that we are trying to influence?

• how we will go about this (given the activities andstrengths of ourselves, partners and other agents)?

The flow diagram below illustrates a sample of some ofthe pathways of influence used by the Community Self-Reliance Centre (CSRC) and tenant farmers in Nepal toput pressure on the government to amend andimplement land tenancy policies that protect their rights.

6 Ros David cited in Chapman & Wameyo 2001 Monitoring and Evaluating Advocacy, A Scoping Study, see CD Rom

WHAT?

WHO?

HOW?

National policy makers

Influence by creatingfavourable public opinion

Influence by engaging withand mobilising sympathetic,influential individuals such

as MPs, members ofpolitical parties, activists

and journalists to take partin protests, interviews and

press activities

Influence through media advocacy:

launching publications, issuing appeals and

releasing press statements

Influence by taking theland tenancy rights issueto a national audience ofintellectuals, journalists

and the public at a publicforum in the capital

Local/district policyimplementers

To increase the time limit in the Lands Act of Nepal fortenant farmers to claim 50% of the land they cultivate

Influence relevantgovernment offices by

engaging with their staffand identifying champions

IInfluence by building anational network of NGOs,

CBOs, representatives of thegovernment and affectedpeople, journalists andinfluential individuals

Influence by conductingresearch and writingpublications to inform

lawmakers of the problem

Influence throughlarge visible protestslike Dharnas (sit-ins)

and Gheraeos(encircling) held bythe affected farmers

Tenant farmers influencerelevant government offices

(District Land RevenueOffice) by exerting pressurethrough constant visits tofollow up their tenancy

rights claims

Risk analysis

Questions that you might askyourselves in a risk analysis include:

1 What are the risks? What are the majorthings that might go wrong with thisstrategy or action that might endangerpeople’s lives, provoke a backlash orplace people’s health, the advocacy effortor your organisation in jeopardy?

2 What is the potential impact of this risk?(How serious would it be to us, thepeople we are supporting, or the issue, ifit happened?) Decide whether the answeris high, medium or low according to thecategories below.

3 How likely is it that this negative situationwill happen (the likelihood)? Again,decide whether it is high, medium or low(see below).

You might just discuss the questions or you can use cards to calculate risk moresystematically. For example, you canbrainstorm risks and write each one on adifferent card (question 1). This is followedby a discussion of the rest of the questionsas they apply to each card. You can thenplace the cards on a risk grid such as the

one given in the Main resource packSection 3: Risk Analysis (page 93) and askanother set of questions that probes whatstrategies you can develop to counter ormitigate any dangers or risk.

For risk cards that have high impact or highlikelihood you should then go on to discuss:

1 What could you do to reduce the riskand to protect the group, organisation and yourself if your actions didn’t workas planned?

*

46

www.actionaid.org

Risk analysisChallenging power is always risky, with potential forbacklash and conflict. To some extent this isunavoidable, however in any advocacy effort there are arange of strategies and actions open to us. Which oneswe select will depend on a number of things – riskamong them. Carrying out a structured risk assessmentcan help in selecting strategies, or thinking through howto minimise risk (see box below).

Impact

High – catastrophic, threatensfuture existence of organisationor group, endangers people’slives, or could lead tosignificant reversal in issue

Medium – damaging,substantial effect but notthreatening future

Low – noticeable but littleeffect on our advocacy

Likelihood

High – likely to happen innext x years/months(depending on time ofanalysis you select) or iscurrently occurring

Medium – could happen innext x years/months

Low – surprising if ithappened in next xyears/months.

47


For additional reading and resources on planning on CD Rom see:


Planning

UNAS: A social movement and participatory planning (case study)

Section 3

Some ideas to support planning: methods and tools

• Setting up a monitoring system

Some ideas to support monitoring: methods and tools

• Indicators

• Facilitation skills and qualities

• Questioning and listening

• Analysing power and context

• Using contextual analysis: Nepal’s DalitFederation (case study)

• Addressing gender and women’s rights

• Empowerment: some ideas to support planning,assessing and learning

• Risk Analysis

Working Paper 3:Planning an International Campaign

Other useful resources

Notes to Accompany ALPS: Section on strategies.See box 3 Strategy planning, Elimu campaignMonitoring and Evaluating Advocacy: A Scoping Study

48

www.actionaid.org

MONITORINGMonitoring is about knowing the positive and negativeaspects of our advocacy efforts. It is the regular andongoing collection and analysis of information on theprogress of our work.

Monitoring is helpful when:

• the information generated by the process is bothUSEFUL and USED

• it supports empowerment and collective action

• It is NOT too time consuming.

We monitor the following things in people-centredadvocacy:

1 the actions and activities we planned

2 the changes that we hope to achieve as a result ofour actions – changes in people’s lives, in their rightsand in power structures and relations

3 the empowerment of those affected and thealliances they are successfully building

4 any unintended consequences of the strategies andtactics we use

5 and as part of this, we monitor how the overallcontext in which we do our advocacy is changing

6 the resources we have invested: time, energy, money

All this monitoring contributes to our ability to review,reflect and learn from our work so that we can applythat learning to improve our actions going forward.

Before thinking about designing and setting up amonitoring system it is important to be clear aboutwhat changes we are trying to achieve and how webelieve social change actually happens and can besustained. When these are clear, the sort of informationthat will tell us whether or not we are on track becomesmuch more evident (see Section 1 – Social Change).Therefore, thinking about monitoring has to be part ofthe planning process itself when we are deciding onthe actual changes we want to promote with ouradvocacy. In this way, we can connect the changes wewant to achieve with the development of possiblemarkers or indicators of success.

What does monitoring involve?Monitoring involves setting up and then using a systemof information. A monitoring system is a series of stepsand procedures that details how relevant informationwill be collected and provided to the right people at theright time to make decisions. All monitoring systemsshould try to be clear, simple and useable. They willoften involve different steps that lead up to their use indecision-making about how to improve currentstrategies and design new ones.

Monitoring can be both formal (where information aboutthe progress of our work is written down and recordedin reports) and informal (impressions from key playersand from our own observations). Unfortunately there isoften a disconnect between formal monitoring which isusually just done for donors and the informal monitoringwe do all the time as we make continual judgementsabout how well our advocacy is going. This was shownclearly at a workshop on planning, reviewing andlearning from advocacy held in Africa during the action research:

As discussions at the workshop progressed, itemerged that there was a ‘mental divide’ in the mindsof some participants between the idea of formalmonitoring and evaluation, and the type of ongoingreflection that they undertook as a matter of course.The majority of participants were able to mentionchanges they saw in attitudes and power dynamics atcommunity levels. However, this information wasgenerally based on ad hoc observation and did notappear to be written down. There is perhaps theperception that these types of observation are too‘obvious’ to warrant writing down7.

6 Earle 2005

49


Design and set upThe following steps to establish a monitoring systemare best carried out during planning:

• identify who should and wants to be involved

• clarify participants’ expectations of the monitoringprocess, and in what way each person or groupwants to contribute

• define the priorities for monitoring and reviewingadvocacy; think about what changes are to beachieved

• identify what information is needed to best monitoractions and changes you want to achieve (this mayinclude indicators)

• agree on the methods, responsibilities and timing of information collection.

It can be very helpful to include financial staff atthe initial stages of setting up your monitoring system.Managing and monitoring financial performance is an essential part of all monitoring activities and sharinginformation about how much particular activities costis a key part of accountability.

Steps in the processHere are some ideas to support setting up and using amonitoring system for gathering key information on theprogress of our work.

When establishing participatory monitoring systems,several steps are important to consider. These are setout below. While they are presented in a sequence ofsteps, the reality of the process and participation bycommunities and allies will inevitably be very differentaccording to circumstances. Some steps will bejumped, others maybe repeated. All systems will bedifferent depending on the type of organisation and the advocacy being undertaken.

Gathering and managing information – reflecting critically to improve action

These next steps are carried out continuously once you begin your advocacy actions:

• collect the information and continue to monitoractivities and changes

• analyse the information, looking at context, power and gender, etc.

• agree on how the findings are to be used and by whom

• apply findings and modify strategies and actions as necessary; clarify if monitoring should continue as before.

• the information supports you in your reflection,reviews and learning and in your efforts to share theinformation within the organisation and share it withothers beyond your group. It also is a basis for youraccountability with colleagues, partners, supportersand donors.

For organisations the key to monitoring is to also haveregular meetings (every 1-3 months or after a majoradvocacy event while events are still fresh in people’sminds) to monitor your work. These 1-2 hour monitoringmeetings enable you to reflect on your plans andactions, ask questions about the work, share lessonsand challenges, review budgets and variances andmake any adjustment to ongoing plans. A record ofthese meetings should be made. This can be in theform of notes, a short progress report or whatever isappropriate. This information supports you in yourreviews and learning and enables you to share it withothers beyond your group for both learning andaccountability purposes.

Keeping advocacy diaries andprocess documentation havemade it much easier to keeprecords of events and activities,

and then critical reflection has helped toexamine our own past experiences andactivities and to learn from them for futureadvocacy campaigns. Shrestha 2005 Nepal Evaluation

*

The experience of UNAS in Brazilsuggests that beginning a basic process of monitoring contributesto improving both strategies and

future planning efforts. UNAS’s monitoringinvolved keeping a central written record ofevents, decisions made at meetings andnotes of changes that seem to beappearing as a result of their actions.

*

50

www.actionaid.org

In advocacy it is very important in addition to seekfeedback on a regular basis from our allies and othersdoing similar work. It can be helpful to organise thisbefore we carry out a particular event or advocacyactivity so that the people in question are primed to payattention to detail. Similarly when we are involved inmajor advocacy activities involving a big delegation ofpeople it can be useful to arrange for one person topay particular attention to monitoring. This may involvemaking notes about the language and behaviour ofadvocacy targets.

Qualitative descriptions of our work must also includequantitative measurements of the resources andservices delivered through the intervention. While notpretending to draw direct causal relationships betweenthe two, it is important to identify any patterns thatmight emerge. Comments and trends regardingpatterns of expenditure and costs need to be analysed and discussed at all levels.

What to monitorThe types of information to be collected need to bethought about carefully. Most systems produce fartoo much information and as a result are not used for learning or for adjusting and improving plans and strategies.

A good starting point is to determine what basicinformation is required to support empowerment,decision-making, learning, communication needs andaccountability requirements to constituencies, allies andpartners. It will be important to make sure that anyinformation you intend to collect links to the decisionsthat you need to make.

The challenge is NOT to collect lots of data but todevelop systems that are manageable and actuallyused – systems that allow us to look at the realchanges we see resulting from our advocacy strategiesand plans. In particular for people-centred advocacy weneed to capture the shifts achieved in powerrelationships affecting our issues, including genderrelationships. As we do this we always need to includea new look at contextual factors. We also need tomonitor and analyse our finances on an on-going basis.

As part of the monitoring effort it is important to alsoselect the most appropriate language, format and waysto handle, store and share information to ensure it canbe accessed and used by all those engaged in

advocacy. It is not enough to just gather information; we also need to ensure that it is understandable andaccessible to all key players. When we talk aboutinformation we need to consider a broad range ofpossible communication methods: writing (eg diaries,short reports, stories of change), talking, drawing, actingand video, among others.

Above is an example of a simple reporting format thatActionAid Uganda developed for their ongoing learningand monitoring processes.

Once monitoring has begun, a good test for checking iftypes of information should continue to be collected iswhether or not it is being used in decision-makingand/or reporting. If it is not, you should ask yourself whynot and whether it makes sense to continue to collectthat information.

Example of a simple reporting format (ActionAid Uganda Alpsguidelines, 2000)

Quarterly report for.... (Programme)......for(period)

• Planned activities/objectives for the lastquarter.

• Progress against theseactivities/objectives.

• Other achievements during the reportingperiod, including any innovation.

• Failures/challenges met, and reasons.

• Are we making a difference? What difference?

• For whom?

• Main learning points (including thosearising from quarterly fora).

• What "works" and what doesn't?

• Proposed changes for next quarter;suggestions for the future.

*

51


Choosing indicatorsThere is a trend towards indicator-less advocacywhere we ask ourselves key questions rather thanusing pre-set indicators. When used with criticalthinking, indicators can help give us an idea of howmuch progress we are making in our efforts toimprove people’s lives, to change power relations andto promote the rights of the poor and marginalised.But they are not the only way to do this. Coming fromthe words to indicate or to show, indicators areinformation that shows us how we are doing. Theyare used in monitoring systems as a concrete way tocollect and organise information.

On one level, an indicator is information that helps show us what changes are occurring as a result of our actions. For example, are landlessfarmers getting land titles? Are women inheriting their homes when their husbands die? Are girls going to school past 2nd or 3rd grade? Are school booksportraying dalit girls in active positive roles in thecommunity? Are NGOs sharing decisions withgrassroots groups in setting advocacy agendas?Answering these types of questions gives usinformation that indicates whether our work is leading to the changes in people’s lives, powerand rights that we want to achieve.

PARALEGALS OF PAKCHORWA IN UGANDA COMMUNICATING THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS THROUGH SONG

* Monitoring changes in powerand gender in ActionAid Brazil

The [monitoring] system should make itpossible to analyse how [advocacy] isaffecting power relations, i.e. observing whois being empowered in organisations,communities and society. It should alsoassess whether conditions are being createdin which project participants can developtheir own capacities for analysing power.Useful questions include:

Poverty – In order to break the cycle ofincreasing social inequities and poverty, what power relations must be changed? In what way are our actions contributing to these changes?

Gender – What power relations generateinequalities between men and women? In what way is our work contributing tochanging these inequities?

Participation – What channels and spaces of political participation exist in thecommunities for encouraging interaction with public power? In what way are ouractions helping the local population to feelcapable of occupying these spaces? Whyare people participating? To what degree o participants feel empowered by the waywe do advocacy?

Adapted from Silva, A 2003

52

www.actionaid.org

Points that are useful to keep in mind when selecting indicators:

• Keep them simple.

• Don’t select too many – you are unlikely toactually use them if you do, they wonthelp you in focusing your advocacy work,and if you do try to collect information onall of them you will waste a lot of time.

• It is important that indicators do notgenerate a lot of extra work in theircollection. If they are already available –that is they can be collected from existingsources of information – then it will savetime in collecting extra information.

• If the information is not already available,the cost and effort in collecting it shouldbe taken into account.

• Does the indicator measure what you want it to?

• Is the indicator clear for everyone involvedin your people-centred advocacy work tounderstand? Will it motivate them?

• Can the indicator be measured over timeby different people?

• Can the indicator show how socialchanges are affecting different socialgroups such as men and women orby age or caste?

*

On another level, indicators can also tell us whether theactivities and actions we have planned are actuallyhappening as we intended. For example, they can tellus how many workshops were held with how manyparticipants, how many of the planned visits to officialswere made, etc. These help us monitor whether we aredoing what we planned but do not give us an idea ofwhat changes we might be producing as a result ofthese actions. That’s why it’s important to monitor boththe implementation of our actions and the changes thatwe think are being produced as a result, both thepositive and negative changes as well as theunintended consequences.

Indicators only indicate – they do not tell the whole story. For example, indicators do not explainwhy progress did or did not occur. It should be remembered that they are only one among manyreflection and learning tools that help us evaluate ourefforts. Advocacy goals often shift as the contextchanges and as we learn more about power and whatchanges are needed to transform it and advancepeople’s rights. This means that pre-set outcomes maynot be the best yardstick by which to measure orassess our progress. Indicators of success may need tochange accordingly. An indicator that was relevant atthe start of a particular advocacy strategy may lose itsrelevance as the advocacy widens or shifts its focus.

In many cases setting out key questions in themonitoring framework is a better guide to identifying the information needed for regular learning andreflection purposes.

53


Quantitative

• number of tenant farmers aware of rights

• participation of womenand other marginalisedcastes or ethnic groupsin campaign

Qualitative

• increased mobilisation of affected communities

• sense of ownership of the campaign

• enhanced confidence of tenant farmers inactivists’ work

* Developing indicators by an NGO in Nepal: CommunitySelf-Reliance Centre (CSRC)

Activists from CSRC recognised the needto develop a more specific set ofindicators for monitoring their landtenancy rights campaign to replace thevery general indicators they had beenusing for annual reporting purposes. Theywanted more helpful and concreteindicators to:

• monitor how close they were toachieving their campaign goals and tohelp identify the changes needed instrategies to support their goals

• periodically analyse progress and measurechange in the lives of poor andmarginalised people

• promote discussion and debate aboutwhat was happening at grassroots, districtand national levels, to form the basis forfurther planning and action

• generate relevant and useful information to enable decision-makers to make better decisions to improve the quality of their work.

Developing indicatorsActivists from CSRC and the tenant farmercommunity first discussed which advocacystrategies were most important to monitorwith indicators. Each participant proposedand argued for the strategies they saw as themost significant. It was important that thetenant farmers, not CSRC, made the finaldecisions. After identifying the strategies andprioritising them, participants worked toidentify indicators that would tell themwhether the strategies were producing thechanges they wanted.

The facilitator had to give carefulconsideration to power dynamics in thegroup to ensure that everyone was heardand that the indicators could be understoodand used by people at grassroots levels whowould apply them. The discussionsgenerated a long list of possible advocacystrategies and related indicators. It wasimportant to help the tenant farmers focusand prioritise these. Throughout the process,they were asked to critically reflect on howthey would use the indicators. The processgave participants a sense of ownership andmade the indicators more relevant andpractical to use.

The example indicators below weredeveloped for the changes that oneprioritised advocacy strategy was intended to produce – contributing to building thecapacity of grassroots activists:

MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY SELF-RELIANCE CENTRE IN NEPAL DEVELOPING INDICATORS

54

www.actionaid.org

Monitoring international campaigns

Improvements in the lives of people andcommunities are the ultimate criteria formeasuring success of an internationalcampaign. However, since achievingchanges in policy and ensuring these aretranslated into practice takes a considerableamount of time, it is important to set interimobjectives that can be monitored year-on-year. Having a clear set of objectives andchange objectives is the key to effectivemonitoring of campaigns. Thinking throughthe monitoring process and identifyingindicators for success is best done whilestrategies are being developed.

Six inter-related elements should beconsidered in setting aims and objectivesagainst which the campaign will beassessed:

• Policy gains: changes in institutions, policies, legislation, behaviours and practice that promote the rights ofimpoverished and marginalised groups and address their problems.

• Political and democratic gains: getting theissue on the agenda for public debate;gaining increased recognition for civilgroups as legitimate actors; increasing thedemocratic space within which civilgroups can operate; improving access tonational governments and internationalinstitutions.

• Individual gains: specific improvements in the lives of the disenfranchised – theirlivelihoods, their sense of confidence, and their ability to exercise and advancetheir rights.

• Civil society gains: strengtheningcooperation (rather than competition)between civil groups; strengthening theleadership of the poor and marginalisedand their organisations; the developmentof skills needed to successfully holdgovernments and internationalorganisations to account.

Related to gains in civil society are:• Partnership gains: strong relationships

built between groups in the South, andbetween the South and the North that:enable sharing of experience andknowledge from different regions; allow a division of labour and less duplication in activities; form the basis for long termcooperative action; and thus createalliances that can reach a wide variety of policy-makers, donors and media tocreate a larger ‘voice’.

• Organisational gains: developmentof a strong campaign; increases in cross-programme learning and interaction;organisations involved regarded as serious players by decision-makers and those that influence them;organisational profile increases;awareness of the issue amongstsupporters increases; supporters becomemore active on the issue; fundraising/donor support for the issue improves.

Adapted from Working Paper Number 3 - Guidance note on planning andmonitoring international campaigns in ActionAid, 2005 Hilary Coulby

*

55


Reviews, impactassessment and evaluation

Reviews are processes that includeassessing and making judgements on our work – they are sometimes also calledimpact assessment or evaluations. From one perspective reviewing is a process we should be doing all the time as weimplement our advocacy. However there is great value in setting aside specific time for this to allow us to probe more deeply.

To avoid confusion we have chosen to onlyuse the term review to refer to these set-aside moments of review and reflection, notfor the on-going critical thinking that weshould be undertaking continuously. Formany organisations review and reflectionprocesses are ones that they do regularlythemselves with the participation of thosethey work with to learn from their work andimprove their planning, whereas impactassessment is a term used for moreoccasional and systematic processes thatinvolve outsiders looking back at our workover the longer term.

*

For additional reading and resources on monitoring on CD Rom see:


Introduction to monitoring

Section 3

Ideas, methods, frameworks and tools

Some ideas to support monitoring - methods and tools

Case studies

• ULA: Monitoring the work of paralegals atthe land rights information centres

• Developing Indicators by an NGO in Nepal;Community Self Reliance Centre

• Developing Indicators by a grass rootsorganisation - UNAS

Other useful sections relevant to monitoring:

• Facilitation

• Questioning

• Some ideas to support planning, assessing andlearning from empowerment

• Gender analysis

• Networks

Section 4: Workshop case study materials

UNAS: the challenges of information

Working Paper 3: Guidance note on planning and monitoring international campaigns in ActionAid,2005, Hilary Coulby


Notes to accompany ALPS

Monitoring and Evaluating Advocacy - A Scoping Study 2001, ActionAid, JenniferChapman and Amboka Wameyo

56

www.actionaid.org

The need for a supportive environment

Carrying out these moments of reflection,learning and re-planning can be challenging.Because they explore failures and successesand ask us to be critical, we can find themthreatening unless there is openness toquestioning and constructive criticism in thegroup. Analysing our own work or that of ourcolleagues can also raise interpersonalissues and tensions. Power dynamics needto be considered and addressed at thesetimes – both to ensure that all canparticipate fully and that these momentsprovide opportunities for accountability. To do this, we need to balance dual roles.While trying to be fair in our assessments of our organisation’s work and our individualperformance, we are also trying to hold each other accountable to high standards of performance.

Organisational leadership plays a specialrole in seeking and creating a climate andspace for frank discussion and learning – aspace where we can feel safe in raisingquestions and making judgements. Creatinga learning organisation is never easy andmust be done with sensitivity and honestyand a genuine spirit of inquiry. If not, it canlead to cynicism, fear and alienation. Forexample, once a participatory process hasrecommended a given strategy or action, itshould be heeded unless another openreview warrants rethinking thosejudgements. Otherwise people will see theirefforts to review the organisation’s work anddirections as meaningless.

*

REVIEW AND REFLECTION FOR LEARNING AND RE-PLANNINGTo help learn from their experiences, groups review whatthey are doing and accomplishing and reflect on themin a critical way. These processes contribute to learningand when done in a participatory manner,empowerment. They allow us to draw lessons from ouractions that build our knowledge about power, changeand advocacy. With these insights we can decide whichstrategies and actions need rethinking or discarding andreadjust our plans accordingly.

Reviews, reflection, learning and re-planning shouldmake our advocacy more effective. If we don’t take time to reflect and learn, there is a real danger thatour advocacy activities will not be able to respond to the ever-changing world around us and the powerdynamics that shape our work. We will risk makingsimilar mistakes more than once or not seizeopportunities that present themselves.

In advocacy, it is always important to ask ourselves hardquestions about our work and our ideas about powerand social change. To do this, we need to support andchallenge each other to think critically and creativelyabout what we have done, what we have been able toaccomplish, and what we have not. As we do this, weneed to step back and analyse the shifts and changesin the context and power relations that have occurredover the time of our work. Often this step is overlooked,yet it is crucial both to assessing our impact and makingadjustments in strategies.

57


• the time and place in which reflection occurs:Whether a group can easily establish an appropriatemental state for critical reflection is linked to the timeand place chosen for review and analysis. If theparticipants are distracted by other responsibilitiessuch as worrying about child-care, or constantinterruptions, the task will be more challenging. It isimportant to find a comfortable, quiet place as it willbe harder to concentrate if the space is too hot, coldor noisy etc.

• interpersonal environment: Reflection andlearning requires an atmosphere of trust and respect.It is much harder in hierarchical situations or where aparticular group – for example women – are notexpected to speak up in public because of culturaltraditions and patriarchy. People have to feel that theiropinions will be valued and that it is possible toquestion the assumptions and suggestions of others.If there are power plays going on between twocamps or individuals, critical reflection and learningbecomes very difficult. We need to work constantly toovercome unjust power differences and culturalbarriers. There may be times when it is important tocreate a special environment that allows people toopen up more about issues that concern them – thismay mean holding reflection meetings in groups withonly women or only men for example.

• prior preparation: Serious thought needs to begiven to planning the meeting. The way questions areworded and the sequence in which they arediscussed will affect the success of the learning andreflection. The depth and detail of the key questionsyou reflect on will depend on many factors such aswho is involved and their experience in criticalthinking and reflection processes. Two example setsof questions are provided in boxes, one quite simplefor when we only have a short time, the other, whichcompliments the short list, encourages us to probeour assumptions in much greater depth.

• facilitation: It isn’t necessary to have an outsidefacilitator, it is possible to designate a particularperson as facilitator within the group, but it isimportant that someone takes responsibility forthis role.

When should this process happen?Reviewing, reflecting and learning should be constantprocesses incorporated into every aspect of advocacy.However, to ensure that we really manage to set asideenough time to do this properly, it is often best to thinkof them as a particular ‘moment’ in the advocacy loop.When we have carried out advocacy actions, we shouldset aside time to review what we have done and reflectand learn from those actions. In that way we can usethe learning to feed into our re-planning and make ourwork more effective. This should be done after eachmajor advocacy action. For many organisations orcampaigns – particularly ones that are bringingtogether people from different locations, the mostpractical way to do this is to use one meeting to first reflect and assess what has worked, and then use these insights to adjust the plans during the same meeting.

Making the process effectiveThere is no one right way to do reviews, reflection andlearning – these are processes that you should carryout yourselves for your own learning, so working outwhat works best for your organisation or team is mostimportant. As much as possible processes should belight, interesting and fun – but they also need to takeaccount of power dynamics within the group andexamine failures and problems. There may be timeswhen the process is confined to a small internal groupof activists, at other times it can be very valuable to asksomeone external to the advocacy struggle, but whoshares your values and political commitment, to carryout a formal (often called an impact assessment) orinformal review.

All this involves using critical thinking skills of analysisand questioning to dig deeper and test our judgementsand learning so that the knowledge we are developingcan be applied to re-planning and improving ouractions. Most importantly in people-centred advocacythese moments involve the critical thinking andparticipation of poor and excluded groups in analysingwhat has happened and drawing lessons thatstrengthen their own knowledge, sense ofempowerment and ability to exercise their rights.

Individual and collective abilities and experiences incritical thinking will make a difference as to how muchlearning our reflections produce. Other considerations totake into account are:

58

www.actionaid.org

Sample key questions for when we only have a little time

• What were we trying to do? (Refer back to plans)

• What changed as a result? Who benefited and who didn’t?

• What could we do better?

• What will we change?

*Examples of tools for reflection and learning processesVarious participatory tools can be useful for reflection andlearning purposes. As always HOW the tool is used andthe questions that are asked around it is more importantthat WHAT tool is used.

Timelimes can be used to reflect and learn from eventsand actions carried out over a short or long period byasking questions such as: what were the major turningpoints? Why do you think things evolved as they did?What problems did you encounter at this point? How didyou overcome them? How did things occurring in yourorganisation, community or the wider world at this momentin the timeline affect your work? How did you respond? Ifyou were to start all over again what would you change?

Case studies from different partners or other alliedgroups can provide more detailed learning we can draw from.

Exchange visits can probe case studies in more detailand allow for critical questioning and mutual learning (seeBox on learning from Indian organisations)

Venn diagrams can show changes in powerrelations between groups, institutions and individuals.

Matrix scoring can compare activists’ preferences for particular courses of action.

Flow diagrams can show direct and indirectchanges and relate them to causes.

Oral histories can show changes in organising, people’slives and power relationships over time.

Network diagrams can show changes in the type anddegree of contact between the group and other activistgroups, or the services providing the right the group isadvocating for.

• information: Reflection after a set of actions hasbeen implemented is helped by careful observationof what happened during the activities (monitoring) –it can help to designate a particular person inside oroutside the team to take the lead in this – and goodplanning, being clear what we are trying to do and, inparticular, the surfacing of assumptions before theactions are carried out. It is important to think aboutwhat the most useful amount of information on asubject is. Sometimes we need to collect extrainformation in addition to on-going monitoring toensure the review process has sufficient informationto allow good reflection. This will depend largely onthe scale and type of people-centred advocacy workbeing undertaken. For campaigns with significantscope such as international efforts it can be useful tocarry out some form of information gathering exercisesuch as:

• consultations with partners, allies andcommunities. These can range from the verysimple (asking a few key people questions face toface, via email or over the phone) to the complex.For example, AAI carried out a survey as part of its2004 global review which involved an outsidecompany sending anonymous questionnaires tostaff, partners and other relevant players worldwide.

• social audits. A social audit goes further than a survey of relevant players since a key purpose ispublic accountability. They are intended to makeorganisations more accountable to the social goalsthey espouse and can also be used for anorganisation’s own learning and accountabilityprocesses. A social audit must include theexperience of the people the organisation isintended to serve, and it looks at all aspects of theorganisation’s work: financial, management,programme, strategy, behaviour etc.

It is important to remember that the targets of ouradvocacy may not answer questions about ourinfluence honestly. They may not wish to admit thatthey can be influenced by us, or alternatively they may lead us to believe we have had more influencethan we actually have. We need to use our criticalthinking to help us interpret such information, andwherever possible compare information from differentsources (triangulation).

Once a supportive climate is created, these learningand re-planning moments can be relatively simple andeffective. At their most basic they mean setting asidetime to ask ourselves some key questions about whatwe are doing, why we are doing it, and whether wethink we are being effective.

59


Sample in-depth questions

1 Did we get the changes we wanted? Or, more realistically, what were the changes we got, and how well do these matchthose we sought?

• To the extent that we didn't get them, why not?

• What have we learnt?

2 In our contextual and power analyses and planning, in what ways has ourunderstanding about the situation deepened or changed? In what ways is itstill the same?

• Why have we changed our analysis?

• What relevant changes have happenedin the wider context?

• Do we need to revise any of ourassumptions?

• What have we learned? What might wedo differently in future?

3 In what ways might we have been moreeffective in our selection of strategies and tactics?

• Did the tactics work? Why/why not?

• What unintended impact might the tactics have had?

• With the deeper understanding we now have would we have chosen differentstrategies or tactics?

• What have we learned? What might wedo differently in future?

4 Did we succeed in carrying out theplanned actions? If not, what prevented ordiscouraged us? What have we learnedabout ourselves, our skills, our attitudesetc?

• If we did carry out the actions, did theyhave the effect that we expected? Do weneed to revise any of our assumptionsabout how change happens? Do weneed to revise any of our assumptionsabout how power operates?

• How did our opponents and supportersview our advocacy work?

• What was the financial cost of ourdifferent activities? Which representedvalue for money?

• What have we learned? What would wedo differently in future?

5 How well are we including others in ouradvocacy planning, reflections andactions?

6 How well are we addressing all thedifferent ways that power operates on thisissue to maintain the status quo andprevent positive change?

Adapted from Dick, B. 2002

*

60

www.actionaid.org

* Learning from Indian organisations

Members of three Nepali organisationsinvolved in land rights and dalit movements,the Dalit NGO Federation (DNF), theCommunity Self-reliance Centre (CSRC) and Saraswoti Community DevelopmentForum (SCDF) visited civil societyorganisations and communities in India aspart of a learning exchange. The visit helpedthem to reflect on their own work and thecontext in Nepal.

Reflecting on the work of the Indian Network of Voluntary Organisations ofKurnool district (NOVAK), the visitingparty found that the Indian organisationswere more ideologically clear about thedirection of their movement, where theyare now and where they want to get to,than the Nepali organisations. TheNepali visitors noted that NOVAKactively encourages the inclusion ofboth men and women in discussionsand campaign actions. Perhaps as aresult of this inclusion, the visiting partyfound that all groups of people wereequally aware of their problems and

rights, and of the movement and itsstrategies. In Nepal, only the family heads are included in the activities ofthe movement and these family heads are usually male.

The exchange raised thought-provokingquestions for the Nepali group about thescope of their work and who is involved. The intention is to use the learning indeveloping strategies to broadenparticipation, particularly of women.

PARTNERS IN NEPAL USING A TIMELINE TO REVIEW THEIR WORK

61


* Uganda Land Alliance review and reflection workshops

The Uganda Land Alliance (ULA) organiseda review and reflection workshop for ULAparalegals and Land Rights Desk Officers in Kapchorwa District. It was the firstopportunity for the paralegals and deskofficers to share their working experiencessince the establishment of the KapchorwaLand Rights Centre almost three yearsearlier.

The paralegals are a group of peopleselected from the community to be agents ofsocial change with a specific focus on landissues. The ULA train them in land laws,human rights, mediation skills and gender.The paralegals then educate the communityon their land rights, mediate land disputesand refer cases beyond their jurisdiction tothe Land Rights Information Centres. LandRights Desk Officers run the Land RightsInformation Centres and manage, monitorand support the paralegals with technicalguidance.

In this forum participants shared theirexpectations and thereafter were divided intogroups to discuss:

• What are the good or successful storiesyou have seen in your land rights work?

• What problems have you beenencountering in the course of your work atdifferent levels eg community, sub-county,district, or within your organisation?

• What are the major challenges you face inyour land rights work?

After plenary presentations and discussionthe paralegals and the desk officers againsplit into groups to discuss:

• How can paralegals, the community andthe ULA monitor evaluate our work on land rights?

• What would you suggest to be monitoringindicators in land rights work?

This was shared in plenary where the groups used different methods to give theirfeedback, among them songs, role plays,poems and flip-chart presentations. Themeeting then went on to discuss:

• What is the way forward based on thelearning generated at the workshop?

As a result of this meeting the ULA adoptedvarious new courses of action:

They have started to hold official launches ofparalegal work at sub-county level to try togain political recognition from others workingon land related issues. One finding thatemerged from the workshop was that therehad been considerable tension betweenparalegals and local and traditionalauthorities over who had authority andexpertise on land issues.

ULA also redesigned its capacity-buildingactivities to take place twice a year, insteadof only once, and to focus on areas of needsuggested by the paralegals, instead ofonly ones decided by the ULA. Areas where further capacity building wasrequested included mediation skills andgender sensitisation and analysis.

This initial review and reflection proved sosuccessful that ULA decided in future to hold them annually as one way to take stock across the organisation.

62

www.actionaid.org

For additional reading and resources on review and reflection CD Rom see:


Review and reflection for learning and re-planning

Section 3

Some ideas to support reflection:

Uganda Land Alliance review and relectionworkshops (case study)

Facilitation skills and qualities

Questioning and listening

Analysing power and context

Addressing gender and women’s rights

Empowerment: some ideas to supportplanning, assessing and learning

Critical timelines

Timelines as a tool: the case of the Benet(case study)

Using critical timelines in the Nepali struggle for land tenancy rights (case study)

Exchange visits

Advocacy networks


Notes to Accompany ALPS: Section on Reviews and Annual Reflection Processes

Monitoring and Evaluating Advocacy: A Scoping Study

Self-assessment methodology for ELIMU campaign

Cancun Evaluation - report and key questions

Stories of Change

Taking the Horizon

63


This section briefly introduces some of the essentialbuilding blocks that help to shape our planning,reflection and learning processes in people-centred advocacy:

CRITICAL THINKINGPARTICIPATIONFACILITATIONQUESTIONING AND LISTENINGDEMOCRATISATION OF INFORMATIONSHARING AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Further information and ideas can be found in Sections2 and 3 in the main resource pack on the CD Rom.

ESSENTIALBUILDING BLOCKS

Importance of critical thinking

When the Uganda Land Alliancedeveloped a programme of local

paralegals as a way to help the community,in particular women, to access their landrights, they made certain assumptions. Theythought that by accessing the formal legalstructures and using paralegals, communitymembers would gain their rights.

When they started to look at their workmore critically, however, they realised thatthey had ignored the local role that clanleaders play in mediating land cases. Theydeveloped new strategies to address thisdiscovery.

Similarly, partners in Nepal found that theyrarely examined their assumptions aboutchange. They discovered that processes ofcritical thinking were useful in reviewing theirstrategies and considering new directions.

*

CRITICAL THINKINGCritical thinking is about how we approach newinformation, ideas, problems, questions and issues. It is a process that involves constantly examining our world and our place in it – asking questions,testing ideas, using information, interpretingevidence, making judgements and probing underthe surface to determine how best to respond to the ever-changing realities and challenges of life. Inpeople-centred advocacy, it also involves assessingwho benefits and who loses from society’s structures and relations of power as well as probing our visions and values.

64

www.actionaid.org

Why is critical thinking so important?The importance of critical thinking is evident when welook at its role in promoting effective planning,reflection, learning and action.

• It helps us interpret information. An importantskill for activists and advocates includes the ability tocritically analyse newspapers, television, radio,speeches, actions and even body language. Itenables us to recognise propaganda ormisinformation and to become active citizens ratherthan always accepting information from those in power.

• It helps us see what is not so evident andobvious at first glance, eg how forces ofsocialisation and ideology can prevent people fromparticipating in change; and how real power oftendoes not lie in formal decision-making structures.

• It encourages us to think about our ownprejudices so we can be more aware of when we are reproducing the negative power relations that we are trying to challenge.

• It challenges prevailing social, political,cultural and technical ways of thinking and acting that undermine the leadership ofimpoverished and excluded groups.

• It encourages us to go beyond rationality,using our creativity to go outside the traditional boxes of knowledge and understanding.

• It helps us to critique, reject or adapt tools and methods.

• It assists us in making better decisions aboutour actions.

It is important to stress that critical thinking is not aboutbeing critical in the sense of attacking or demeaningother people’s arguments. In people-centred advocacy,it is rather about exploring our assumptions and ideaswith an analytical lens of power and gender,challenging ourselves to think more deeply and workingtogether constructively to build more completeknowledge, analysis and action.

A key time for using critical thinking is during planningand learning processes as well as specific programmereviews but in reality, critical thinking needs to be partof everyday life and action, and not relegated toparticular moments of organised reflection.

DO NOT BELIEVE IN ANYTHING SIMPLY BECAUSE YOU HAVE HEARD IT.

DO NOT BELIEVE IN ANYTHING SIMPLY BECAUSE IT IS FOUND WRITTEN IN YOUR RELIGIOUS BOOKS.

DO NOT BELIEVE IN ANYTHING MERELY ON THE AUTHORITY OF YOUR TEACHERS AND ELDERS.

DO NOT BELIEVE IN TRADITIONS BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN HANDED DOWN FOR MANY GENERATIONS.

BUT AFTER OBSERVATION AND ANALYSIS, WHEN YOU FIND THAT ANYTHING AGREES WITH REASONAND IS CONDUCIVE TO THE GOOD… OF ONE AND ALL, THEN ACCEPT IT AND LIVE UP TO IT.

SIDDHARTA, FOUNDER OF BUDDHISM, 563-483 B.C.

65


PARTICIPATIONParticipation is defined and used in many differentways. Meanings of participation can range from peopleparticipating as informants, to people being actualdecision-makers. Participation is also defined as a right– the right of impoverished and marginalised groups toparticipate in decisions that affect their lives, fromelections to decisions about resource use and personalrelationships. When part of an empowerment process,participation is about involving and expanding thepower and voice of those who are impoverished andmarginalised as thinkers, decision-makers and leaders.It is about ensuring they have the opportunity toanalyse their realities and express their priorities andprovide their knowledge and wisdom to developstrategies and undertake action. In people-centredadvocacy, this type of participation is fundamental toboth how we plan, monitor, reflect and learn, and whois involved in each moment of the process.

Ways to develop skills in critical thinking

There are a number of ways in whichgroups can work to develop their individualand collective skills in critical thinking.These include:

• Strengthening capacities to question andchallenge assumptions in a constructiveway – asking ourselves questions aboutour work and assumptions, challengingeach other respectfully and seeking outothers who have developed and fine-tuned such skills to assist us.

• Carrying out action research effortswhere the group consciously sets out tolearn and draw lessons from its work byreflecting on its actions.

• Participating in programme reviews andreflections.

• Engaging in exchanges, activities anddebates where people share anddiscuss lessons, questions andchallenges they face.

• Encouraging an atmosphere of debate,learning and support in the organisation.

*

Participation means sharing power,legitimacy, freedom, responsibilities andaccountability. Participation is both aprinciple and a means to include as manypeople as possible in the process of socialchange. Built from deep interest forplurality, tolerance and dissent, it alsoinvolves an ability to understand andappreciate differences. Transparency is apre-requisite for true participation. Inpeople-centred advocacy, participation is acrucial means to initiate, inform and inspirechange in all arenas of advocacy. A deepsense of participation and communicationhelp promote solidarity.

Samuel, John, 1996

*For additional reading and resources on CD Rom see:

Resource pack: Section 2

Critical thinking


Communications and Power – Reflect Practical Resource Materials

66

www.actionaid.org

How can we ensure participation is effective?Effective participation involves much more thanopening a space and inviting people to join thediscussion, it involves addressing multiple dynamics ofinequality and discrimination. For example participationcan concentrate power and decision-making into thehands of men and local elites. It means proactivelyfinding ways for different people to be heard and part ofdiscussions, and decision-making process at differentlevels. Neither does it mean everyone needs to beincluded in everything. So when we think about ‘who’and ‘how’ we need to consider many things:

• Location and time: Often ‘where’ and ‘when’meetings are held can impose serious constraints onwho participates. These need to be addressed as youplan meetings so they will not stop people fromparticipating effectively. In some cultures, for example,women cannot enter certain public spaces, or areunable to venture outside the home after nightfall.Also women are often too busy with childcare or othertasks. Even when women are invited to attendmeetings they may not speak out, or necessarily raiseissues that are important to them, so there shouldusually also be women-only forums. You will nearlyalways need to have multiple sources of outreach andinvolvement – don’t rely JUST on meetings.

• Language: The language used in the meeting willalso affect who participates. When a language isspoken that people involved in the struggle cannotunderstand and use with confidence, their voices andparticipation will be limited. This is not just whichlanguage, but the vocabulary used – especially if youthrow around terms like ‘RBA” or even ‘advocacy’without ensuring people understand.

• Recording the process: How will the discussions,quotes, ideas and decisions be recorded? It is likelythat a range of methods and materials will be neededand might include notes, diagrams, video recordings,drawings etc.

• Facilitation: How a meeting is conducted alsogreatly affects participation. Facilitation is a key factorthat can either make people feel comfortable andwilling to actively engage in discussions, ordiscourage them from speaking.

• Agenda setting: Poor and excluded groups shouldbe involved as full players and decision-makers not asan audience or workforce for the decision-making of‘experts.’ This means negotiating together aroundissues of agenda setting, strategy and shared power,and recognising that different groups have differenttypes of knowledge and authority.

GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVES PRESENT AND DISCUSS A PUBLIC HOUSING PROPOSAL WITH RESIDENTS OF HELIOPOLIS, BRAZIL

67


• Quality of participation: We need to monitor thequality of participation. Power relations areeverywhere, even between those engaged instruggles to transform unjust relations. Both formalexpressions of power (top-down relations related toline management or social status) and informal or lessvisible expressions – especially cultural hierarchies ofpower (such as gender, caste, race and age, amongothers) – make an enormous difference in thedynamics of participation. For they define not onlywho speaks, but also who is listened to and ultimatelywho is seen as worthy of making decisions. Similarly,we need to encourage ourselves and our allies in theNGO community to examine our own attitudes and exercise of power.

• Being clear what level of participation anddecision-making is on offer: The fast pace ofadvocacy further complicates participation whendecisions are sometimes required immediately inorder to respond to unanticipated openings or threats.Often we need to choose to work with smaller groupsor steering committees to facilitate deeper debate andtimely decisions. Of course selecting who willparticipate to ensure representation and to balancepower is an enormous challenge. In these cases it isimportant to clearly define the limits and the role ofthe steering team and their relationship with otherleaders and the wider constituency. Similarly it isfundamental to find ways to expand the discussionsbeyond a central core of people as a way to educateand gain the input of the broader constituency, as wellas accountability and transparency mechanisms.Whatever the situation, we have an obligation to beexplicit and clear about our intentions in ourcommunications with those involved.

For additional reading and resources on participation on CD Rom see:


Participation and Democratisation of Information


Notes to Accompany ALPS

Transforming power workshop 2000

Participation – A promise unfulfilled? CD Rom of three-year ActionAid action research in Malawi and Sierra Leone. CDs available from:[email protected]

Communications and Power – Reflect PracticalResource Materials

Questions for reflection

Think about the advocacy work you arecurrently involved in:

• In what way has your work promoted theactive engagement and agency ofpeople who have been denied justice?

• How have you managed to ensure thatdifferent perspectives are heard in yourparticipatory processes?

• What have you actively done to bringthe perspectives, voices and actions ofthe poor to the core of advocacy andcampaigning initiatives at all levels?

• What extra value have you brought (eginformation, knowledge, research,analysis, convening power, networks,capacities) to assist people to advancechanges in their favour?

?

68

www.actionaid.org

FACILITATION At its core, facilitation means to enable, to makesomething easier. We believe that facilitation – and itsaccompanying skills of promoting critical thinking,questioning, and collaboration – is key to all aspects ofadvocacy, from planning and monitoring to assessmentand learning. Facilitation is of special importance topeople-centred advocacy since it can help groupscollaborate and learn from one another more effectively.This collaboration contributes to building power withothers, deepening people’s analysis, and strengtheningtheir ability to plan, reflect and learn.

Facilitation can be placed in the hands of one personor a team, depending on the size of the group andcomplexity of the task. However, a particular persontaking the role of facilitator is not necessary for everymeeting that a group holds.

UNAS FACILITATING YOUTH MEETING

69


Having one can be particularly useful when you are:

• trying to plan your advocacy work

• reflecting on experiences, reviewing your progress, or drawing lessons from your work

• attempting to address difficult power dynamicsoperating in a group

• trying out a particular method, framework ortool that is new to you.

Facilitation in people-centred advocacy is notneutral. It is a process of support andaccompaniment in efforts to transform powerrelations and build alternatives to currentstructures and ideologies that underpin poverty,privilege and discrimination.

The facilitator should encourage participants to criticallyexamine and build on their existing knowledge,attitudes, skills and assumptions. In people-centredadvocacy, this will mean challenging people inparticular to question and deepen their ideas abouthow change happens, how power operates and whatthis means for relationships in the group and for theiradvocacy strategies. Since outside facilitators oftenbring valuable experience and knowledge, their rolealso can involve providing ideas and opinions whereappropriate, but never to dominate the conversations. In this sense, they also serve as resource persons.



Facilitation

QUESTIONING AND LISTENINGWhy are good questions so important?

All processes in planning, reflection and learning forpeople-centred advocacy involve the use of questions.But, what questions we ask ourselves, and how we askthem can make an enormous difference to the qualityof our critical thinking and to our ability to develop acritical consciousness – both of which strengthenempowerment and improve planning and learning.Critical consciousness in this context refers to a spirit ofinquiry and curiosity, a willingness to question and beself-critical, an awareness of how power operates and acommitment to work with others to bring about justice.

Good questioning can allow us to think more deeply,and create knowledge by building on what we alreadyknow8. It can be empowering since this new knowledgestays with the person or group of people answering thequestion. It can lead us to think in new creative waysand help us overcome challenges and obstacles. And it can generate energy and buy-in. However it isimportant to note that the ability to ask good questionsor co-create dialogue depends on your or the group’sability to listen9. Good questions come from reallylistening to what other participants are saying. (See section 3 – Questioning and Listening in Main Resource Pack for more ideas on how to word questions).

8 Fran Peavey no date

9 ibid

70

www.actionaid.org

Effective listeningEffective questioning needs to be combined witheffective listening. Usually we do not listen deeply toeach other – often our minds are full of reactions,distractions, fantasies and judgments, all of whichprevent us from hearing what the other person isactually saying.

Part of the challenge is really paying attention and reallyhearing what is being said, but difficulties also arisedue to the different frames of reference held by speakerand listeners – particularly in groups bringing a rangeof people together. Our knowledge, concepts,vocabulary and way of thinking derive from our ownindividual past life-experience, socialisation andeducation.

If we do not allow for the fact that the other person hashis or her own, perhaps very different, frame ofreference, it is all too easy to misunderstand each other,or to assume a level of understanding which is not real.We continually run the danger of over-complicating orover-simplifying what we hear. To avoid this danger weneed to surface and clarify different perspectives,putting ourselves in the speaker’s place andunderstanding ‘from their point of view’ what they aresaying. This means paying attention to power andgender dynamics among other things.

To open ourselves to another’s point of view, we haveto be prepared for the possibility of letting our ownideas shift. We need to be prepared to suspend ourown opinions and judgment at least until we reallyunderstand their point of view.

Some tips to being an effective listener

Concentrate on what is actually being said, not what you think the otherperson is saying or what you want them to say.

Be attentive to important or ‘a-ha’moments in the conversation, and thenask questions about them. ‘A-ha’ moments can be those good or bad moments,breakthroughs, or points of confusion (auseful way to think about ‘a-ha’ momentsare times when you think to yourself in themoment: ‘All right!’ ‘Oh no!’ ‘Finally!’ ‘I don’tfollow,’ ‘What do you mean by.........?’).

Pay attention body language, attitude andcomportment (ie what is not being said) as a way of listening to the conversation.

*



Questioning and listening

71


ASKING GOOD QUESTIONS IS HALF OF LEARNING

MUHAMMAD, FINAL PROPHET OF ISLAM, 570-632

Examples of the types of questions you might want to include in youradvocacy planning, learning and reflection processes

Contextual and problem analysisTo understand the context and overall powerdynamics: What do we think are the mostimportant forces, players, trends and eventsaffecting this particular issue either to ouradvantage or disadvantage? (Key tools mightinclude context and power analysis andgender analysis).

To narrow down the problem to an issue: What are some of the key causes of theproblem we are trying to overcome? Which ofthese can we best tackle given our resourcesand the current context?

Developing a time-bound plan• Taking into account the long-term changes

we want to see what changes are possibleand important in the short and medium-term? Being more specific, what changesare needed in government, business, civilsociety, culture and ourselves?

• Who in power can make the decisions thatwill help bring about these changes? Whowill oppose us and who will support us?

Deciding on strategies, tactics, actions or activities for the short andmedium-term• If we are correct about the situation,

our analysis of power, and the short andmedium-term changes we want, whatactions and activities do we think willcontribute to these changes?

• Why do we think those actions will deliverthose outcomes in that situation? Do they

really address the way power is operating to prevent change on this issue?

• What resources will this require?

• Given our resources and the overall context,which ones can we do most effectively?

Setting up a monitoring system• What questions and information will we

need to tell us what is happening as weimplement our actions?

• What are the desired changes we arehoping to see as the result of our actions in the short/medium/long-term?

• What types of information and processeswill help us know if we are making progress or not?

Review, reflection and ongoing learning• What did we set out to do?

What did we do?

• What happened? What changed as a result (positive/negative)?

• Have there been shifts in powerrelationships and if so what have been the results/changes of this shift?

• Who benefited and who didn’t? How?

• What was our role? What other factorscontributed to the change(positive/negative)?

• What did we spend? Could we have done things more cost-effectively?

• What could we have done differently?

• What did we learn?

• What will we do differently in the future?

• How will our learning affect our future plans and actions?

*

72

www.actionaid.org

DEMOCRATISATION OF INFORMATIONInformation is important to support our critical thinkingin different moments of people-centred advocacy.

Information is important for:

• planning: to help us understand the particularcontext shaping our advocacy so we can developeffective strategies (especially in relation to powerand gender)

• monitoring: to support us in understanding howwell our work is going and to help us recognise ifwe need to change our strategies

• reflection: learning and re-planning: to record and reflect on our struggle for rights, and to use our successes and failures to improve ouradvocacy work

• sharing and accountability: to create synergy,trust, solidarity and engagement with others in ourstruggle for rights, to allow open debate around ourideas and transparency on how we make decisionsand use resources.

Information is key to learning, building knowledge,developing leadership and improving action. Accessing,understanding and using information are strategicsources of power. They facilitate social change andstrengthen popular organisations and NGOs capable ofdefending and advancing the rights of impoverishedand excluded peoples.

However, ensuring equitable access to information is an enormous challenge. Much effort is put intoproducing and handling information to meet the upwardreporting and communication requirements of bigplayers (donors, international organisations etc) ratherthan being structured to support learning processeswithin activist or grassroots organisations. It is stillunfortunately common for information to be:

• centralised – being concentrated in the hands of few

• not accessible and hard to locate – being stored in inaccessible places

• not understandable – being developed in difficult,or foreign, languages and complicated frameworks

• not usable – being presented in long, wordy and unfocused formats, or in forms that peoplecannot utilise.

What is democratisation of information?For us, democratisation of information is the process ofworking towards more democratic and inclusive ways ofdeveloping and accessing, understanding and sharinginformation. In our advocacy efforts, we work todemocratise information in order to:

• ensure all people and groups engaged in advocacyhave sufficient quality information to support theiractive inclusion in debates and decision-makingprocesses. This is a pre-requisite for effectiveparticipation and working towards more equitablepower dynamics

• share relevant information beyond those directlyinvolved in the advocacy work in order to buildvisibility and solidarity with the struggles beingundertaken, to support informed public debate and to create synergy with allies. To gain support for ourstruggles people need to see, understand andidentify with our advocacy efforts

• enable impoverished and marginalised people to actively participate in collecting information andcreating knowledge related to the struggle for theirown rights. This in itself represents a strategic step in the promotion of social change, as lack ofinformation and knowledge are drivers ofmarginalisation and oppression

The democratisation and sharingof information is an important steptowards creating the ambienceand conditions needed for people

to engage critically in discussion andlearning so they can build their ownknowledge and understanding ofthemselves and the world.

*

73


In people-centred advocacy, democratisation ofinformation is directly related to how effective we are in:

• developing equitable power relations among thedifferent people and groups engaged in advocacy

• promoting effective participatory processes

• building and sharing learning and knowledge

• making our struggle for rights visible and creatingsolidarity and support (inside and outside ourconstituency) for the changes we want to promote.

For the Benets (a landless minority group in Eastern Uganda) litigation is animportant strategy to regain their landrights. The Benet leaders understand thatthey have an obligation to give feedback tothe communities about what is happeningeach time they attend and observe a casein court. They see this as important to:

• keep unity within the group experiencing the problem

• ensure trust between the advocacyleaders and the community.

However the Benets have found itchallenging to convince donors who arebacking their court case how importantit is to also provide funds for supporting their travel to villages and ongoingcommunication with affected communities.

FEEDBACK TO THE LANDLESS BENET COMMUNITY IN UGANDA ON THE PROCEEDINGS OF A RECENT COURT CASE



Democratisation of information

* Open information sessions– The Benets of Uganda

74

www.actionaid.org

SHARING AND ACCOUNTABILITYThe struggle against poverty and injustice requires usto build synergy and collective action with others whoshare our concerns. Dialogue and trust becomeimportant drivers of people-centred advocacy sincethey help ensure coordination, cooperation andresponsibility among the people and organisationsinvolved. Both formal and informal sharing andaccountability mechanisms can support and strengthenthese crucial aspects of our work.

Sharing and accountability processes require us to gobeyond the borders of our own everyday work toactively engage with others. They can provide ways tobuild trust, responsibility and reciprocity and alsoprovide challenging and rewarding opportunities forlearning. Accountability systems are also important as a check or balance to unaccountable power over and is a way of building power with. Activists, caught up inthe fast pace of advocacy, may not always give it asmuch attention as it requires. However, history showsthe dangers of this oversight with many examples ofprogressive movements reproducing prior patterns ofunaccountable power over after they have overturnedoppressive regimes.

Sharing and accountability processes are linked but distinct.

* Moving towards more accountability with communities

During the action research CEDEP hasmoved towards keeping the communitymuch better informed about what ishappening in their efforts to overcomeviolence against women. In the past,CEDEP held meetings with the communitymainly to get information for fundingpartners but the focus is now changing tosharing, learning and joint strategising.They are now holding monthly meetingswith communities, including schoolchildren, to discuss issues of violence and strategy.

CEDEP works with local teams that helpmediate conflict between couples. These teams know that they have the right andresponsibility to hold CEDEP accountableto community needs. If CEDEP does notdeliver what communities see as theorganisation’s duties to them, they havebeen informed that they can notify TheGender Centre, a NGO in Accra thatprovides the funds for CEDEP’s work on this issue.

CEDEP has also brought various stateagencies mandated to stop violenceagainst women into communities to alsoencourage downward accountability in thestate agencies. These visits by theagencies help to enlighten communities onwhat the roles and obligations of theagencies are and how they can be heldaccountable by reporting their conduct totheir superiors in the regional capital, ifservices are not provided.

75


What is sharing?For us, sharing involves exchanging stories, analysis,insights and information about our work with colleaguesand people outside our organisations who have similarconcerns about justice. Through sharing we canpromote critical dialogue with others to encouragelearning, collaboration and synergy for collective action.Sharing opens up opportunities for mutual questioningand peer debate that can help challenge and improveour ideas, cooperation and actions and lead to thedevelopment of more universal knowledge aboutsocial change. By sharing what groups have done,organisations can review and enrich their strategies,strengthen the capacities of their staff andconstituencies, and recharge their energy forthe struggle.

IF YOU MEET A PERSON WITH POWER ASK THEM FIVE SIMPLE QUESTIONS TO DECIDEIF YOU CAN TRUST THEM: WHAT POWER HAVE YOU GOT? WHERE DID YOU GET IT

FROM? ON WHOSE BEHALF DO YOU EXERCISE IT? TO WHOM ARE YOU ACCOUNTABLE?AND THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION IS, HOW DO WE GET RID OF YOU?

TONY BENN, LONGEST SERVING MEMBER OF UK PARLIAMENT

What is accountability?Accountability focuses more on governance issuesaround how decisions are made and who controlsresources. It also focuses on how resources andactions are monitored, accounted for and judged to beeffective or not. For us accountability is aboutresponsibility, reciprocity and relationships among thosedirectly engaged in the advocacy. In situations whereadvocacy groups are speaking on behalf of people whoare not actively involved in campaigns, there is usuallynot as great a sense of responsibility to them or anawareness of the need for such accountability.

Our understanding of accountability therefore focuseson the need to find effective ways to develop greaterlevels of reciprocity between key players so we canhold each other accountable – NGOs, communitygroups, social movements, donors and those ultimatelybenefiting from the advocacy. This type of reciprocitymeans being as open as possible with partners, trustedallies and donors about our advocacy actions, fromplanning strategies to assessing achievements, withspecial attention given to processes of decision-makingand use of resources. Through accountabilitymechanisms, organisations can review the way theylead, make decisions and account for expenditures.

Challenges of sharing and accountability

Sharing and accountability have common challenges that need to be taken into account

Despite the widespread rhetoric of participatory andempowering approaches in the developmentcommunity, processes for sharing and accountabilitytend to remain top-down, set by those who have morepower or money. While mechanisms are needed toensure transparent and responsible use of donorresources, we need approaches that take into accountthe mutual responsibilities and challenges faced by theparties involved and negotiate major differences.Conscious efforts, in particular, need to be put intodeveloping accountability systems that enableimpoverished and excluded people and local groups tohold those who have more power or moneyaccountable.

76

www.actionaid.org

Try to be creative

Sharing and accountability don’t need to be boring. Rather than only usingstandard reports, try experimenting withposters, role-plays, theatre, song, musicetc. The more attractive and engaging the means, the more you will encouragepeople to pay attention.

*

For additional reading and resources on sharing andaccountability on CD Rom see:


• Sharing and accountability

• Democratisation of Information

Case studies:

• SUCAM

• Accountability towards the local community: an example from CSRC

• UNAS’ sharing and accountability mechanisms

Section 4

Workshop case study materials

• Censudi working on violence againstwomen in Ghana


• Notes to accompany ALPS chapter ondownward accountability. See Peoples inOrissa, budget analysis

• Rhadamani’s Story

• Stories of Change: Brazil/SUCAM

• Going against the flow

The main methods, tools and materials used for sharingand accountability processes tend to be written anddesigned in unnecessarily technical, wordy andunfriendly ways, making them hard to access andunderstand by all. Whilst reports are an importantmeans of sharing and accountability we need toencourage and develop more creative expressions ofcommunication such as video, radio, art, posters,theatre etc. Ways that will inspire and engage people ina more inclusive way.

NGOs need to increase their transparency and be moreopen to external assessment and peer criticism. This isnot easy when the pressure on NGOs is to demonstrateresults in short time frames. Countering this trendrequires us to not only share the more positivedimensions of our work but also the difficulties andchallenges – and what hasn’t worked. We need to havethe courage to communicate the often slow and difficultreality of promoting social change.

Despite these various challenges, many organisationsdoing advocacy are working to improve their efforts at sharing and accountability. All of the organisationsinvolved in the action research have considered theseprocesses important and have worked to find ways that will strengthen their ability to share learning andincrease their accountability within their organisations as well as with others (see the UNAS example on page 77).

77


* UNAS’ sharing and accountability mechanisms

For UNAS, a community based organisationin a Brazilian shanty town, sharinginformation and being accountable arecrucial challenges in its advocacy onhousing rights. To meet the needs foraccountability and sharing and to supportpolitical debate within the community, UNAShas developed interesting participatorymeans of communication within Heliópolis.

At the middle and end of each year UNASholds a large event with as many peoplefrom the community as possible to debatewhat is happening in their struggle for rightsand to present what their mainachievements have been. The venue is alarge public square in the centre of theshanty town. Part of the time is used forsharing information and strategic debates onhow to improve their advocacy work. Therest is dedicated to accountability, showingthe community and other relevant peoplehow UNAS has used resources andexplaining the governance system and howdecisions were made.

Between these big events, UNAS also holdsa series of small meetings in differentlocalities of the shanty town. These areintended to keep people’s activism alive and their understanding of what ishappening up-to-date so they can beinvolved in informed discussions. This helpsthem better hold their leaders accountableand elect new ones when warranted. Thesesmall meetings are focused on sharing andmonitoring advocacy work and serve as atwo-way feedback process – providing

residents with important ideas about theprogress and challenges of their advocacyfrom the leadership perspective and gettingcommunity views that reflect neighbourhoodperspectives. The leaders of UNAS, who arethose most engaged in the day-to-dayactivities of advocacy, have also learnt theimportance of holding their own regularmeetings to share, strategise and re-strategise their struggle for rights.

Though the large and small meetingsdescribed above are important, UNAS isaware that they are not enough toaccomplish the necessary sharing andaccountability. It is also important to reachout to residents that do not choose, or arenot able, to attend them. Increasingly UNASis exploring how other communication toolsand artistic approaches can be used toimprove its sharing and accountability. Thecommunity radio (managed and run bypeople from the shanty town) is increasinglybeing used as a means for communitydialogue on the struggle. UNAS is alsostarting to use music, theatre, drawings anddance to pass information and stimulatedebate. They have also started to paint wallsalong the streets and in the buildings of theshanty town with images and slogans tomotivate and mobilise the community. UNASalso publishes a free bimonthly journal thatcontains notices and pictures of itsadvocacy work. On special occasions, whensome important and specific informationneeds to be shared, UNAS also producesand distributes posters, placing them in keyareas of the shanty town.

78

www.actionaid.org

THE FOLLOWING IS A GUIDE TO HELP YOU FIND YOUR WAY AROUND THE ACCOMPANYING CD ROM.THE CD ROM IS PACKED FULL OF ADDITIONAL READING MATERIALS ON CONCEPTS, PROCESSES,TOOLS, CASE STUDIES, WORKSHOP IDEAS AND REFLECTION EXERCISES. THE CD ROM INCLUDES THE MAIN RESOURCE PACK AND WORKING PAPERS ARISING FROM THE ACTION RESEARCH. IT ALSOINCLUDES A SELECTION OF MATERIALS PRODUCED AND DEVELOPED BY ACTIONAID INTERNATIONAL IN COLLABORATION WITH PARTNERS AND ALLIES ON LEARNING, PEOPLE-CENTRED ADVOCACY ANDRIGHTS-BASED APPROACHES.

GUIDE TO CD ROM

Title

CRITICAL WEBS OF POWERAND CHANGE – BOOKLET

CRITICAL WEBS OF POWERAND CHANGE – RESOURCEPACK FOR PLANNING,REFLECTION ANDLEARNING IN PEOPLE-CENTRED ADVOCACY

Introductory section

SECTION 1: Concepts

Introduction

Social change: visionvalues and action

Details

A word and PDF version of this publication with links to additional resources

Main resource pack drawn from the action research (see details below)

• People involved in the research

• Audience for the resource pack

• Why the research was developed and brief description of how research team worked

• An overview of some of the main ideas underpinning the work

• The global context in which advocacy and rights work takes place

• Some of the challenges, relationships and power dynamics inherent in planning, evaluating and learning for advocacy

• Suggestions about how to use the resource pack

Key concepts underpinning the work

• Brief introduction to concepts section

• A view of social change

• Framework of social change with explanation

• Case study: SUCAM complexities of change – lessons from Kenya Sugar Campaign for Change

79


Title

Rights-baseddevelopment approaches: combining politics,creativity andorganisation

Power: understandinghow it works and how touse it positively

Women’s rights and gender equity

Empowerment

SECTION 2: The planning reflectionand learning process

Planning

Monitoring

Review and reflection forlearning and re-planning

Details

• Our understanding of rights-based approaches

• Implications of a rights-based approach

• Role of NGOs in a rights-based approach

• Case study: Rights and development from a village perspective – CSRC

• Different ways of understanding power

• Why thinking about power is important in people-centred advocacy

• Reflecting critically on power and advocacy

• The role of empowerment strategies

• A value-based concept of power

• Power framework

• Case study: UNAS – Understanding how power affects housing rights in a Brazilian shanty town

• Case study: Promoting Justice and Solidarity – the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC)

• Chapter exploring different perspectives and understanding of gender, women’s rights,patriarchy, fundamentalisms and hidden power

• Case study: CENSUDI – work on violence against women in Ghana

• Our understanding of empowerment

• Empowerment framework

• Common challenges for empowerment

Brief introduction to processes covered in this section. Introduces the planning, reflection and learning loop framework and explanation.

• What is planning?

• What does planning advocacy work involve?

• Challenges in planning

• Case study: UNAS – a social movement and participatory planning

• What is monitoring?

• What does monitoring involve?

• Why is monitoring important?

• Challenges in monitoring

• Case study: What monitoring means for UNAS

• What do we mean by review, reflection and learning?

• What do they involve?

• Why are review, reflection and learning processes so important?

• Challenges of these processes

80

www.actionaid.org

Title

Critical reflection

Participation

Democratisation of information

Sharing andaccountability

SECTION 3: Tools and Methods

Some ideas to support planning:methods & tools

Details

• What is critical reflection?

• Elements of good critical thinking

• Why is critical thinking so important?

• Constraints to critical thinking

• Ways to develop skills in critical thinking

• What is participation?

• Why is participation so crucial in people-centred advocacy?

• When should participation be particularly enhanced?

• Who should participate? How can we ensure their participation is effective?

• Challenges

• Information in people-centred advocacy

• Problems and challenges of information

• What is democratisation of information?

• Why is it important for people-centred advocacy?

• How to democratise information

• Case study: UNAS

• What is sharing?

• What is accountability?

• Challenges of sharing and accountability

• Case study: Sharing for learning and action: Uganda and Kenya

• Case study: Accountability to the local community – an example from the Community SelfReliance Centre (CSRC)

• Case study: Accountability – Kenya can strengthen our advocacy

• Case study: UNAS’s sharing and accountability mechanisms

This section gives some ideas, methods, frameworks and tools to support planning, reflection and learning in advocacy.

• When should planning take place?

• How to carry out effective planning

• Moments in the planning process

• Goals and objectives

• Contextual problem analysis

• Developing an overall change strategy

• Developing a time bound plan

• Deciding on strategies, tactics and actions for the short and medium term

• Case study: Short, medium and long term changes – CENSUDI example

• People-centred advocacy strategies to counter the different ways power over operates

• Some suggestions for developing strategies for international campaigns

81


Title

Some ideas to supportmonitoring: methods and tools

Some ideas for review,reflection and learning

Facilitation skills and qualities

Questioning andlistening

Analysing powerand context

Addressing gender andwomen’s rights

Details

• Suggested steps to consider for participatory monitoring

• What to monitor

• Indicators

• Case study: Uganda Land Alliance – monitoring the work of paralegals at the land rightsinformation centres

• Case study: Developing indicators by an NGO in Nepal – Community Self Reliance Centre

• Case study: Developing indicators by a grass roots organisation: UNAS

• When should this process happen?

• Making the process effective

• Useful questions for deeper reflections

• The use of metaphors

• Example tools for reflection and learning purposes

• Case study: Making time for reflection in the SUCAM Campaign – SUCAM example

• Case study: Uganda Land Alliance review and reflection workshops

• Role of the facilitator

• Key facilitation skills, qualities and methods

• Useful guidance (tips for facilitators)

• Why are good questions so important?

• How to set the environment for good questioning

• How to word questions

• Listening

• Levels of listening

• How to improve your skills in questioning and listening

• Fran Peavey’s 7 features to shaping a strategic question

• Planning – understanding the context for Action

• Strategising: guidelines for action and reflection

• Points to consider in doing power analysis

• Contextual analysis

• Naming the moment

• Naming the powerful

• Faces of power

• Factors of exclusion, subordination and privilege

• Case study: Using contextual analysis – Nepal’s Dalití Federation

82

www.actionaid.org

Title

Addressing gender andwomen’s rights

Empowerment: someideas to supportplanning, assessing and learning

Critical timelines

Exchange visits

Risk analysis

Advocacy networks

Details

• What are gender lenses and how can we use them?

• How to address gender in our advocacy work

• Key questions to ask at different moments

• Gender and empowerment advocacy spiral

• Chains that bind us

• Access control profile

• Provocative questions to improve empowerment processes in our advocacy work

• Unpacking our understanding of empowerment

• Empowerment assessment framework

• Changes in awareness and perceptions framework

• Case study: Monitoring empowerment – SCDF’s fight for Dalit rights

• What are timelines particularly useful for

• Ideas for making critical timelines

• Useful questions to ask around timelines

• Case study: Timeline and scores as a tool – the case of the Benet

• Case study: Using critical timelines in the Nepali struggle for land tenancy rights

• Case study: Using a timeline as a means of mobilisation – UNAS

• What exchange visits are

• What’s required to make exchange visits successful?

• Case study: Participants and planning Uganda Land Alliance exchange visit with Kenya Land Alliance

• Case study: Learning from Indian organisations

• Risk analysis exercise

• Questions that you might ask yourselves (when taking part in a risk analysis exercise)

• Risk chart

• What is a network?

• Common challenges advocacy networks face in planning, reflection and learning

• Planning, reflection and sharing in advocacy networks

• Questions to reflect on how well a network is being managed and led

• Tips to support different moments in network advocacy processes

• Drawing out our desires – exercise to help networks reflect on how they work together

• Assessing teamwork

• Conflict resolution role play

• Channels of participation

83


Title

SECTION 4: Case studies

Long case studies (over 3 pages)

Short case studies (less than 2 pages)

APPENDICES

ACTION RESEARCH WORKING PAPERS

Working Paper 1

Working Paper 2

Working Paper 3

Working Paper 4

Working Paper 5

Details

The cases included in this section are a mix of those drawn from the organisations involved in the action research, from other advocacy struggles and a few short fictional ones that arebased on a compilation of experiences from a number of sources. Each case study isfollowed by suggested questions to investigate an issue. To assist you in using this materialwe include a guide to the type of issues that the questions cover.

1 CEDEP’s work to Stop Violence Against Women in Ghana – short and long term change,violence against women, conflict, mediation and community ownership

2 Social change and empowerment in a Brazilian shanty town – looking at social change,gender & environment

3 ULA: Moving from policy advocacy to also working at the grassroots – contextual and power analysis, broadening strategies

4 The struggle for land tenancy rights in Nepal: a case study from the Community SelfReliance Centre – power analysis, gender issues: power, strategies and gender

5 Promoting justice and solidarity on the issue of AIDS: The Treatment Action Campaign –analysis of core problems, strategies

6 UNAS: the challenges of information – the challenges of democratisation

7 The struggle for Dalit rights in Nepal: the anti-carcass throwing campaign – can power be challenged without conflict? Advocacy and risk

1 CENSUDI working on violence against women in Ghana – downwards accountability on gender issues

2 Short case study on analysing power and choosing strategies

3 Short case study 2 on analysing power and choosing strategies

4 Challenges of advocacy networks

5 DNF: Invisible power in Nepal – how invisible power operates and strategies to counter this.

• Summary of learning

• Glossary

• References

These longer papers look at particular topics or cases arising from the action research

Action Research on Planning, Assessing and Learning in People-centred Advocacy: summaryof learning, Jennifer Chapman, Almir Pereira Junior, Laya Prasad Uprety, Sarah Okwaare,Vincent Azumah, Valerie Miller

Rights-Based Development: The challenge of Change and Power, Jennifer Chapman incollaboration and dialogue with Valerie Miller, Adriano Campolina Soares and John Samuel

Guidance Note on Planning and Monitoring International Campaigns in ActionAid, Hilary Coulby

Advocacy in Africa, A Unique Experience, Jane Ocaya Irama

Rights-based Advocacy Against Caste-based Discrimination in Nepal: A Case Study of the Grassroots Anti-Carcass Throwing Campaign of Saraswoti Community Development Forum, Laya Prasad Uprety, Indra Rai, Him Prasad Sedhain

84

www.actionaid.org

Title

Working Paper 6

OTHER USEFULRESOURCES

ActionAid case studies on rights

Advocacy

Campaigns

Communication and rights

Details

People-centred Advocacy for the Land Tenancy Rights in Nepal: A Case Study of theCommunity Self-reliance Centre’s Grassroots Campaign Laya Prasad Uprety, Indra Rai, Him Prasad Sedhain

Includes a selection of materials produced and developed by ActionAid International incollaboration with partners and allies on learning, people-centred advocacy and rights-based approaches

A series of case studies written between 2003-2004 by ActionAid staff in collaboration with partners

• Rights-based approach case studies:

• People Organization: An Approach for Building Alternative Power Structure, Rezaul KChowdhury, May 2003, COAST

• An experience of networking in the social struggle for the human right to alimentation andsustainable nutrition: “Mutirão” to combat infant malnutrition, ActionAid Brasil

• The struggle that never ends: Tasnoor narrates her life, Khawja Shamsul Huda, SyedMasiul Hasan, Zaki Hasan ActionAid Bangladesh

• The fight of rural women workers for the preservation of and free access to a naturalresource: Assema and the Babassu Law, Contact Person: ActionAid Brasil

• National Campaign For a GMO-Free Brazil: the case of the Citizen Juries, AA Brasil

• The Titanium Mining Campaign along the Kenyan Coast 1, Elphas Ojiambo AA Kenya

• Homelessness in India Rights of people who are illegalized and criminalised, AA India

• The Titanium Mining Campaign along the Kenyan Coast 2, Elphas Ojiambo

Monitoring and Evaluating Advocacy: A Scoping Study, Jennifer Chapman, Amboka WameyoJanuary 2001

This paper sets out to document the various frameworks and approaches that internationalagencies are using to assess the value of their advocacy work

Advocacy and M&E: A note on the need for clarity, Ros David 1999

Learning from Cancun: External stakeholders perspectives 2004

A rapid assessment undertaken by the action research team to get stakeholder perspectiveson AA’s role at the WTO Cancun Ministerial meeting in Mexico

Some tools for an ELIMU self-evaluation

Ideas for conducting an auto-evaluation of ActionAid’s education campaign ELIMU in 2001

Communication and Power: A series of practical resources by Reflect practitioners tofacilitate analysis and capacity building in communication and use of communications

ICT for Development: Empowerment or Exploitation – Hannah Beardon 2004.

Mid-term publication of the Reflect ICT Project which outlines the key issues regardinginformation communications technologies in a development context, including practicalresources to facilitate participatory planning for ICT for Development projects.

85


Title

Empowerment

Gender and women’s rights

Modules for learningabout rights

Notes to accompanyALPS - ActionAid’sAccountability, Learningand Planning System

Organisational learningand development

Power

Details

Background Paper 1: Empowerment: Putting the power first to fight poverty together, Jorge O. Romano, ActionAid Brasil August 2002

ActionAid International gender and women’s empowerment framework

Participation and empowerment: insights for evaluation – a summary of a study ofevaluations of Reflect, which highlights issues and learning around evaluating participatory work

Learning about Rights – contains a set of five learning modules around rights andhumanitarian standards in emergencies.

Module One: Rights, Law and Society – Basic Concepts

Module Two: Rights-Based Humanitarianism – Assorted Principles for a Common Project

Module Three: Law and Rights in Emergencies

Module Four: Women and Human Rights in Emergencies

Module Five: Rights-Based Emergency Work – Analysis and Practice

Notes to accompany ALPS, 2001

Written for ActionAid staff in 2001, Notes to Accompany ALPS provide examples ofprocesses for participatory appraisals, planning and reviews, and for thinking through the practical implications of power, gender, accountability and transparency in development work.

The Taking of the Horizon Lessons from ActionAid Uganda’s experience of changes indevelopment practice, Tina Wallace and Allan Kaplan, 2003

A paper exploring the practical implications of an NGO shifting to a rights-based approach

Going against the flow – Rosalind David and Antonella Mancini, 2004

History and challenges of implementing ActionAid’s Accountability, Learning and Planning System

Transforming Power – ActionAid Participatory Methodology Forum 2001

An ActionAid workshop that evolved into a space for the analysis of power relationships

86

www.actionaid.org

Title

Rights-basedapproaches

Rights and Emergencies

Social audit

Critical stories of change

Details

ActionAid in Practice: Understanding and Learning About Methods and Approaches of Rights and Empowerment 2003. A workshop organised to bring Action Aid practitioners together, including external people to share learning andexperiences of implementing rights-based work

Operationalizing rights approach to development ActionAid Asia. Regional Workshop 31 July–4 August, 2000 Bangkok

This paper is the outcome of a shared reflection by ActionAid Asia staff in the town ofHua Hin [Thailand] from 31 July to 4 August 2000, to explore what constitutes a rights-based approach

Will our Rights-Based Wishes let the Genie out of the lamp? One tale and seven reflections around rights-based approaches to development practice. Luis Morago-Nicolás

Questionnaire for Assessing the Status of Rights-Based Approach in ActionAid CountryProgrammes Supporting Guidelines

Rights-based Approach: ActionAid India’s experiences with regard to vulnerable groups and people claiming their rights, Sandeep Chachra 2003

Bibliography: Rights and Empowerment Methods and Approaches Suggested Supporting Materials

• A rights-based approach to emergencies 1: Rights-based analysis in practice, Luis Morago-Nicolás

• A rights-based approach to emergencies 2: Setting the scene, Luis Morago-Nicolás

SAMAJIK SAMIKHYA A Social Audit Process in a Panchayat in Orissa, Mohammed Asif, 2001

In-depth case studies that look explore the complexity of change through a rights lens:

• Bolangir to Hyderabad – the choice of death in paradise or life in hell, Koy Thomson andcolleagues in India, 2005

• “Love of the Heart”: Tales from Raizes Vivas, Brazil, Andrea Cornwall, 2005

• The Sugar Campaign for Change (SUCAM) An inside history of success and continuing struggle, Kenya, David Harding, 2005

87


IN RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT WORK MANY TERMS HAVE CONTESTED MEANINGS. THE FOLLOWING ARE THE MEANINGS THAT ARE TAKEN IN THIS BOOKLET.

Action research is a process that combines learning andaction to produce more effective change. When focused onempowerment, it helps people set their own agenda andlearn from their experiences so they can take those lessonsand improve their work and lives. It assists people ininvestigating and studying their actions, reflecting on themand developing ways to increase their effectiveness andimpact. As a result, it promotes deeper understanding and learning and greater commitment to the changes being pursued.

Critical thinking is a process that we should be engagingin all the time and describes how a person or group canchoose to approach new information, ideas, problems,questions and issues. Critical thinking is essentially an activeprocess – one in which you individually, or in a group, thinkthoughts through for yourself, raise questions yourself, find orinterpret relevant information yourself and come to your ownconclusions or evaluations rather than passively acceptinginformation or decisions from an outside source.

Development is increasing people’s possibility and capacityto make the most of their potential to live as full creativehuman beings and to come together to build caring,supportive and accountable societies.

Empowerment is a process that strengthens the abilities,confidence, analysis and power of poor and excluded peopleand their organisations so they can challenge unjust andauthoritarian power relations.

Fundamentalism is the use of religion, ethnicity or culture to mobilise and gain political power in a society. Thoughinherently political, adherents seek to raise these ideologiesabove the possibility of open political debate on the basis ofdivine sanction or by appealing to supreme authorities, moralcodes or philosophies that cannot be questioned.10

Good governance is open and participatory governancethat pays particular attention to promoting the voice ofexcluded members of society.

Impact is lasting or significant changes positive or negative,intended or not brought about in peoples lives by a givenaction or series of actions.

Impact assessment is a broad understanding of change,and can be done throughout the lifecycle of an intervention.After completion, an assessment of impact looks at the lastingeffects an intervention has had. Impact assessment canmeasure both tangible and intangible results of activities onthe lives of people and on society.

Indicators are signs or signals of progress that can be observed or measured. They provide information thathelp give us an idea of what changes are occurring as aresult of our actions, whether activities and actions are actually happening as we intended and the progress we are making in our efforts to improve people’s lives.

Learning involves reflecting on experiences to identify how a situation or future action could be improved, and then usingthis knowledge to make actual improvements. This can beindividual or group based.

Monitoring is about knowing the positive and negativeaspects of our advocacy efforts. It is the regular and ongoing collection and analysis of information on the progress of our work.

Neo-liberalism is a political-economic philosophy that de-emphasises or rejects government intervention andregulation of the economy, believing instead that progress can be achieved by encouraging free-market methods andfewer controls on business operations and economicdevelopment. It benefits corporate interests and tends to besupported by the powerful and rich. In practice it has led togrowing inequalities and the loss of workers’ rights.

GLOSSARY

10 Kellet 1996 Religious fundamentalism: questioning the term, identifying its referents. (unpublished)

88

www.actionaid.org

Participation is both a means and an end, a way we try todo our work and a goal of that work. When it as part of theempowerment process, participation is about involving andexpanding the power and voice of the impoverished andmarginalised as thinkers, decision-makers and leaders.Participation helps us build solidarity between peopleconcerned about the rights of poor and disenfranchisedgroups and can form the basis for strong movements toadvance rights.

People-centred advocacy11 is a set of organised actions aimed at influencing public policies, societal attitudesand socio-political processes that enable and empower themarginalised to speak for themselves. Its purpose is socialtransformation through the realisation of human rights – civil,political, economic, social and cultural.

Planning is intended to help us identify the key changes wewant, develop effective strategies to get what we want anddesign ways to monitor their progress. Planning for people-centred advocacy, however, is not only a process to designeffective change strategies. It also seeks to increase the capacity of marginalised groups, strengthen theirorganisations and deepen their leadership by involving themin advocacy planning and decision-making. It is aboutlearning, creativity, action and building new forms of power.

REFLECT is a literacy process that encourages people toreflect on their circumstances in order to improve them.

Reviews, reflection and learning are moments that helpus look back on our experiences, assess and judge theireffectiveness, and draw lessons from them so we can finetune our strategies and re-plan. In people-centred advocacy,these moments challenge us to reflect critically on our workand analyse how shifts in power and context are affectingboth our strategies and the changes we are trying to achieve.This analysis helps us figure out what is working and what isnot. They help us assess and evaluate our impact. With theselessons we can decide which strategies and actions needrethinking or discarding and readjust our plans accordingly.

Rights-based approaches There is no one rights-basedapproach, but rather a range of approaches that tend to showmost of the following features:

Identifying and clearly taking sides with poor andmarginalised peoples suffering injustice and severe denial and violation of their rights.

Attempting to address not just the effects of poverty,marginalisation, injustice, denial and violation of rights, but also their causes.

Facilitating and supporting poor and marginalised people’sown empowerment, leadership, organisation and action toaddress injustice and restore and advance their rights.

Affirming that individuals and civil society have both theright and the responsibility to define, defend and advancepeople’s rights; the state has similar obligations and, most importantly, the fundamental responsibility to ensure justice and the application of those rights fairly across society.

Recognising that making rights and development real in people’s lives requires changes in deeply engrainedattitudes and behaviours at all levels of society.

Understanding the inextricable links between rights,development, and power, and the resulting need for integrated strategies that address

• the policy and political aspects of making rights anddevelopment meaningful

• the organisational and creative side which involvessupport for strengthening organisations and leadershipand creating, testing and promoting concretedevelopment alternatives.

11Definition taken from John Samuel, 1997 People-centred advocacy, National Centre for Advocacy Studies, Pune, cited in VeneKlasen and Miller 2002

89


SELECTEDBIBLIOGRAPHYActionAid, 2000, ALPS: Accountability, Learning and Planning System

ActionAid Asia, 2000, Operationalising A RightsApproach to Development

ActionAid International, 2003, ActionAid inPractice: Understanding and Learning AboutMethods and Approaches of Rights andEmpowerment November 17 - 22, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

ActionAid 2001 Notes to accompany ALPS

Berer, Merge. and Sundari Ravindran, TK. No date, Fundamentalism, Women’sEmpowerment and Reproductive Rightswww.hsph.harvard.edu/Organisations/healthnet/SAsia/suchana/0110/berer_ravindran

Brock, Cornwall, and Gaventa. 2001, Power, knowledge, and political spaces in the framing of poverty policy,IDS Working Paper 143, Brighton:IDS

CDRA. No date, The Two Paradigms of Development: From Service Delivery to Empowerment

Challenging Fundamentalisms: A web resource for women’s human rightshttp://www.whrnet.org/fundamentalisms/

Chapman & Wameyo 2001 Monitoring andEvaluating Advocacy, A Scoping Study, ActionAId International.

Chapman et al. 2005Rights-Based Development: The challenge of Change and Power. AdvocacyAction Research Working Paper No 2.

Church, Madeleine at al. 2002, Participation,Relationships and Dynamic Change: newthinking on evaluating the work of internationalnetworks Working Paper 121, DevelopmentPlanning Unit, University College London.

Coulby, Hilary 2005 Guidance note on planningand monitoring international campaigns inActionAid, Advocacy Action Research Working Paper 3.

Dick, B. (2002) Questions for critical reflection.Available atwww.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/arp/reflques.html

Earle, Lucy. 2005, Planning, Assessing andLearning from Advocacy, Workshop held byActionAid in collaboration with INTRAC, Accra,Ghana 5th-8th April.

Fisher, Alec. 2001 Critical Thinking. Cambridge University Press.

Fopma, Paulien. 2002,Working with Questions CDRA Nuggets.

Guijt. Irene & Gaventa, John. 1998, IDS PolicyBriefing, Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation,Issue 12. IDS, Brighton, Sussex.

Miller, Valerie. 1999, Building Knowledge andCommunity for Advocacy, IDR.

Miller Valerie. 1994, NGO and Grassroots PolicyInfluence: What is Success? IDR

Miller, Valerie. 2002, Political Consciousness: A Perpetual Quest, Pakistani NGO ResourceCenter Journal, June

Miller, V. & Covey J.G. 1997, AdvocacySourcebook, Frameworks for Planning, Actionand Reflection, Institute for DevelopmentResearch.

Miller et.al. 2005, Rights-based Development:Linking Rights and Participation –Challenges in Thinking and Action; IDS Bulletin,Vol.36, No. 1, Brighton, Sussex, January.

Morago, Luis 2004 Presentation to CONCORD’sRights Based Seminar, ActionAid November.

Okwaare, Sarah. 2004 Peer exchange as a toolfor learning and evaluating work: a case ofparalegals/benets of kapchorwa district. Reporton a visit to Kenya Land Alliance & ActionaidKenya rift region from 8 – 15 September 2004.Actionaid International Uganda.

Peavey, Fran with Hutchinson, Vivian. SrategicQuestioning, for Personal and Social Change,www.jobsletter.org.nz/vivian/stratq97.htm

Reason & Bradbury 2001, Handbook of ActionResearch, Participative Enquiry and Practice,London, Sage

Rees, Fran. The Facilitator Excellence Handbook:Helping People Work Creatively and ProductivelyTogether. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998

Romano, Jorge O. 2002 in ActionAidEmpowerment publication Dec 2002.

Samuel, J. 1996, What is people-centredadvocacy? National Centre for AdvocacyStudies, Pune, India

Schrestha, 2004, Final Evaluation of AdvocacyAction Research Project, ActionAid Nepal

Schwartz, Roger M. 1994, The Skilled Facilitator:Practical Wisdom for Developing EffectiveGroups. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Silva, A. 2003, Constructing the participatoryplanning, monitoring and evaluation system,AA Brazil

Sprechmann, S. & Pelton, E., Advocacy Tools andGuidelines: Promoting Policy Change - AResource Manual for CARE Program Managers,CARE, January 2001.

Stein, David. Teaching Critical Reflection athttp://inspiredliving.com/business/reflection.htm

VeneKlasen, Lisa with Miller, Valerie 2002, A New Weave of Power, People & Politics: The Action Guide for Advocacy and CitizenParticipation, World Neighbors.

Wallace, Tina and Kaplan, Allan. 2003, The Taking of the Horizon.ActionAid Impact Assessment Unit WorkingPaper Number 4 August.

Wameyo, Amboka. 2001 Looking outsideframeworks: thoughts on monitoring advocacy,IA Exchanges March 2001, ActionAid.

WHRnet. 2003, Fundamentalisms and the Challenge to Women’s Reproductive and Sexual Rights, Nov 2003www.whrnet.org/fundamentalisms/docs/issue-wsf-reproductiverights.html

Web references

Bonded labour atwww.antislavery.org/homepage/campaign/bondedinfo.htm

Critical thinking atwww.coping.org/write/percept/critical.htm

Fundamentalisms atChallenging Fundamentalisms: A web resource for women’s human rights at www.whrnet.org/fundamentalisms/

Indicators atwww.sustainablemeasures.com/Indicators/Characteristics.html

www.sustainablemeasures.com/Indicators/WhatIs.html

Knowledge managementwww.onepine.info/km1.htm

Power www.grassrootspolicy.org

Questioning atwww.coachingforchange.com/pub10.html

http://publicachievement.org/TeacherGuide/Lessons/ArtOfQuestioning.pdf

www.co-intelligence.org/P-strategicQing.html

www.crabgrass.org/strategic.html

Rational management tools and NGOs atwww.ngopractice.org

Reflect resources www.reflect-action.org

Advocacyhttp://www.justassociates.org/ActionGuide.htm

ActionAid Impact Assessment resources

90

www.actionaid.org

91


92

www.actionaid.org

ISBN no: 1872502 62 8

Critical webs of powerand change is intended to:

• assist groups who want to support and doadvocacy in ways that expand the voices and leadership of the marginalised

• strengthen the ability of development workers and activists to plan, evaluate and learn from their advocacy experiences.

In response to requests from staff and partners forbetter ways of understanding and doing advocacyplanning and evaluation, ActionAid International, anNGO with affiliates in over 40 countries, hasdeveloped this resource pack.

Between 2002 and 2005, ActionAid Internationalsupported action research initiatives by communitygroups, coalitions, NGOs and social movements fromBrazil, Ghana, Nepal and Uganda working on landrights, women’s rights, housing rights and dalit rights.This work was funded and supported by ActionAidInternational, Comic Relief, Just Associates and theUK Department for International Development (DfID).

Our efforts were aimed at developing betterunderstanding of how change and advocacyhappens in different places and circumstances, and how planning, reflection and learning can bettersupport the changes that we seek – changes thatare advancing the rights and leadership of poor andmarginalised people and transforming inequitablepower relations. This pack incorporates lessons drawnfrom this research and from the experiences andstruggles of other groups around the world.

ActionAid International is a unique partnership ofpeople who are fighting for a better world – a world without poverty.

ActionAid International PostNet Suite #248Private Bag X31Saxonwold 2132JohannesburgSouth Africa

Telephone+27 (0) 880 0008

Fax +27 (0) 11 880 8082

[email protected]

Websitewww.actionaid.org

International Head OfficeJohannesburg

Asia Region OfficeBangkok

Africa Region OfficeNairobi

Americas Region OfficeRio de Janeiro

ActionAid International isregistered as a foundationin Haaglanden, theNetherlands, under filenumber 27264198

November 2005P2107/11/05

ISBN no: 1872502 62 8

All images ActionAid except: page 31 Sophia Evans/NB Pictures/ActionAid page 68 Sophia Evans/NB Pictures/ActionAidpage 73 Jess Hurd/ReportDigital/ActionAid

Date post:	08-Dec-2020
Category:	Documents
Upload:	others
View:	1 times
Download:	0 times

CRITICAL WEBS OF POWER AND CHANGE - Participatory Methods€¦ · Adhikari, Gyan Bahadur, Jagat...

Documents