2. Introduction
2.3 Policy Advocacy
2.3.2 Elements of Advocacy-Model
After analysing the impact of civil society role in advocacy, many civil society proponents arrived at a conclusion that for effective advocacy to take place, civil society organisations need to employ certain mechanisms in their activities. As a result, this has prompted some society practitioners to employ a model of advocacy based on particular mechanisms called elements of successful advocacy. The ‘basic elements of advocacy’ is a model often cited by civil society
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analysts and advocates. As outlined in chapter one, the proponents of this model such as Sharma (1997), claim that to be successful advocates, practitioners of civil society must make use of many types of tools and techniques, strategies and tactics, and must challenge themself in various public arenas as summarised below:
i. Identifying goals and objectives is crucial if an advocacy effort is to succeed (Sharma, 1997). The advocacy goal must be clarified or narrowed down to an advocacy objective based on answers to the following questions: can the issue bring diverse groups together into a powerful coalition? Is the objective achievable? Will the objective really address the problem? In the same view, the POLICY Project (2003) asserts that identifying and clearing goals and objectives can lead to successful advocacy.
ii. Using essential data and research for advocacy which will explain the need for the goal is critical if the objectives of any organisation are to be met. Data and research are essential for making informed decisions when choosing decisions and when choosing a problem to work on, identifying solutions to the problem and setting realistic goals.
Additionally, well researched information itself can be the most persuasive argument to advocates (Sharma, 1997).
iii. Identifying advocacy audiences is an essential tool that should be taken into account.
While exploring the need for this element of advocacy, Shrechmann and Pellton (2001:35), concluded that advocacy audiences can be divided into primary and secondary audiences. The implication is that once the issue and goals are selected, advocacy efforts must be directed to the people with decision making power such as politicians and High court judges (primary audience) and ideally, to the people who influence the decision makers such as staff, advisors, influential elders, the media and the public (secondary audience). Therefore, identifying the right audience for the message and directing it to those responsible for making decisions or to those who can influence the decision-makers is critical for successful advocacy.
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Kervatin (1998) emphasises that when applying this technique of advocacy, it is important to know those who influence the decision makers and what circumstances can influence decision making. Ideally, secondary audiences are important because they can provide a way to reach the primary audience that may not be available to the advocates.
Secondary audiences may even include policy makers. For example, a Member of Parliament might be willing to advocate a policy position to another (Sprechmann and Pelton, 2001: 35). Building on this view, the POLICY Project (2003: 24) argued that an advocate group must identify individuals in the target audience, learn about their positions and relative power base, and determine whether the various individuals support, oppose, or are neutral about the advocacy issue (Policy project, 2003: 24).
iv. Coalition building in advocacy involves bringing together a large number of participants such as individuals and groups in attaining a goal (Sharma, 1998). In the same vein, (Kervatin, 1998) added that coalitions are associations of many organisations and/or individuals who wish to solve a specific problem in the same manner. Therefore, participants or actors serve as a form of protection particularly in places where public policies and advocacy are new phenomenon. An example of a coalition is association of many organisations and/or individuals who wish to solve a specific problem in the same manner (Kervatin, 1998: 29). While analysing the subject, Sharma, (1997: 7) argued that in advocacy, power is in the hands of those who support the goal.
v. Shaping and directing the messages in advocacy involves creating an appropriate message to those whom it is being directed. This tool of advocacy also shows that different audiences respond to different messages (Sharma, 1997). Hence, the ability to effectively communicate a massage to those it is targeting is very important. The target could be decision-makers such as government officials, or the public.
vi. Making convincing presentations based upon convincing arguments which can enhance a successful action, is relevant to advocacy. Careful and thorough preparation of convincing arguments and presentation style can turn these brief opportunities into
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successful advocacy. Kervatin, (1998) and Sharma (1997: 7) emphasised that making persuasive presentations provides opportunities to influence key audiences.
vii. Fundraising which involves planning and finding ways to gather the necessary financial resources is another cornerstone for successful advocacy. Fundraising for advocacy is important because most activities including advocacy, require resources. Additionally, sustaining an effective advocacy effort over the long-term involves investing time and energy in raising funds or other resources to support advocacy work.This element also explains that advocacy campaigns can always benefit from outside funds and other resources which can help support the development and dissemination of materials, cover travel expenses to meet with decision makers and generate support, underwrite meetings or seminars, and absorb communication expenses (Sharma, 1997: 7).
viii. Evaluation involves assessing advocacy work and learning from experience. Evaluating advocacy efforts is therefore crucial if an organisation or an advocate is to know whether they have succeeded in reaching their advocacy objective or not. Thus, effective advocacy requires continuous feedback and evaluations of the advocate’s efforts (Kervatin, 1998: 33).
While the use of various advocacy techniques and strategies vary from case to case, the proponents to this model hold that the above basic elements yield effective action. The strength of this model is on its emphasis that, advocacy never limits itself to one tool or one method nor does one need to apply all the elements to succeed (Kervatin, 1998: 32). Additionally, this model acknowledges the importance of diverse actors in advocacy activities. However, the strength of this model is also the source of its weakness because it limits advocates or actors to use the eight elements presented in the literature above. Therefore, the purpose of this model in this study is not to impose a ‘right’ advocacy strategy that fits all situations, but rather to present a number of elements that can help us think clearly about a particular situation such as the advocacy activities of the Treatment Action Campaign and their role in shaping the current HIV/AIDs policy in South Africa.
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The model outlined in Figure.1 below, is an advocacy tool kit used by civil society practitioners and analysts as discussed in the literature above. These elements denote the strategies that can be employed to succeed in advocacy activities.
Figure 1: Basic Elements of Advocacy
Adopted from SARA/AED Advocacy Training Guide (1997: 6)