Girls Advocacy Alliance (GAA) - Advocacy Manual by Plan International

Advocacy Manual

CONTENTS Introduction WHY A MANUAL

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?

WHO SHOULD USE IT AND WHEN?

The basics

INTRODUCING GIRL ADVOCACY ALLIANCE ADVOCACY

SPHERES OF INFLUENCE

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR

THE ADVOCACY CYCLE STEPS

SUGGESTIONS FOR WORKING SESSIONS

STEP 1 ANALYSE THE SITUATION

STEP 2 SELECT THE POLICY ISSUE

STEP 3 ANALYSE THE POLICY & LEGAL CONTEXT

STEP 4 FORMULATE CLEAR GOALS & OUTCOMES

STEP 5 IDENTIFY TARGETS & INFLUENTIALS

STEP 6 MAP OPPORTUNITIES & ASSESS RISKS

STEP 7 CHOOSE AN INFLUENCING APPROCH

STEP 8 DEVELOP MASSAGES

STEP 9 IDENTIFY PMEL PRIORITIES

STEP 10 WRITE UP AN ADVOCACY STRATEGY

This Advocacy Manual was created in collaboration with: Concept and text: Wout Visser - woutvisser.nl & Mijntje van Kemenade - mijntjevankemenade.nl Visualisation: Birgit Smit - birgitsmit.com Identity & Lay out: Janneke Laarakkers â&#x20AC;&#x201C; @planpuur Coverphoto: Plan International

This annual in interactive 1 Girls Advocacy Alliance

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2 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Introduction

INTRODUCTION

WHY A MANUAL?

The Girls Advocacy Alliance (GAA) is an initiative of Plan Netherlands, Defence for Children ECPAT Netherlands and Terre des Hommes Netherlands, aimed at contributing to equal rights and opportunities for girls and young women and inclusive economic growth in ten countries in Asia and Africa, focusing on the elimination of violence against girls and young women and their economic exclusion as policy priorities. The GAA envisions a world wherein all girls and young women enjoy equal rights and opportunities, and benefit equally from development outcomes. Therefore, the long-term goal (in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development) of its joint programme â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Advocating for Girlsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Rightsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is to ensure that girls and young women are free from all forms of gender-based violence and are economically empowered. The programme also involves policy advocacy at the regional level, joint efforts in international policy fora, as well as at the level of Dutch public and corporate policies. The organisations involved in the programme apply a broad spectrum of advocacy interventions to increase public support; to improve policies and practices of corporate/private sector actors, to seek implementation of effective legislation and public policies; and to improve practices of government actors in support of the prevention and elimination of gender-based violence and economic exclusion of girls and young women. At the same time, the GAA focuses on the strengthening of capacities of civil society organisations (CSOs) and networks (in particular Girls and Young Women organisations) to influence actors from the government and corporate/private sector to eliminate gender-based violence and economic exclusion.

Working on such complex issues in multiple contexts with a wide range of stakeholders requires a certain level of shared understanding in terms of terminologies, approaches and strategies used within the programme. This manual aims to provide some practical guidance and direction to those colleagues and partners who are involved in designing and implementing advocacy strategies.

3 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Introduction

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?

The manual is built around the advocacy cycle: a series of interrelated steps and related tools that facilitate generating and documenting the information needed to develop effective advocacy strategies. 1. First of all, the manual provides a conceptual framework about the understanding of advocacy in the GAA programme context: what do we mean by advocacy? 2. Second, the manual provides step-by-step guidance to identify all the information needed to develop an effective advocacy strategy: how do we select issues, assess policies and identify targets? 3. Finally, the manual provides templates and tools for advocacy Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (PMEL); for example an advocacy strategy template and advocacy monitoring logbooks: how do we plan and keep track of our progress?

WHO SHOULD USE IT AND WHEN?

The manual is intended as a support and guidance tool for individuals and teams involved in the GAA programme. This includes staff of GAA member organisations in national, regional and international offices; as well as staff of partner CSOs. The manual is an integrated document, while the different sections of the manual have specific purposes. Each section can be read separately and has a textbox with topic specific suggestions for workshop sessions in teams or small groups.

1. The advocacy basics section can be used to discuss and aims to clarify the meaning of advocacy in the context of the Girl Advocacy Alliance programme. As the term “advocacy” has different meanings to different people, this section aims to clarify the intended purpose of advocacy in the GAA programme. 2. The steps in the advocacy cycle section can be used as the basis for the development of a new advocacy strategy, for example when a new issue needs to be addressed. Individual steps and tools can also be used independently from each other to update certain elements of an existing strategy, for example to update a stakeholder analysis after a national election. 3. The tools and templates in the Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (PMEL) section are integrated with the overall PMEL system and Outcome Harvesting method of the Girl Advocacy Alliance to provide additional guidance on continuous monitoring and regular data collection and reporting on advocacy actions and indications of change, the so-called “signs”. If you want to know more about the meaning of advocacy, and the way it is understood in the Girl Advocacy Alliance programme, read section 1: the advocacy basics. The section also provides a few exercises to discuss the topic in your team or small groups. If you want to develop an advocacy strategy, either starting from scratch or updating parts of an existing strategy, turn to section 2: the advocacy cycle. The section provides step-by-step guidance on the process and provides tools that can help you collect the information you need. Exercises in this section are mostly for groups. If you are looking for a structure to organise all the information collected throughout the advocacy cycle, check out section 3: PMEL. This section provides brief descriptions of tools and templates to monitor your advocacy actions and assess changes in your advocacy targets and context.

4 Girls Advocacy Alliance - The Basics

THE BASICS

INTRODUCING GIRL ADVOCACY ALLIANCE ADVOCACY

The overall purpose of the Girl Advocacy Alliance (GAA) is to contribute to and promote equal rights and opportunities for girls and young women and inclusive economic growth in ten countries in Asia and Africa, with a focus on the elimination of violence against girls and young women, and their economic exclusion as policy priorities. The GAA programme collaborates with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to realise four strategic social change objectives: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Increased public support for the elimination of gender-based violence and economic exclusion of girls and young women (GYW); Increased influence of civil society organisations and networks (in particular girls’ and young women’s organisations) on government and corporate/private sector actors to eliminate gender-based violence (GBV) and economic exclusion (EE) of girls and young women; Improved policies and practices of corporate/private sector actors in support of the elimination of gender-based violence and economic exclusion of girls and young women; Effective implementation of legislation and public policies and improved practices of government actors in support of the prevention and elimination of gender-based violence and economic exclusion of girls and young women.

> In each programme context, the specific change objectives for these four actor groups (community, civil society, government and private sector) are different. Despite these context-specific differences, all GAA programmes aim to strategically influence the agendas, policies and practices of targeted audiences to realise positive policy outcomes for girls and young women. This is the GAA definition of advocacy. Social change can be realised in many different ways. Influencing policy in only one of them, often considered the most sustainable approach, but not always possible or most appropriate: °° Delivering interventions directly (building a school; delivering GBV trainings to companies) °° Building capacities (supporting local civil society actors to build a school; supporting local CBO’s to deliver trainings) °° Influencing policy (working with government to promote sustainable changes: ensure budget allocations; influencing business sector networks to promote Safety at the workplace) Strategic influencing, or advocacy, is the process of selecting policy issues, analysing the policy context, identifying target audiences, choosing influencing tactics, crafting and delivering messages through which organisations individually or collectively seek to positively affect such policy outcomes. In this manual, this process is called the advocacy cycle. The alliance uses two main strategies to realise the four strategic social change objectives. °° The first strategy focuses on strengthening the advocacy capacity of civil society organisations and networks, in particular Girls’ and Young Women’s (GYW) organisations, to influence government and corporate/private sector actors to eliminate GBV and EE of girls and young women. °° The second strategy builds on direct advocacy by members of the Girl Advocacy Alliance for increased public support, improved policies and practices of corporate/private sector actors, and effective implementation of legislation and public policies and improved practices of government actors in support of the prevention and elimination of GBV and EE.

5 Girls Advocacy Alliance - The Basics

However, policy and social change is very difficult to plan. It is impossible to predict what the outcome of a certain advocacy intervention will be. Social actors have different ideas about whether certain issues should be addressed and what should be done to solve them, while the context in which they operate and relate to each other is constantly evolving. However, as long as we are clear about what it is that we want to achieve, this complexity should not keep us from engaging actively and trying to contribute to social change. Compare the complexity of social change to the process of raising your daughter healthy: To keep her healthy, you are cooking nutritious dishes for your daughter. If you follow the steps in the recipes, you are certain that the outcome of your cooking will be the dishes as described in your recipes. As a result, your daughter will eat lovely, healthy food. A healthy child however, goes beyond merely feeding your daughter: while you know that providing healthy food to your child will increase the chances of het becoming a healthy person, there are too many other factors influencing your daughter’s life to be certain of that outcome. Pollution, traffic, … While this may be unfortunate, it is reality…

SPHERES OF INFLUENCE

Even though policy and social change is difficult to plan, influencing target audiences is possible.

ADVOCACY TACTICS, INPUTS, ACTIVITIES & OUTPUTS

Sphere of control

INFLUENCE ON POLICY: CHANGES IN BEHAVIOUR, RELATIONSHIPS, ATTITUDES & AGENDAS

IPOLICY & POLITICAL CONTEXT

Sphere of influence

Sphere of concern

This model can be useful to determine what is and what is not within our power to influence: To what extent are we able to influence policy and social change? The sphere of control is the area that we can fully control with advocacy. The sphere of influence is the area in which the changes in practice, policy and agenda will have to take place. It is not completely in our control but we do have the power of promoting change among our target audiences. The sphere of concern is where the social change, the positive impact on the lives of girls and young women, will ultimately be visible. As an alliance, we are accountable for those interventions and changes that lie in our sphere of control. By making sure that our interventions are relevant and of high quality we hope to make a positive contribution to the spheres of influence and concern.

The essence of advocacy is all about changing people… … and what they should do differently

The focus of advocacy lies in the answer to the 3 questions: °° What chance do we want? °° Who can make that change happen? And °° How can we make them change?

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR

The government traditionally had the ultimate, formal responsibility to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of its citizens. Nowadays, companies are increasingly being held accountable for their actions (or inactions) towards their employees and their social and ecological impact on the wider community.

6 Girls Advocacy Alliance - The Basics

In the GAA programme, advocacy takes place towards stakeholders in the public sector and the private sector. Sometimes it will be necessary to target both sectors, and on other occasions particular policy asks will be directed at a single actor. For example, in the area of improving legal protections against Child Marriage, policy asks are likely to be primarily targeted at public sector stakeholders, such as a Minister of Justice and a Minister of Gender, Women and Children Affairs or specific departments within these ministries. Another example is the Garment sector, in which several large companies operate under an enforceable Covenant with Governments to ensure that the Responsibility to Protect is respected throughout the entire value chain. In the first example, only the government is targeted. In the latter example, the private sector is influenced through a concerted lobbying effort towards the government (focusing on workers’ health or environmental degradation) and the private sector (focusing on efficiency gains in the value chain). Examples of public sectors actors °° Government officials (legislative, judicial and executive) °° Officials at International institutions °° Political representatives °° Public service delivery agents Private sector actors °° Company owners °° Trade Unions °° Employers’ associations °° Chairs of business networks

The GAA programme defines advocacy as “the strategic influencing of agendas, policies and practices of targeted audiences to realise positive policy outcomes for girls and young women”. Elaborating this definition, a bit more, advocacy can be understood through a variety of “lenses”, so-called advocacy typologies1: °° Cumulative stages of change °° Government vs society-centred targets °° Insider vs Outsider tactics °° Participation and ownership levels Definitions2

Agenda setting: the process by which problems (or issues) gain or lose the attention of the

general public and of targeted decision-makers within the private sector, public sector or community. Policy change: the adoption of new or reformed laws and/or policies and plans by targeted decision-makers in government, the private sector, civil organisations and community leadership. Practice change: improvements in the implementation (enforcement) and monitoring of adopted policies and plans by targeted governments and companies, as well as civil society organisation and community leadership. In the GAA programme, advocacy is seen as a sequence of progressive, cumulative changes that the programme aims to achieve. This typology is called stages of change: °° Agenda setting: our target sees our issue as a problem and decides something should be done about it. For example, in most GAA countries, LGBTI rights are not on the policy agenda. °° Policy change: our target takes a concrete action, “translates” the problem into a solution in the policy cycle: amends an article in the Civil Code, allocates budget, makes a public announcement of new community bylaws. °° Practice change: the policy change leads to an actual change in behaviour of the advocacy target: companies are hiring more young women, children are no longer married off at 12 - in accordance with our expected norm or standard.

1 A more elaborate overview of typologies, based on an unpublished 2017 MoFA paper, can be found in the annex to this chapter. 2 Girl advocacy Alliance PMEL manual, December 2016

7 Girls Advocacy Alliance - The Basics

In practice, the agenda setting > policy change > practise change sequence is constantly occurring:

After a successful lobby of several years, the GAAnesia Ministry of Gender, Woman and Children adopted the Child Marriage National Action Plan in 2016 (practise change). But the lack of resources to support local governments in implementing the NAP remains a key barrier. Current advocacy efforts focus on creating awareness on the issue among relevant departments in the Ministry (agenda setting). The GAA uses this Agenda-Policy-Practice cycle to loosely conceptualise the various programmes. “Agenda” is about being aware of something as being important, “Policy” describes the intention to do something about it, “Practice” indicates what the actual change is, in terms of an advocacy target doing something differently from before. In other words, a change that is concrete and observable.

As GAA advocacy deals with formal as well as informal policies, government and non-governmental actors, the “policy change” stage will have to be interpreted quite broadly: the stage between an issue being on the agenda, and an actor showing a concrete, observable change of behaviour. Another typology is related to the target of the advocacy effort: government-centred or society-centred. The GAA explicitly aims to influence the behaviour of actors both in the government and broader society. The key purpose is to influence target audiences so they are doing something differently from before. In practice, this typology can cover many different situations, since advocacy takes place in the formal arena of public policy and law-making, but also in the informal arena of community level bylaws and traditions. Private sector actors are considered part of the society-centred typology, that includes all non-state actors, for example also covering media and universities. Within the broad range of policy influencing strategies, we can identify several tactics. These are broadly referred to as “insider” and “outsider” tactics: do we take a more collaborative (insider) or more confrontational (outsider) approach? Direct engagement with decision-makers will be mostly collaborative in nature, and the more confrontational approaches are often indirect. For example, using the media to publicly denounce poor policy enforcement by a district official or discriminatory practices by a certain company. Taking an insider approach to influence decision-makers can be effective since you can make use of a good relationship with or intelligence about an influential stakeholder. But it can also backfire and lead to a conflict of interests and co-optation. If you fear losing your close connection with your target, this may prevent you from speaking out firmly against him or her. At the same time, you may lose touch with the community you want to support because of your focus on understanding the decision-makers. The term co-optation is used to describe the process of engaging too closely with your target by which your own position is gradually neutralised. Also, your advocacy targets may use the close connection with you to convey the message that they are listening to the demands of your constituency – when in fact they might not be. Following the outsider approach can be appropriate if you do not have a “seat at the table”. It allows you to be clear and direct in your messaging. But this may also have its disadvantages:

8 Girls Advocacy Alliance - The Basics

it may lead to more distance between decision-makers and communities and at the same time there is the risk that we could evoke a stronger opposition to the change we are advocating for. Another issue to keep in mind is that you may miss out on opportunities to work together through dialogue if you take a confrontational approach. In volatile situations, for example during elections, outsider approaches may even incur security risks for organisations and staff. A final lens through which we can look at advocacy is to take a participation and ownership perspective: who decides what is being done? What is the role of the affected individuals? °° Advocacy for: speaking on behalf of girls and young women, often those that are affected. The least empowering form of advocacy, but in some situations this can be the most suitable option, for example when security is an issue. °° Advocacy with: joining forces with the individuals affected. This form allows for a division of roles between groups of girls and young women and GAA organisations and may involve several ways of building advocacy capacities. °° Advocacy by: ownership by girls and young women. The most empowering form of advocacy, leaving decision making to (groups of) affected individuals. Requires sufficiently capacitated groups and letting go of control by GAA organisations. What change do we seek? CHANGE

°° °° °° °°

Step 1: Analyse the situation Step 2: Select the policy issue Step 3: Analyse the policy and legal context Step 4: Formulate clear goals and outcomes

Who can make that change? Audience

°° Step 5: Identify targets and influential °° Step 6: Map opportunities and assess risks

How can we make them change? Tactics

°° Step 7: Choose an influencing approach °° Step 8: Develop massages °° Step 9: Identify PMEL priorities °° Step 10: Write up an Advocacy Strategy

THE ADVOCACY CYCLE STEPS

The GAA aims to strategically influence the agendas, policies and practices of targeted audiences to realise positive policy outcomes for girls and young women. The starting point for GAA advocacy is the development of your Theory of Change. In this ToC visual and narrative, you will find an explanation of what your team considers the most likely way in which the desired changes will come about. These pathways of change consist of specific changes in behaviour that your team expects its target audience to exhibit, compared with the current situation. These actor-based outcomes are the starting point of the development of your advocacy strategy that uses the advocacy cycle. Inspiring advocacy examples Child marriage free villages Sixty-six percent of girls in Bangladesh are married under 18. Plan international is addressing this by supporting a children’s organisation that works with local government and community-based organisations to create child marriage-free zones to stop early marriage. The children call emergency meetings whenever they hear about planned child marriage, they then visit the parents to discuss the issue and inform them of the negative impact that child marriage has on girls. Working together with local authorities, the children’s group has convinced the community that child marriage is a harmful practise and should therefore be eliminated.

9 Girls Advocacy Alliance - The Basics

To develop an effective influencing strategy, this manual proposes a ten-step approach. Each step of the advocacy cycle consists of several analysis and prioritising tools that will each give us a piece of information to answer the three key questions for advocacy: °° What change do we want? °° Who can make that change? °° How can we make them change? Make sure to have at least gone through steps 1 to 4 once, before getting to steps 5 and beyond. It will be very difficult to successfully identify who you should target and how to make them change, if it is not clear what it is that you want to change.

It is important to realise that the choice for a certain tool depends on the information need. Therefore, ask yourself the question “What do I want to know?”, before you identify a particular tool. If you want to reassess who you should target to realise your desired policy change, you should focus on steps 5 and 6 about stakeholder analysis and influencing approaches. This may in turn lead to an update of your existing analyses. In the next chapters of section 2 each step and the corresponding tools are explained in more detail.

10 Girls Advocacy Alliance - The Basics

Inspiring advocacy examples The textile covenant The Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh, which took place in 2013 killed more than a thousand people. According to a labour rights website, most of the people working in the building were woman. In the aftermath, the working conditions in the factories of Bangladesh were heavily criticized by international parties. In the Netherlands, concerns about the poor working conditions and low wages in textile producing countries such as Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Turkey became a heavily debated topic as well. The lobby by several representatives from both the private sector and NGO’s and their cooperation with the Dutch government contributed to the signing of a textile covenant in July 2016. The covenant follows agreements such as the ‘Action plan for improving the sustainability of the Dutch textile and apparel sector’, which was created to improve the sustainability of the sector.

SUGGESTIONS FOR WORKING SESSIONS

In order to work with your colleagues on these Advocacy Basics, you could consider organising either of the below practical exercises. NECESSITIES: 1. Advocacy cycle jigsaw exercise: • A print-out of annex 1: Advocacy cycle steps - one copy per group • Big white flip-over papers • Scissors, tape, pens, markers 2. Spheres of Influence exercise: • A flip chart with a hand-drawn model on the Spheres of Influence - one piece per group • Pens, markers, Post-its

ADVOCACY CYCLE JIGSAW EXERCISE: This exercise is about making a jigsaw puzzle. What does the advocacy process look like? 1. Cut the 10 steps of the advocacy process (see annex) 2. Form working groups (4-6 is a good number) 3. Give the 10 pieces of paper to the participants 4. Instruct them to place the steps in the right order on a flip chart (do not mention “cycle”, use “process”) 5. Have participants present their flip chart and explain the advocacy process and why this order was chosen 6. Facilitate a discussion RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POINTS OF DISCUSSION: • Are the steps a linear sequence, or in a cycle? • Are cross cutting themes like involving Girls and Young Women somehow reflected? • Is PMEL seen as a continuous process? • Have arrows or other visual aids been used? SPHERES OF INFLUENCE EXERCISE: This exercise is about understanding that advocacy has limited direct influence. What is GAA ultimately accountable for? What does the alliance contribute to? How far does its influence reach? The Spheres of Influence model helps understand that as an alliance you can only control your own interventions, not the expected outcomes that are in your sphere of influence, let alone your long-term goals that are in your sphere of concern. 1. Have copies of the Spheres of Influence model available 2. Form working groups (4-6 is a good number) 3. Give an empty flip chart to each group and ask them to draw the Spheres of Influence model 4. Ask participants to brainstorm 10 advocacy “results” (these can be outputs or outcomes) 5. Have participants plot the 10 advocacy results on the model together 6. Ask participants to present their models to the plenary group 7. Facilitate a discussion, stressing the importance of the above mentioned points about the “direct reach” of the GAA programme.

11 Girls Advocacy Alliance - The Basics

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POINTS OF DISCUSSION: °° What is the difference between outputs and outcomes? °° Where are the outputs placed (sphere of control) and where are the outcomes (sphere of influence, concern)? °° What is the programme fully responsible for (sphere of control), who is expected to be changing what (sphere of influence) and what is the long-term outcome (sphere of concern)? °° What does this model tell us about issues of accountability (attribution and contribution)? Some facts

Child marriage

°° 1.2 billion: If there is no reduction in child marriage, the global number of child brides will reach 1.2 billion by 2050 °° 1 in 3 girls: In the developing world are said to be married before 18. °° 700 million: Over 700 million women alive today were married as children.

Female Genital Mutilation

°° 200 million: At Least 200 million girls and women alive today living in 30 countries have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting °° 15 years: The majority of girls are cut before they turn 15 years old. °° 8,000: Every day, more than 8,000 girls are at risk of being cut.

Economic Exclusion

°° 48%: Around the world, 48% of women are excluded from the labour market. °° 600 million: More than 600 million young people worldwide are currently not in education, employment or training. °° 1 billion: By 2030, 1 billion young people will be entering the labour market.

Annex with Exercise 1 Annex with Exercise 1

Involve girls and young women

Select the policy issue

Write up an advocacy strategy

Develop messages

Identify targets and influentials

Choose an influencing approach

Identify M&E and learning priorities

Formulate clear goals / objectives

Analyse the policy and legal context

Annex The table on page 13 gives an indicative overview of the range of advocacy typologies. Typically, an advocacy initiative will use several approaches and tactics. In practice, advocacy will hardly ever be very clear-cut and combine elements across typology boundaries. The word advocacy goal in the left column refers to the key question “What it is that needs to change?”

700

STATISTICS ON VIOLENCE AGAINST GIRLS & WOMEN & ECONOMIC EXCLUSION

Up to 70% of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime

Over 700 million women alive today were married as children

ALMOST 1 IN 4 GIRLS SUFFER SEXUAL ABUSE

more When k n wor wome row. mies g econo

An increase in female labour force participation - or a reduction in the gap between women’s and men’s labour force participation -

results in faster economic growth

,000

< 20

0 0,0 0

At least 200 million women and girls alive today have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting in 30 countries. In most of these countries, the majority of girls were cut before age 5

00,000 ,0

M EN O

W o

tog me ab ethe n & ou r tra t 70 acco girl ffic % o un s kin f h t fo g v um r ict im an s epr of e r t ls ou ld ir wo chi ms g t e ti th ng re ic wi nti y th g v se ver ckin e ffi tra

An estimated 31 million girls of primary school age and 32 million girls of lower secondary school age were out of school in 2013

GLOBALLY, WOMEN ARE PAID LESS THAN MEN. WOMEN IN MOST COUNTRIES EARN ON AVERAGE ONLY 60 TO 75 PER CENT OF MEN’S WAGES

Only 42% of girls said that they always participate as leaders in schools as much as boys

1 IN 3 GIRLS REPORTED THAT THEY NEVER SPEAK UP ABOUT WHAT THEY THINK AROUND BOYS

13 Girls Advocacy Alliance - The Basics

Typology

Description

Issue-based vs systemic

Type of advocacy goal

Cumulative stages of impact

Issue-based

Ensure correct implementation of existing policy, service delivery, transparency, empowerment of marginalised groups

Systemic

Address root causes of violence and exclusion, change existing policy arrangements

Agenda setting

Raise awareness, get issues onto the agenda, increase political will

Policy change

Change in formal and informal rules, regulations, policies and laws

Practice change

Change in actual practice of targets audiences across community, government and private sector

Typology

Basis of advocacy goal

Description

Evidence-based vs Interest-based

Evidence

Objective, scientifically proven ‘public interest’ claims for a broad constituency

Interest

Subjective, ‘private interest’ claims for a narrow constituency

Typology

Voicer of advocacy goal

Description

Active vs Passive

Active

Involvement of constituencies, advocacy ‘by’ and ‘with’

Passive

No involvement of constituencies, advocacy ‘for’

Typology

Target of advocacy goal

Description Governmentcentred vs Society-centred

Government

Administrative, judicial, legislative advocacy

Society

Community, media, CSO, private sector advocacy

Typology

Tactics towards advocacy goal

Description Accommodating vs confrontational

Insider vs Outsider

Accommodating

Non-violent cooperation and persuasion

Confrontational

Immediate pressure on decision-makers

Insider

Direct advocacy: direct access to decision makers

Outsider

Indirect advocacy: no / difficult access to decision-makers, influence via influentials

14 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 1

ANALYSE THE SITUATION

STEP 1

WHAT TO DO? ANALYSE THE SITUATION

Step 1 of the Advocacy Cycle is â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;analyse the situationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Any advocacy effort begins with a detailed, context-specific analysis of an issue or problem that you would like to address in order to promote a change, for example in a policy, budget or legislation. Such analyses are generally referred to as context analysis, situation analysis or problem analysis. A detailed understanding of the different aspects of a problem will help to develop clear advocacy goals in Step 4 and advocacy asks in Step 8. Advocacy efforts towards elimination of violence against girls and young women and their economic empowerment require changes at community, government and private sector level. It depends on the specific issue and context where the focus of the advocacy effort should be. For some changes, such as the example of The Ministry of Gender Women and Children improves the implementation of a National Action Plan against Child Marriage, formal government actors are the logical target audience. Another example, Garment industry companies agree to implement the GAAnesian decent work code, requires a focus on a strong Civil Society network and lobby towards the private sector.

The starting point for your detailed problem analysis is the Context Analysis of the Theory of Change. In this analysis you will find a description of the barriers that cause the problem to exist. In a detailes Context Analysis you will find all the information needed for this first step. In the GAAnesian programma for example, your aim is to stop the practice of Child Marriages. The Context Analysis and Theory of Change provide details about the negative role of traditional chiefs not recognising the illegal nature of child marriages.

HOW TO DO IT? TOOLS

In the situation where no Context Analysis is available or the existing analysis needs updating, it is advisable to sit down with your team, reflect on the information that is available and identify steps to jointly analyse the context in more detail. There are several tools that can support you to do this; two such tools are explained below.

The following analysis tools are commonly used to brainstorm and analyse the internal and external factors and trends that may influence your issue, indicate specific barriers and provide relevant insights and opportunities for your advocacy efforts.

15 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 1

TOOL 1: PESTLE A brainstorm and analysis tool to reflect on several areas of interest that could potentially be relevant for your advocacy issue. PESTLE stands for: °° Political °° Economic °° Socio-cultural °° Technological °° Legal °° Environmental The tool results in a list of the factors that could affect your advocacy issue reflecting these key categories. Input can be captured by holding a session together with colleagues or another idea generating technique. If a more exhaustive result is needed, you could consider more thorough research, such as a survey and/or focus group discussions on the external environment relevant to Gender-Based Violence and Economic Exclusion in a country. When listing the factors, think about the following: Area of interest

Factors and trends that…

Political

relate to the political system and structure relevant to your issue (including the government, legislature, judiciary and other government bodies, as well as other political movements and pressure groups)

Economic

relate to the economic barriers and opportunities for your issue (including budget reviews, data and reports on GNP and debts, income distribution, main private sector employers and income distribution)

Socio-cultural

relate to public perceptions and attitudes towards Gender-Based Violence and Economic Exclusion (including demographic information, education statistics, participation and protection statistics, employment rates, land ownership, media and factors related to gender issues)

Technological

relate to technological developments creating opportunities, but also challenges for GenderBased Violence and Economic Exclusion (including IT infrastructure, access to telecommunications and media)

Legal

relate to specific advocacy issues, but also the space for Civil Society in general and doing advocacy work in particular (CBO / NGO regulations, registration and reporting procedures)

Environmental

relate to implementation of advocacy efforts (including availability of girls and young women to participate in advocacy or community involvement due to harvesting seasons or environmental hazards such as flooding or drought)

TOOL 2: FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS A Force Field Analysis uses a scoring mechanism to indicate how much you think this particular factor or trend affects your issue and whether it is a positive or negative influence. The stronger the influence, the more important it is to address it in your advocacy work - or to consider not to advocate on this particular issue now if forces against are too strong at this point in time. Having listed all the potentially relevant factors and trends, this tool helps you to identify which of these may be significant to your work – either as opportunities (forces in favour) or threats (forces against).

16 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 1

FORCES IN FAVOUR

TOTAL SCORE

Score (1-5)

Forces against

TOTAL SCORE

Score (1-5)

TOOL 3: SWOT A SWOT analysis is used to provide an objective and critical self-assessment. SWOT stands for:

°° °° °° °°

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats

In the “strengths” and “weaknesses” quadrants, focus lies on internal issues and past experience. The analysis for the “opportunities” and “threats” quadrants, is more external environment oriented and forward-looking.

STRENGHTS OPPORTUNITIES

WEAKNESSES THREATS

Strengths are internal factors within the organisation (or alliance) that may be of particular importance for the advocacy work, e.g. human and material resources, expertise, access to relevant stakeholders. The questions “what are we good at” and “what are we proud of” help to surface these elements. Weaknesses are internal factors that may obstruct the advocacy work. For instance limited

financial means, ineffective infrastructure, and lack of capacity.

Opportunities are usually external factors, e.g. aspects in your society or community that give you the opportunity to positively change things. For instance media attention, or a public debate that makes economic exclusion of girls and young women more visible. Threats are external factors that are beyond your direct control that stand in the way of the positive change. These could for example be security issues, a change in government, a hostile social environment, or national crises.

The Capacity Assessments are a good starting point for the SWOT analysis. Many relevant organisational Strengths and Weaknesses are captured in the 5 Capabilities model. Relevant Opportunities and Threats are likely to be found in the Context Analysis

17 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 1

SUGGESTIONS FOR WORK-SESSIONS

In order to work with colleagues on an analysis of the situation, you could consider organising one or more of the practical exercises explained below. WORK-SESSIONS PREPARATIONS: °° Review relevant background documentation °° Context Analysis °° Theory of Change °° 5C report °° Agree on a timespan (for instance the next 4 years), as this will help brainstorming about the major factors, forces, actors, opportunities and threats for advocacy °° Ensure a safe space when discussing organisations’ own strengths and weaknesses to facilitate an open exchange of information NECESSITIES: °° Flip chart sheets with the PESTLE acronym, SWOT matrix, and Force Field table °° Post-its, coloured markers PESTLE

PROCESS: 1. In advance, ask participants to review any relevant background documentation on the context. 2. Identify a clear issue to focus the brainstorm. This issue does not yet have to be a specific advocacy outcome description (this will be the output after steps 2-4), but it should be a broad issue, identified in your ToC, which you expect can be addressed through policy advocacy. 3. Have each participant individually brainstorm and write on Post-its a maximum of 10 factors and trends (1 per Post-it) relevant to your issue. 4. Categorise the Post-its on a prepared flip chart with the PESTLE acronym and facilitate a group discussion on the resulting overview. 5. If the plotting results in some areas not being sufficiently covered, facilitate a group brainstorm about those areas of interest. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POINTS OF DISCUSSION: Are any factors or trends mentioned by several people? °° What conclusions can we draw from this? Are any areas of interest represented more than others? Why? °° Any surprising contributions? New insights? °° Are the views of girls and young women sufficiently captured in our analysis and discussions? °° PRODUCT: The outputs from the PESTLE tool can be used in the “forces in favour / against” and “opportunities and threats” sections of the Force Field and SWOT analyses. FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS PROCESS: 1. Have a flip chart with an empty Force Field analysis template available 2. If available, review the PESTLE outputs, or other relevant information sources 3. Identify a clear issue to focus the brainstorm 4. Rank a top 10 from existing forces (factors, trends, but also actors) or do a brainstorm exercise to identify 10 key forces 5. Plot the forces on the template, if necessary, group or categorise the inputs 6. Ask participants to provide a scoring from 1 - 5 to each factor: What is the impact of the factor on realising your desired change? (High = 5 / Low = 1). Add up the scores 7. Facilitate a group discussion about the result

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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POINTS OF DISCUSSION: What does the overall score tell us about the likelihood of successfully advocating on this °° issue? Is this score congruent with our initial expectations? Or are we surprised by the result? °° Why? Can we capitalise on (make use of) any of the positive factors? Can we mitigate against (deal °° with) any of the negative factors? How? Are the views of girls and young women sufficiently captured in our analysis and discussions? °° PRODUCT: An overview of the positive and negative forces influencing your advocacy issue. The analysis provides a snapshot about the “weather conditions” across several segments in society when embarking on an advocacy effort. SWOT PROCESS: 1. Have a flip chart with empty SWOT matrix available 2. If available, review the PESTLE outputs, or other relevant information sources 3. Identify a clear issue to focus the brainstorm 4. Brainstorm internal factors, write factors on Post-its 5. Brainstorm external factors, write factors on Post-its 6. Plot the Post-its on the SWOT matrix 7. Facilitate a group discussion about the result

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POINTS OF DISCUSSION: Is either the S or W quadrant more heavily populated? If so, what does that mean? °° Is either the O or T quadrant more heavily populated? If so, what does that mean? If °° weaknesses or threats are many or major, do we have to reconsider our advocacy effort or our advocacy issue? Are the views of girls and young women sufficiently captured in our analysis and discussions? °° PRODUCT: A filled SWOT matrix, providing an analysis whether a GAA organisation, or initiative is ready to take up an advocacy issue and whether the external environment is conducive: what are the chances of success?Tool 5: Problem and solution grid Another tool that can be used for the selection of an issue is the problem and solution grid. It should be filled out for each issue that you’ve written down and will give deeper insight in the background of a problem and the possible solutions.

19 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 2

SELECT THE POLICY ISSUE

STEP 2

WHAT TO DO? SELECT THE POLICY ISSUE

Step 2 of the Advocacy Cycle is ‘select the policy issue’. After carrying out a situation analysis (see step 1 of the advocacy cycle), you will have a clearer understanding of the most pressing problems with regard to GBV and EE in your country, as well as a general idea about the possibilities for advocacy. You will have an idea about what needs to be changed (the core problem or advocacy topic). However, advocacy is not the solution to all problems. Sometimes it is better to provide direct support or provide trainings to address an issue. For advocacy to be focused, a problem needs to be specified into a policy issue for which community leaders, government officials or private sector actors can be held accountable.

In this manual, a distinction is made between an advocacy topic and a policy issue. An advocacy topic is a general problem, a policy issue describes more specifically what can be changes through GAA advocacy. For example, Child Marriage is an advocacy topic, and the policy issue could be the formal or informal policies that allow this practice to continue. These “policies” can be related to formal government policies, but also more informal rules at community level, or regulations in the private sector.

Precisely because there are so many problems, it is critical to carefully identify a policy issue that is contextually relevant and attainable to work on, so that your advocacy can be focused and the impact is meaningful to girls and young people. As an advocate, you’ll need to be passionate about your cause and motivated to take action. Also, you need to be clear about what you want to achieve. This means that you will have to make a strategic decision about which policy issue to select as your advocacy focus. There are various tools that can help you do this.

HOW TO DO IT? TOOLS

Two different tools presented here can be helpful to rank your issues, to find out which issue has most priority and could be best selected for your advocacy work. The first one is a set of questions that will help you to determine whether advocating for a certain issue will possibly have impact, is effective to work on and whether your organisation is fit (ready) to take it on. The second one is a table that you can fill out, helping you to rate the issues and create a priority list.

SUGGESTIONS FOR WORK SESSIONS

In order to work with colleagues on selecting a policy issue, you could consider using one or more of the suggested tools below. An additional “history tracing” exercise to explore policy issues further is also included and explained below.

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TOOL 4: PRIORITY RANKING 4.a - Prioritising a policy issue: Impact, Effectiveness, Fit Write down at least three policy issues related to the problems identified in your context analysis, which you intend to advocate on. For instance: ‘lack of political will by decision makers to promote gender equality’. Or ‘weak implementation of policies promoting the participation of women in the workforce’. It is also possible that the main problem is already determined by the analysis that was done in step 1, for example the lack of implementation of existing legal frameworks on Child Marriage. As a next step, you will write down several policy issues with regard to that problem such as ‘limited understanding of existing legislation’ or ‘conservative patriarchal norms’. Check for all the issues whether the below questions can be answered positively or not, by answering the questions with ‘yes’ or ‘no’. The issue that scores the highest number of ‘yes’ answers, can be considered the one with the highest priority.

Impact on Girls and Young WomEn 1. 2. 3. 4.

The number of GYW affected is high. (Y/N?) Particular marginalised groups of GYW are affected. (Y/N?) The severity of the situation for affected GYW is high. (Y/N?) This issue allows for empowerment of GYW through participation. (Y/N?)

Effectiveness

5. 6. 7. 8.

There are specific external opportunities we can make use of. Others are working on this issue. We can build partnerships to strengthen our advocacy. (Y/N?) The issue is of concern to the wider public and media. If not, we can generate that. (Y/N?) The issue will generate donor interest and potential funding. (Y/N?)

Fit 9. We have enough information on the issue to serve as evidence base. (Y/N?) 10. This issue will engage other parts of the programme and staff. (Y/N?) 11. We have the skills or expertise to do advocacy on this issue. If no, can we acquire them. (Y/N?) 12. The issue fits with our overall Girl Advocacy strategy. (Y/N?)

4.b - Prioritising a policy issue: rating issues Place the different issues in the table below. Answer all questions by rating the issues using a 1 to 5 scoring method: 5 = high / 1 = low. After finishing, you will easily be able to decide which issue is strategically more interesting to work on than another.

POLICY ISSUE ASSESsMENT QUESTIONS 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Is change realistic? Do we have enough information about the issue? Are there strategic opportunities? Is the issue empowering for girls ans young women? Can we manage risks involved? Do we have capacity to work on the issue?

ISSUE 1

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TOOL 5: PROBLEM AND SOLUTION GRID Another tool that can be used for the selection of an issue is the problem and solution grid. It should be filled out for each issue that you’ve written down and will give deeper insight in the background of a problem and the possible solutions.

Problem

problem

What is the problem? How does it afect girls and young women? What is the evidence? Provide a story, a testimony Who is responseble?

SOLUTION

What is the solution? How will it benefit girls and young women? Is there evidence for it? Precedents?

What needs to change? What action is needed by whom?

It is also possible to fill out this grid only for the issue that has been selected as a result of tools 4a and 4b. RECOMMENDATIONS: °° When choosing your issue think about what really excites you! Are you confident you can achieve change? °° Decide together with colleagues what ‘strategically interesting’ means for you related to the issue. Is it a situation in which girls and young women will be able to speak out? Or is it the possibility of the change that can take place? °° Feel free to amend the questions in tools 4a and 4b as you see fit. Which considerations are important to you and should thus be captured in the questions? °° Note that the tools are presented to be used with policy issues, but can also be used to select and prioritise advocacy topics. Exercise: tracing the history of the policy issue This exercise is about the public history of an issue, analysing past political dynamics, and identifying key stakeholders. This exercise can be applied to a specific local issue, such as custom laws on child marriage, or to a more general global problem area such as girls and young women’s rights. NECESSITIES: °° Pens, markers °° Flip chart papers °° Tape

22 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 2

PROCESS: 1. Working in small groups, draw (on the flip chart paper) a long (time)line with ten evenly spaced marks or boxes indicating the years: 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2. Discuss the important political events and shifts during the last decade. Rapporteurs should make notes on the timeline of the key moments that emerge from the discussion. 3. Map a similar timeline for the last one to two years. Divide each year into quarters or months, and note key events over this period. 4. If there is time, draw a third timeline that maps anticipated events, policy changes, and reactions over the coming one to two years. 5. Once the timelines have been completed, discuss what this means for advocacy planning. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POINTS OF DISCUSSION: °° What has worked and what has failed to achieve an impact on this issue previously? °° Does the timeline help identify forces for and against us? If so, what are they? °° What does the timeline tell us about legislation and policy influencing strategies? Any upcoming opportunities? °° How can we build on past successes and avoid previous failures? PRODUCTS: °° A clear set of priority issues to use in the next steps of the advocacy cycle °° A timeline with the history of an issue (more detailed for the last 1 - 2 years) and projections into the coming 1 - 2 years An overview of insights from the discussion concerning lessons learned and opportunities in advocating for this policy issue

23 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 3

ANALYSE THE POLICY & LEGAL CONTEXT

STEP 3

WHAT TO DO? ANALYSE THE LEGAL & POLICY CONTEXT

Step 3 of the Advocacy Cycle is ‘analyse the legal and policy context’. The word “policy” is not a narrowly defined concept but a highly flexible one, used in different ways on different occasions. In the GAA programme, policy does not only refer to formal government policy. It also refers to the more informal set of bylaws and cultural traditions at play in communities, guiding the practices of people towards girls and young women. In addition, for example the regulations companies implement to protect young women at work.

In the GAA contaxt, policies refer to certain methods or courses of action to guide and determine decision making. A policy can also be a commitment to a certain course of action. For example, a national policy on gender equality might include a commitment to increased investment in anti-discrimination programmes in the formal sector.

Many countries have laws and policies in place that provide a basic framework to address the equal rights of girls and young women. However, too often those responsible for implementing these laws and policies are not aware of the laws and policies in question or their mandate to implement them. In situations where this awareness is sufficiently in place, limited resources to implement the policies may be another barrier impeding their effective implementation.

The decentralisation of government planning and programming in health, education, and other sectors keeps the existing gap between policy commitments and action alive. Regional and district-level officials have increased responsibility for planning and managing programmes to meet the needs of the people living around, yet they often have little information on the policies they need to implement. Girls and young women themselves are also often not aware of the policies that may support them. For contentious and sensitive policy areas, such as child marriages and gender-based violence, local-level officials face another challenge. The reactions of key stakeholders—opinion leaders and the general public alike—can be unpredictable or even outright hostile. The way that policy is developed and implemented is often not very transparent and can be complex. This makes developing a plan to influence this process quite challenging. Mapping the process and finding out where your issue ‘is’ on the cycle of public policymaking, gives you insight regarding the best timing for your policy influencing efforts. The Influence - Visibility timeline helps to understand that the visibility of the policy making process and the chances

24 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 3

chance to influence

visibility of process INITIAL

analyses

formal decision making

implementation

to influence the policy are related. For example, when a law is passed in Parliament, it is very visible, but the likelihood of influencing the text of the law or the positions of parliamentarians is very low. Chances to influence a law or policy are much higher during the drafting process, or the period leading up to an evaluation of its implementation.

HOW TO DO IT? TOOLS <

In Step 1 you analysed the political, economic, sociological, technological, legal and environmental factors related to gender-based violence and economic exclusion in your country. Step 2 helped you to prioritise and select the policy issue that you feel is strategically most interesting to advocate for. In Step 3 of the advocacy cycle, you will review the policy and legislative context of your issue (for instance ‘child marriages’).

TOOL 6: POLICY ANALYSIS GRID Reviewing existing government and private sector policies and the prevailing legal framework is essential in order to identify exactly what the government’s position is on the issue and what specific steps it has committed itself to take in order to address it. Is an adequate policy framework in place? Is there a policy at all? Is it known by the population in general, and girls and young women in particular? Which existing policies are harmful? Which ones actually have a potentially positive impact? Filling out the Policy Analysis Grid below will help you to get clarity on these and other relevant questions. In combination with the Visibility and Influence exercise, this information gives you ideas and directions for your strategy.

POLICIES THAT ARE

> Block

> Propose

> Enforce

> Promote

DETRIMENTAL

non-existent

NOT IMPLEMENTED

NOT widely known

25 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 3

Note that this grid mentions only “policy”. A full review would include laws, bylaws, and regulations etcetera, in the government as well as private sectors.

°° If existing policies are detrimental, disabling or even harmful to girls and young women, you will need to focus your advocacy on blocking these policies. °° If policies to adequately support and protect girls and young women are non-existent, it makes sense to propose inclusive legislation and supportive policies. °° If ‘enabling’ policies exist but are not being implemented, you would want to focus your advocacy on ensuring their enforcement. °° If policies exist but are not widely known or invoked, you might consider centring your advocacy around the promotion of these policies. The grid indicates different options for your advocacy actions and messages. If your analysis identifies policies and laws mostly in the green column, your advocacy actions are likely to be fairly collaborative in nature: working with the government or private sector to make existing policies more widely known. However, if many policies and laws appear in the red column, your advocacy will focus more on working with key actors to suggest policy proposals and draft texts.

RECOMMENDATIONS: °° When listing laws and policies, try to think of international commitments that the government has signed onto. Some of these may be legally binding, such as treaties that the government has signed and/or ratified, while others rely on the political will of gevernments for their implementation. These commitments are important and can be highlighted as part of your advocacy campaign. °° The review of existing gevernment laws and policies could be used as a baseline study as well: you will need to assess and document the current situation so that, when you evaluate the efforts of your advocacy work, you will get a sense of whether you have had an impact. °° Timing is important - think about what is going on politically regarding the issue you selected and assess how it might affect your advocacy, e.g. Members of Parliament may be distracted by campaigning during an election period; a newly appointed minister may not yet be properly briefed on the issue yet. NECESSITIES: °° Products from Step 1 and 2 °° Flip chart paper with Policy Grid °° Empty flip chart paper °° Markers and pens °° Post-its °° Coloured stickers PROCESS: 1. Sit down together with colleagues and sift through the results of the Context Analysis of Step 1. Make sure to keep the policy issue that you selected in Step 2 in mind when you fill out this grid. 2. In case the Context Analysis does not provide the information required to fill out this tool, consider doing some additional research to find out what the status of the policies actually are. 3. Ask participants to consider all the relevant laws and policies and brainstorm additional ones. Have the laws and policies written on the Post-its, one law or policy on each Post-it. 4. Place the Post-its on the respective column of the grid. Review the overview of laws and policies and come to a consensus about the completeness and placement of the Post-its on the grid. If time allows, consider adding the below steps to get more information from the group. 1. Hand out 3 stickers to each participant and ask them to place their 3 stickers where they feel the GAA advocacy should focus on. Stickers may be distributed over 3 different policies, or put on 1 policy to stress its importance. 2. Count the amount of stickers for each policy and make a ranking. Facilitate a brief discussion about the ranking and reasons why participants allocated their stickers the way they did.

26 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 3

TOOL 7: VISIBILITY AND INFLUENCE MAPPER 1.

On a flip chart, write the phases in a policy development process in your specific context see above model for inspiration about phases - on the horizontal axis. 2. In the group, explain the Visibility and Influence map thoroughly. Make sure the basic idea of this visual is clear to the group. Ask for an example from the group: What experience do you have with a successful attempt to influence a policy? At which stage of the policy development process was the policy in question? Was it in the analysis stage, or was it being tabled for approval? In your opinion, where was the respective policy on the visibility spectrum? Very visible, or not so visible? 3. When the functioning of the tool is clear to everybody, identify a specific policy or law relevant to the GAA programme. Ideally, this is a policy or law selected through the previous tools and exercises. Write it in the top corner of the flip chart. 4. Discuss with the group what the visibility of the specific policy or law is expected to be in each of the phases of the policy development process. Place dots in the flip chart to indicate the consensus outcome. Draw a curve to connect the dots. 5. Repeat the above step for the expected influence of GAA on the policy making process. 6. Facilitate a discussion about insights from this visual: during which phase of the policy making process is your influence expected to be the highest? How visible is the policy at this stage? What are potential implications for your advocacy strategy? Document the key take-away and insights emerging from the discussion. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POINTS OF DISCUSSION: Facilitate a discussion to capture relevant insights from this Policy Grid overview and scoring: °° Is the result of this tool similar to the output of Step 2 (issue selection) or is a different priority emerging? °° Are laws and policies evenly distributed over the columns? What does this tell us about the context we operate in? Will this have implications for our advocacy strategies?

PRODUCTS: °° Filled out Policy Grid providing a comprehensive overview of the current legal and policy context. °° Visual indicating the level of visibility and influence during the policy making process °° Key takeaways from discussions about the legal and policy context to be used during the remaining steps of the advocacy cycle.

27 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 4

FORMULATE CLEAR GOALS & OUTCOMES

STEP 4

WHAT TO DO? FORMULATE CLEAR EXPECTED OUTCOMES

Step 4 of the Advocacy Cycle is to ‘formulate clear expected outcomes’. Each GAA programme has established its long term goals during the inception phase. The ToC also contains several intermediate outcomes to explain which changes you expect to be necessary to achieve those long-term goals. In the first steps of the Advocacy Cycle, you may have developed some additional ideas about such outcomes. The key task during this Step 4 is to refine those general outcome descriptions to ensure that they are specific, achievable and relevant in view of the GAA purpose of ending gender-based violence and promoting economic empowerment of girls and young women. Some of the problems that girls and young women face are so complex, that changing them through the course of a 5 year GAA advocacy programme may seem quite unrealistic. Cultural practices and societal beliefs cannot be changed overnight, and trying to influence them may seem like a daunting challenge. As the exercises in Step 2 and 3 have shown, a first check in identifying the issue, is to ask yourself: “Does my envisioned change require a policy change?” If so, this is a clear focal lens for your advocacy towards the community leadership, government officials or private sector actors. If not, you may want to reconsider whether your issue is really an advocacy issue, requiring an advocacy strategy. Having a clear sense of the goals and expected outcomes will help identifying your target audiences and influentials in Step 5 and selecting your most effective advocacy approach and tactics in Step 7. Goals: A goal is a statement about the ultimate aim or vision of an initiative or programme. Goals are long-term, and typically reach far beyond the sphere of control of a single actor. GAA formulated two long term goals to be achieved by 2030: eliminate gender based violence and reduce economic exclusion of girls and young women. These goals have been made more specific in the country and regional ToCs. Expected Outcomes: An expected outcome is a specific statement that clearly describes the change you want to see happen in terms of “who changes what, when and where”. Outcomes can be formulated in the short- or intermediate term. A series of connected outcomes is expected to lead to achieving the long-term goals.

Intermediate outcomes usually focus on changing the policy or practice of institutions and companies, whereas shorter term outcomes may focus more on raising awareness of an issue and getting it on the agenda, building a constituency of support or capacities of partner organisations.

28 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 4

HOW TO DO IT? TOOLS TOOL 8: SMART ADVOCACY GOAL Defining a clear advocacy goal can be challenging, but it is an important step and one that will help ensure that your advocacy effort remains focused. Clear advocacy goals and outcomes provide a framework for identifying specific audiences to target throughout the advocacy campaign, as well as for monitoring and evaluating your efforts over time. For a goal or outcome to be clear, it has to contain the information to answer the question: “Who is doing what differently, where and since when?” Specific: Be precise about what change you want to achieve. Try to avoid lumping more than

one change together in a single goal. Measurable: Be sure to prevent statements that use vague language. Try to describe changes that can be measured. Compare “effective implementation” with “increased budget allocation”. Effective implementation can mean a lot of different things. The latter statement about budget allocation is much more precise and thus more measurable. Achievable: Be mindful of the limited resources and available capacities. Try not to be overly ambitious and focus on small steps. Relevant: Be honest about the real impact of your expected outcomes on the lives of girls and young women. Try to focus on meaningful change. Time bound: Be realistic about the time it takes to achieve changes within the available timeframe.

Outcome examples: A The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection effectively implements the Domestic Violence Act (DV Act) By 2020 B District Probation offices in five districts allocate sufficient budget for effective implementation of the Child and Family Welfare Policy, Justice for Children Policy and National Plan of Action for the Elimination of Child Labour Who? What? Where? When? Who does what differently is clear in these two examples. Example A does not have an indication where the change is supposed to take place. Example B does not have a time indication and has three policies lumped together in one statement, making it less specific.

TOOL 9: BACKWARD MAPPING Backward Mapping is the process of identifying the changes (milestones) that are necessary and sufficient for a certain longer term change to take place. In a GAA Advocacy strategy development process, this tool helps to specify the pathway that is required to realise a certain policy change (advocacy goal). The key question for the development of effective advocacy programmes is not “What are we going to do?”, but: “What do we want to achieve?” It is important to stay focused on the advocacy goal. In a dynamic context, your interventions and tactics are likely change over time, but the desired change you work towards, remains stable. The method involves answering a single question: “What are the necessary and sufficient changes for [the policy change] to be manifested?” The above question can subsequently be asked to define several levels of changes (preconditions or interim outcomes) required for the policy change to come about. Typically, this leads to the formulation of a set of three to five of such necessary changes.

29 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 4

NECESSITIES: °° Products of Steps 2 and 3, in particular information about the issue prioritised in Step 2 °° Markers, large sized Post-its, flip chart °° GAA ToC with pathways, to explain the process of Backward Mapping

PROCESS: 1. Write the advocacy issue on a large Post-it and stick it to the top of a portrait-sized flip chart. Also have an existing ToC available on display for explanation of the Backward Mapping process. 2. Explain the meaning and purpose of Backward Mapping referring to the existing GAA ToC. Mention the long term outcome first, and subsequently explain the pathway(s): if this happens and that happens (multiple interim outcomes), then this will happen (long term outcome). Mention GAA interventions when they appear on the pathway. 3. Based on group knowledge and available information from Steps 2 and 3, identify maximum 3 - 5 changes that have to be in place for the long-term outcome to be realised. If necessary, do a brief individual brainstorm exercise first, then a plenary group session to categorise and select the key changes. 4. Reflect on the resulting list of changes to see whether the change logic of agenda setting, policy change and practice change emerges from the identified changes. If not, see if adding changes strengthens the change logic. 5. If time allows and participants have an interest in discussing the change logic further, consider adding another layer of preconditions by repeating the above Steps 3 and 4. RECOMMENDATIONS: °° Develop outcomes that have a clear actor focus (“Who should do something differently?”) and provide a solution to the identified problem (‘What should practically be done?”). NGOs are often criticized for campaigning against a policy or practice without providing viable alternatives. °° Being the source of credible, realistic solutions will lend weight to your advocacy. Providing examples of situations where your solutions have had effect, increase the likelihood of policy makers adopting your suggestions.

SUGGESTIONS FOR WORKING SESSIONS

In addition to the above tools, you could consider organising a creative session with colleagues to develop advocacy outcomes.

Activity: Newspaper cover story

.. mins

Materials °° Felt pens, markers °° Big white flip-over papers °° Articles on the issue in old newspapers/ magazines °° Pictures related to the issue °° Tape or glue

Purpose

The Newspaper cover story is a creative visioning exercise that facilitates imagining what success would look like at the end of your intended advocacy initiative. What are the changes that have been realised? What is the impact of these changes on the lives of girls and young women?

KAPs The exercise is to compose a newspaper front cover story depicting what the headlines would be in 2020 if everything you wanted from your advocacy has been realised. Use magazine or newspaper clippings to visualize the change, add headings and brief stories to describe what you imagine would happen as a result of your advocacy work.

Newspaper heading example Newsflash - September 2020 Leaders of 10 Countries worldwide agree on ambitious goals regarding rights of girls and young woman.

De-brief Make sure you store these front covers in a safe place or take pictures of your creations. In September 2020, you can compare them to the actual news stories. This is fun to do in its own right, but it can also be helpful information when reviewing the initiative and assessing the success of your efforts.

People all over the world stand still today to watch world leaders finally agree to deliver the future we want and need. These goals will equally empower girls and young woman economically and free them from all forms of GBV.

30 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 4

31 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 5

IDENTIFY TARGETS & INFLUENTIALS

STEP 5

WHAT TO DO? IDENTIFY TARGETS AND INFLUENTIALS

Step 5 of the Advocacy Cycle is ‘Identify targets and influentials’. Ultimately, advocacy is about influencing people to do things differently. Even if your advocacy aims to change a policy, in the end it is a person signing off or blocking the policy change. The key to effective advocacy is to understand who really has the interest and the power to make things happen.

After you have identified the person, you can subsequently identify how to best influence that particular person (your target) to do what you would like him or her to do. How can you make use of the position of those that strongly support your advocacy asks, your “champions”, to win over the stakeholders that are currently undecided? Or increase the limited influence that some of your supporters may have? In addition to identifying those stakeholders who can positively influence change, it is very important to be aware of any stakeholders that might want to block or reverse policy changes. How can you weaken your very influential opponents? What can you do to convince a potential opponent of the benefits of your policy goal? Lastly, is it possible to identify a person (influential, messenger) who could influence your targets or opponents if your own connections are not strong enough, or if direct engagement is too risky?

HOW TO DO IT? TOOLS

The following two tools will help you to better understand how different actors are positioned vis-a-vis your issue. The Influence/Attitude matrix helps to identify your champions and your opponents based on their power over the issue and their will to support your advocacy work. The added value of the Venn diagram tool is the insight it provides into relationships between actors. These relationships help you identify which influencing route or strategy could potentially be used. Both tools are best used in a participatory setting, with knowledgeable colleagues. The products should be revisited every so often to see if any of the stakeholders have moved position or whether relationships have changed.

SUGGESTIONS FOR WORKING SESSIONS

In order to work with colleagues on an assessment of the relevant stakeholders and their relations, you could consider using either or both of the suggested tools and organising one or both of the practical exercises explained below.

32 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 5

WORK-SESSIONS PREPARATIONS: °° Have the outputs of the previous steps available °° Write the policy issue or outcome description on a sheet. It is important that this description is actor-based (Who is supposed to do something?) °° If such a description is not available yet, or not actor-based, return to step 4: develop SMART objectives

TOOL 10: INFLUENCE / ATTITUDE MATRIX

ATTITUDE OF STAKEHOLDER TOWARDS THE OBJECTIVE

Influence / Attitude matrix (Also known as power / will Matrix)

In favour

Supporter

Ally

champion

Neutral

Potential ally

Battle ground

Main battle ground

Against

Monitor

Potential opponent

opponent

Low

Medium

High

INFLUENCE OF STAKEHOLDER WITH REGARD TO THE ISSUE

NECESSITIES: °° Flip chart sheet °° Masking tape °° Post-its °° Markers PROCESS: 1. Draw a 9 cell Influence / Attitude matrix on a flipchart. 2. Provide 5 Post-its to each participant. 3. Ask each participant to individually brainstorm 5 key stakeholders and write each stakeholder on a single Post-it. 4. In a plenary discussion, address the Attitude and Influence of each stakeholder, one by one. Ensure that the discussion focuses on the policy issue or outcome description specified. 5. Position the Post-its, one by one, on their respective locations on the matrix. 6. Facilitate a discussion about the visual product, using the below discussion tips and adapt the visual as necessary. Take a picture of the end product. 7. Document the discussion to capture shifts in the position of stakeholders and ideas about influencing strategies, how to engage different actors. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POINTS OF DISCUSSION °° Are any of the cells empty? Or over-crowded? What does this tell you? °° If all relevant stakeholders are already champions, is this issue the right issue? Or is there another barrier that you should focus on instead? °° If most relevant stakeholders are opponents, is this issue winnable at all? Or should it be narrowed down?

33 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 5

°° Are all four actor groups of the GAA programme (community, civil society organisations, government, private sector actors) sufficiently represented? If not, which relevant stakeholders (groups) are missing? °° Do you see ways in which champions can be used to increase attitude or influence among other groups? Or opponents can be weakened or convinced? PRODUCTS °° A stakeholder analysis matrix on a Flip chart including picture for digital use °° Brief overview of key discussion points and ideas about influencing strategies

TOOL 11: VENN DIAGRAM Venn diagram ...

GAA Member

... KEY TARGET Influencer

< Influencer

NEGATIVE CONNECTION

STAKEHOLDER

Ally

POSITIVE CONNECTION

...

NECESSITIES: °° Post-its (empty and those from Attitude / Influence matrix flip chart (if available)) °° Flip chart sheet °° Masking tape °° Post-its °° Markers PROCESS: 1. Draw a circle in the middle of the Flip chart sheet and write the key target (“Who do you expect to change?”) of your advocacy effort in the circle. 2. Collect the Post-its from the Attitude/Influence matrix flipchart. a. If unavailable, ask each participant to individually brainstorm 5 key stakeholders and write each stakeholder on a single Post-it. 3. Discuss for each stakeholder the relationship with the key target (Positive/Negative) and draw a corresponding connecting line between the stakeholders. If no Attitude/Influence matrix is available, also discuss the attitude (in favour, neutral, against) and influence (high, medium, low) for each stakeholder, and include this information on the Post-it. 4. Make sure to include GAA members and partners as stakeholders in the overview. 5. Review the resulting visual representation of stakeholder relations and add any information that you consider relevant. Are any connections missing?

34 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 5

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POINTS OF DISCUSSION: °° What is the essence of some of the relevant relations? Is it primarily a funding relation? Political support? Or do stakeholders have other interests? °° What are potential reasons for relations being identified as negative? What has happened in the past that caused these connections to be so poor? °° What conclusions can you draw from the visual? Lessons for possible influencing strategies that GAA could adopt? Or new ideas about stakeholders to target? PRODUCTS: °° A diagram with stakeholder relations on a flip chart including a picture for digital use °° Brief overview of key discussion points and ideas about influencing strategies

35 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 6

MAP OPPORTUNITIES & ASSESS RISKS

STEP 6

WHAT TO DO? MAP OPPORTUNITIES & ASSESS RISKS

GAA advocacy is about changing existing policies and practices that harm girls and young women, or to promote policies and practices that could benefit girls and young women but are not being implemented. This means challenging the status quo and working actively with those people that can make these changes happen in the community, government and private sector.

At its core, GAA advocacy involves engaging strategically with power and power holders. Individuals, organisations, institutions and companies, which GAA intends to influence, will have to do things differently. To make this happen, GAA will often work with others in networks and alliances. Being strategic means knowing what to change, who to target, how to do this, with whom and when. Knowledge of the playing field is critical: who are your opponents? Who are your allies? With whom can you work together? Time is another important aspect of being strategic: when is the right moment to engage? And more importantly, when is it not? In this step of the advocacy cycle, Step 6, you will map the opportunities for engagement and assess the risks involved. Such risks may be related to the GAA programme implementation as a whole, to your networks and alliances, to girls and young women participating in activities, but also to members and partnersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; reputation, and possibly to individual staff safety.

When you face a risk, you basically have two options: We refer to these options as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;mitigation strategiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Try to prevent the risk from occurring Take assures to lower its impact

Such risks must be assessed during the strategy development and planning phase. If risks are not very likely to take place, have low impact or can be mitigated against, you may still continue to plan and implement the programme as designed. However, if the risks are too high, have a high impact and cannot be mitigated, you may have to reconsider the identified approaches and tactics, or change the policy issue altogether.

36 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 6

HOW TO DO IT? TOOLS TOOL 12: OPPORTUNITY MAPPER Opportunities to influence policy processes are closely related to the visibility of the policy cycle explained in Step 3. Making an overview of specific events or processes (technical working group meetings, report publications, elections) relevant to your issue and identifying how these events can be used to promote the advocacy agenda and messages will help you to get a grip on the policy process and identifying moments for strategical engagements. This overview is easily represented in a table form with relevant columns indicating when events take place, why they are important and how they should be made use of. Remember that chances to influence a policy are lowest when the visibility of decision-making is highest, namely during the timeframe of formal decision-making. Try to engage well before (during agenda setting) or after implementation (during monitoring and review).

DATE

EVENT

RATIONALE

ACTION

RESPONSIBLE

When is the opportunity taking place?

What is the opportunity about?

Why is this opportunity important? To which expected outcome does it contribute?

What are you planning to do?

Who is taking the lead on this?

> TOOL 13: RISK ASSESSMENT The Risk Assessment tool facilitates an assessment of the likelihood and impact of emerging situations in some key areas where advocacy risks are known to occur (see Risk Assessment table). The tool also assists in the formulation of approaches to mitigate against risks emanating from such situations. Involving girls and young woman °° Ask girls in Girl’s clubs te develop Opportunity Timelines. Or groups of young woman in a workshop on decent working conditions °° where do they see opportunities te engage and influence at school, in this families, communities or work environments? °° Explain the use of these timelines, collect them for use during the development of or reflection on new advocacy plans. While risks are identified in Step 6 of the Advocacy Cycle, be mindful to review the list of risks regularly. Especially after Step 7, in which tactics and activities are identified: do any of the chosen approaches pose new, previously unidentified risks? For example, if you decided to work with girls who experienced gender-based violence, how will you deal with the risk of exposing them in the media and the impact that may have on their position in the community or their wellbeing? To what extent is it clear what risks are involved in working in a certain advocacy network? Do other organisations have the same approach to advocacy as GAA, or is it very confrontational? If so, is that a problem, or an asset? Did the discussion on tactics provide additional information about the likelihood or impact of possible risks or about your mitigation strategy? For example, if it turns out that the local business community is not at all happy with the intended demonstration against the bad labour conditions, how will you ensure that your mitigation strategy will be sufficient to protect young female workers?

37 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 6

Risk area

Likelihood

Impact

MITIGATION

responsible

What is the potential risk?

How likely is it that the risk occures? H/M/L

What is the consequence of the risk occures? H/M/L

What can you do to prevent the risk from happening, or protect against negative consequences?

Who will take action?

Company X Firing female employees participating in demonstration

°°Engage in dialogue with the CEO of company X °°Engage with trade unions about collective actions °°Consider a less confrontational approach

Conflicting interests dividing the advocacy network

°°Make interests explicit °°draw up a memorandom of understanding °°reconsider advocacy tactics °°reconsider network membership

SUGGESTIONS FOR WORK-SESSIONS <

In order to map the opportunities and develop a risk analysis with colleagues, you could consider organising the practical exercises explained below. Opportunity Mapper NECESSITIES: °° Policy cycle handout (Step 3) °° An empty Flip chart °° Flip chart with Opportunities Mapper table °° Markers PROCESS: 1. Confirm with the participants which policy issue you are going to address. Make sure that sufficient knowledge is available in the room to map relevant opportunities. 2. Ask participants to draw a timeline. Having participants themselves draw this provides an interesting perspective for the ensuing discussion. 3. Refer to the policy cycle and ask participants to draw any upcoming event or opportunity to engage on the timeline. 4. Promote ongoing discussion, but remind participants of the need to finish the whole cycle and document conclusions of their discussion on the Opportunities Mapper in key take-away points. 5. Facilitate a group discussion. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POINTS OF DISCUSSION: °° On the timeline: why does the timeline have this shape, direction, distribution of time units (months, years; equal, unequal) over the timeline? °° Are events mentioned always positive? Are there negative aspects to these events? What about in terms of risks? °° Do any opportunities stand out in terms of “low-hanging” fruit? Can you make easy use of upcoming opportunities? How? PRODUCTS: °° A timeline with opportunities °° A table with one column listing the opportunities to influence, and a column with ideas how to make use of those, possibly identifying persons responsible and deadline dates

38 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 6

Risk Assessment WORK-SESSIONS PREPARATIONS: °° Identify a recent context-specific situation, that (could have) negatively impacted a GAA member or partner. Make sure this example is relevant to the GAA content. °° Describe this situation as a short case and prepare a few copies of the case for the session participants. °° Prepare a 4 column table on a large Flip chart sheet (column headers: Risk, Likelihood, Impact, Mitigation). In the Risk column already mention categories of Program implementation, Reputation, and Staff safety. NECESSITIES: °° Case print-outs °° Prepared Flip chart, masking tape °° Post-its, markers PROCESS: 1. Ask a participant to read out the case in the plenary session. 2. Form duos, hand out the case and Post-its. Ask the duos to identify the risks involved in the case and write those on a Post-it (one risk per Post-it). Highlight the brainstorming nature of this part of the exercise. No analysis yet. 3. Collect the Post-its and review and categorise the identified risks in plenary in the categories already mentioned in the Risk Assessment table. Add categories when necessary. 4. Review the list of key risk areas and come to a consensus about the categorisation of the identified risks. 5. Per risk, assess whether the likelihood and impact of the risk occurring is Low, Medium or High. Discuss a possible strategy to either lower the likelihood, or minimise the impact of the risk (mitigation).

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POINTS OF DISCUSSION: °° Have all relevant pieces of information from the previous steps in the advocacy cycle been used in your assessment? °° Who is most largely affected by the identified risks? Organisations or individuals? What is the role or position of girls and young women? Are they sufficiently represented? °° What do the risks tell you about the likelihood of success of the intended advocacy work? Does this assessment support earlier conclusions about the potential success of this advocacy effort? °° Do the suggested approaches and tactics of Step 7 affect this overview of risks? Are there any additions or revisions to be made? °° When should this risk assessment be repeated and updated? During every annual review meeting? After each After Action Review session - see Step 9 “PMEL priorities” and the GAA PMEL manual. PRODUCT: °° A table with assessed risks, including strategies to mitigate their impacts. Up to date risk assessment and opportunity planner As the context in which GAA operates evolves constantly, keeping the information about risks and opportunities up to date is vital for success. All the products from the Advocacy Cycle steps, including the Risk Assessment and Opportunity Planner, are compiled into a Strategy document. As a rule of thumb, this document should be reviewed at least on a quarterly basis, for example as an agenda item during the Country / Regional team meeting. Other moments may also be appropriate, for example upon the conclusion of an After Action review session following a series of advocacy actions.

39 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 7

CHOOSE AN INFLUENCING APPROCH

STEP 7

WHAT TO DO? CHOOSE AN INFLUENCING APPROACH; IDENTIFY TACTICS AND ACTIVITIES

Advocacy involves a range of strategically planned activities. Being strategic means knowing what to change, who to target, how to do this and when to engage. In Step 7, you determine - based on the information collected in all the previous steps concerning change objectives, targets, opportunities and risks - how you expect to go about realising the identified GAA advocacy goals: how are you going to contribute to change? You have to make choices about how and when to engage your targets. Strategic choices are explicitly based on your analysis of the context and policy issues (Steps 1 and 2), the identified change objectives (Step 4) your understanding of the stakeholders and your relationship with them (Step 5), the opportunities in the policy process you identified and the anticipated risks of your engagement (Step 6). If such information remains unused, your advocacy will be unfocused and most likely not very effective.

The 16 Days of activism campaign in November and December 2016 coincided with Ghanaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s election and voting activities. As a result, the GAA campaign press releases did not get the expected response from the media houses. Some Assembly Members were even unable to attend the stakeholder meetings of the GAA project. Consequently, the GAA partners did not manage to get their messages across. In addition, attendance to community sensitization activities in some communities was low due to these political activities. Moreover, the August - October period was rainy season and November - December was the harvesting season, further impacting on community meeting attendance The lesson learned is to reconsider media based actions when a campaign is coinciding with political activities that are likely to overshadow GAA activities. The planning should also put more consideration to the community calendar and the availability of community members for GAA activities.

So your strategy, or influencing approach, depends on information about which specific information channels your target audiences use, what the sizes of your in-country capacity and budget for media outreach are, which specific policy opportunities may present themselves, how important upholding their brand reputation is for organisations involved, how much risk girls and young women are exposed to when engaging actively. All such considerations together will determine your strategy: the combination of tactics and activities to reach your expected outcomes.

40 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 7

The importance of timing for effective advocacy cannot be underestimated. It is critical to consider the interests of your audiences and targets in your own planning. Even the right activities and messages will have no impact if not delivered at the right moment. In the analysis phase, particularly Steps 1 (Issue), 3 (Policy and Legal Context), 5 (Stakeholders) and 6 (Risks and Opportunities), a lot of information is collected to inform decision-making about the appropriate timing for advocacy activities. See the text box for lessons learned from the Ghana programme.

Is your advocacy aiming to be very objective, thoroughly evidence-based and informed by research? Or more subjective, building on moral perspectives from within the GAA network? Do you take an insider approach, directly engaging your target, or rather an outsider approach, taking a more indirect route to reach your targets? Using which tactics? Are you intending to be accommodating or more confrontational? What is the role of girls and young women? Do they take a more active or passive role in the GAA advocacy? The documentation of signs of change in Ethiopia provide a telling example of the importance to have a thorough understanding of your context in which activities are implemented and the relationships between GAA partners and other stakeholders (see the textbox below).

In Ethiopia, the GAA is operating under a State of Emergency since October 2016, following public demonstrations and social unrest in Amhara Regional State and Oromia. The Charities and Societies Proclamation (2009) prohibits NGOs from direct involvement in lobby and advocacy work. Despite the challenging context, the Alliance has managed to influence the government at city administration and combines direct and indirect tactics. One tactic involves very close direct engagement with government officials through involvement in activities such as the Launching Workshop, and continuous technical support exchanges between GAA, government and the private sector. An example of this support is a workshop where experts in the Office of Labour and Social Affairs at Bahir Dar City Administration engaged in discussions with private sector representatives on the Labour Law of Ethiopia. The second tactic is a more indirect approach that uses the support from Faith-bases Organizations and the Private Sector that have shown political willingness to prevent GBV and economic exclusion, to challenge government policies that adversely affect the wellbeing of children. This tactic allows the GAA to use the influence Faith-based Organizations have over government officials, without having to challenge the government directly on these adverse policies.

HOW TO DO IT? TOOLS TOOL 14: GAA ADVOCACY MAPPER The GAA Advocacy Mapper (see annex) provides you with a snapshot of the options for the development of a Girl Advocacy Alliance programme. The options, in terms of activities and tactics, depend largely on the information collected in: °° Step 1: the context assessments, both concerning the external context and internal capacities; °° Step 4: the identified change objectives, which are either related to changes in advocacy capacity or policy issues; °° Step 5: the identified stakeholders and targets in the community, civil society, government and private sectors; and °° Step 6: the opportunities and risks assessed, related to the policy cycle, political developments and involvement of girls and young women and other external factors

41 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 7

SUGGESTIONS FOR WORK-SESSIONS

In order to work with colleagues on identifying approaches and tactics, you could consider organising one or more of the practical exercises explained below. WORK-SESSIONS PREPARATIONS: °° Review the products from sessions in Steps 1, 4, 5 and 6. °° Review the GAA Advocacy Mapper in the annex and identify a set of activities / tactics and interim outcomes to match the content and scope of your Theory of Change and identified change objectives in Step 4. Adapt this overview if necessary. NECESSITIES: °° 1 A4 paper stating “Insider”, 1 A4 paper stating “Outsider” °° Prints with list of Insider and Outsider tactics from the GAA Advocacy Mapper (annex) °° Larger Post-its or prints with the stakeholder groups / intended advocacy targets, each marked with a different colour °° Coloured markers, matching the colours given to the advocacy targets °° Flip charts

RECOMMENDATIONS: Planning and preparing °° Make a plan: WHAT is the case, WHO makes the decisions, WHEN do we approach our targets, HOW do we approach them, WHY is each action necessary? °° The ask must be realistic. Ask yourself: can we make this a proposition a decision maker can say “Yes” to? °° Always think: why should you want to know me, deal with this, read this? Put yourself in their shoes. °° Do less but do it better. Most advocacy is done to too many people in not enough dept. °° Good research is the base of your Advocacy: source every statement or fact, anticipate the arguments against you and deal with them there and then. °° Get high quality intelligence: what are correct views on the policy issue, the attitudes towards your organization? Building relations °° Make sure there is a point to every contact. People only have so much patience… °° Assess the right level of seniority of official to build a relationship with. °° If necessary, use directories or consultants to help identify officials with interests similar to yours. °° In most cases you need to target officials and ministers, not political parties. Winning and losing °° Never crow about your victories °° Do not surprise the system. Brief officials before you meet ministers, brief front bench researchers before meeting opposition spokesmen and advise officials before any announcement relaxation to them. °° Never get “no” on the record - it is better to withdraw and fight again. °° It’s never won until its won. There are many cases when issues were changed at the last minute. Adapted from the VSO Participatory Advocacy Toolkit 2009

PROCESS: Approaches line debate exercise 1. Put the A4 papers in opposite positions (on the wall, or on the ground). 2. Explain to participants that an invisible line connects the 2 “extremes”. Use the above table to explain the differences between Insider and Outsider approaches. 3. Ask participants to position themselves on the imaginary line - without prior discussion. 4. Ask 2 or 3 participants to explain why they positioned themselves as they have done, facilitate a brief discussion. 5. Ask people to move to another place on the line to indicate whether they changed their minds after the explanations of other participants about their positions.

42 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 7

Identifying tactics exercise 1. Explain that the purpose of the exercise is to identify which combination of tactics / activities for each target audience is expected to lead to the interim outcomes that the target is expected to realise. 2. Present the lists of tactics / activities and interim outcomes and present the specific advocacy targets of the programme. 3. Ask participants to identify which of the tactics / activities they expect will lead to the identified interim outcomes for each target audience. Do this step for each target audience. 4. On a separate flip chart sheet, ask participants to map out their combination of activities to realize the expected outcomes per target audience. 5. Facilitate a discussion on the result. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POINTS OF DISCUSSION: °° Are the identified tactics more inside or outside approach oriented? Is this different from what you expected based on exercise 1? °° What does this result tell you about your advocacy approach? Does it match with your capacities and risks analysis? Is it necessary to revisit any of the previous steps based on this output? PRODUCTS: °° An overview of tactics per expected outcome, providing insights for discussions about the type of approach the programme is likely to undertake. This may in turn influence decisions about communications, risks mitigation strategies etcetera.

TOOL 15: IF THEN BECAUSE (ITB) STATEMENTS (ADVANCED)

An ITB statement is a short description how the alliance believes or expects change will happen. It is a narrative explaining how the expected outcomes in the short and medium term (IF) lead to changes in the longer term (THEN) and why the alliance thinks this is likely to happen this way (BECAUSE). The “because” section of the statement is the (collection of) critical assumption(s) that GAA makes to explain the change process.

ITB Statements & ToC Pathways Note that this process of developing an ITB statement is similar to the process of developing Pathways in a Theory of Change. The narrative of a quality ToC consists of several ITB statements. If your ToC contains a sufficient level of detail about the process of change towards your advocacy goal, this tool may not be necessary. If you need more detail in your advocacy strategy or if you want to check the logic in your existing ToC, this tool will be very helpful. The resulting statements will then be specifications of the existing ToC and its narrative.

Why use an ‘If Then Because’ statement? The If Then Because statements are a method that allows you to check the logic of your pathways of change and identify assumptions. The ITB statements facilitate a rigorous review of your thinking, and forces you to make assumptions explicit. If it turns out to be difficult to develop an ITB statement that sounds probable and realistic, it is very likely that the logic in your advocacy strategy (or TOC) is not sufficiently strong. If you succeed in developing the ITB statement, you have a solid product to communicate your advocacy strategy convincingly.

NECESSITIES: °° A4-size prints or hand-written copies of the Advocacy goal and medium and short-term expected outcomes (see products Step 4, tools 8 and 9) °° Flip chart °° Large Post-its and markers

43 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 7

PROCESS: 1. Explain the meaning and use of the If Then Because statement to participants 2. Decide which pathway(s) you want to develop the ITB statement for: a. Community leadership b. Government c. Civil society d. Private sector 3. Logically order the outcomes (the “IFs”) leading to the next level outcomes (the “Then”) and use this opportunity to check if the wording of the outcomes are considered correct. If not, revise. 4. Use the Necessary and Sufficient question method to check if steps in the process are missing, or whether any underlying assumptions remain implicit in the resulting statement. Ask participants: “Are a and b and c, the necessary and sufficient preconditions to explain the occurrence of x?” 5. If not, the situation is likely to be one of two scenarios: A the ITB statement makes too large leaps from one outcome to the next - existing outcomes are not sufficient. Consider whether an implicit assumption is being made, or whether an additional outcome description is needed to explain the logic in the pathway more convincingly B an Outcome statement is superfluous - not all outcomes currently described are necessary. Consider removing one of the outcome descriptions while keeping the logic of the ITB statement. 6. It is likely that participants will mention both assumptions and interventions during this session. Note down assumptions and GAA interventions that participants mention during the discussion on separate Post-its.

PRODUCT: • Several ITB statements. Notes on the connection with PMEL processes These ITB statements are likely to have similarities with your country or regional ToC and its Pathways. If your ToC is very detailed, it may actually be identicall to the ITB statements. If the ToC is less detailed, it may contain the expected change to the advocacy initiative, but not the details about the necessary intermediate changes that have to be realized. The statements can then be considered specifications of the existing Theory of Change and its narrative. The additional expected outcomes from the statements may then provide additional, more detailed, information to be used during the moontoring, evaluation and learning process. Similarly, as a result of the Outcome Harvesting Process process (collecting information about observable changes in the context using the Advocacy logbooks and making sense of this information for the bi-annual meetings) the ITB statements and thus the advocacy strategy may have to be adapted as appropriate and necessary. See the PMEL manual for more details on the Outcome Harvesting Process and tools. Annex: GAA Advocacy Mapper

44 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 7

Annex: GAA Advocacy Mapper LONGTERM OUTCOMES

IMPACTS

Issue on policy- or law development agenda

Adoption or blocking of law or policy

Law enforcement and policy compliance

Elimination of Gender based violence

Amendments to law or policy

Policy implementation and budget allocation

Policy monitoring and accountability

Economic empowerment of girls and young women

Interim Capacity Outcomes Articulate long-term commitment Develop advocacy strategy Act upon advocacy plan / sustain actions Monitor advocacy work Frame, communicate messages Use evidence, Conduct research

Financial sustainability

Understand, navigate policy process Understand, act on contextual changes

Interim Policy Outcomes

Develop relations and engage with targets

New advocates

Increases political will

Engage strategically acreoss levels / sectors

New champions

Increased issue salience / importance

Growth in support base, consituency

Increased public will

Integrate gender equality perspective

Develop relations with and represent GYW

Increased awareness

Collaborate with CSO’s, networks, media

Issues reframed Media coverage

Align advocacy with programmatic work

GAA INputs

> GAA Activities

INSIDER TACTICS

OUTSIDER TACTICS

Funding

Policy analysis & resarch

Relationship building with decision makers

Advocacy capacity development

Public awareness raising campaigns

Technical support

Policy proposal development

Briefings & presentations

Coalition &network building

(Social) media campaigns

Brokering

Business case development

Linking policy makers across sectors / levels

Grassroots organising & mobilisation

Media partnerships

Monitoring

Demonstration project or pilot

Champion development

Rallies & Marches

Litigation

Facilitating learning

Policy maker education

AUDIENCES COMMUNITY

CIVIL SOCIETY

GOVERNMENT

PRIVATE SECTOR

Traditional leaders

Community based organisations

Parliamentarians/commitee members

Local business owners International businesses

Religious leaders

Child/women’s rights NGO’s

National/local government officials

Business associations

Community leaders

Networks/Alliances

Ministries’, department staff

Media Trade unions

Civil servants Intergovernmental agencies & bodies

45 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 8

DEVELOP MESSAGES

STEP 8

WHAT TO DO? DEVELOP MESSAGES

Step 8 of the Advocacy Cycle is ‘develop messages’. Advocacy messages are usually developed and tailored to specific target audiences in order to frame the issue and persuade the receiver to understand and maybe even support your position. You may do this by taking a specific angle that will allow you to connect your own interest (stop the economic exclusion of girls and young women) to the specific interests of your audience (for instance a company - demonstrate how better working conditions for women in the workspace could increase the profitability). Depending on the actual (policy) debates and developments, your message may be more specific. Advocacy messages should always demand an action: what is it that you would like the target audience to do? A message is a brief, straightforward statement based on an analysis of what will persuade a particular audience. People need to hear a message again and again to retain it. Simple repetition also builds comfort and familiarity with ideas and issues over time. Repetition of a well-formed message is an important tool in persuading a target audience. Using the same message repeatedly promotes retention more effectively than using multiple messages. There are five elements to consider when developing a message: 1. Content 2. Language 3. Messenger 4. Format/Medium 5. Time and Place 1. CONTENT A good message is: °° Simple °° To the point °° Easy to remember °° Repeated frequently Primary and secondary message A primary message is usually the most universally compelling message for your target audience. If you cannot communicate a clear, concise and compelling message in less than one minute, you risk losing the other person’s attention, interest or support. A secondary or targeted message explains how the objectives of the primary message will be met. You can have several secondary messages. These may be tailored to more specific audiences e.g. decision-makers, the media, professionals, the general public.

46 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 8

The ‘funnel’ figure can assist you in deciding whether you need to develop a more specific message, i.e. a secondary message. It shows that if you are preparing an advocacy message for a broader public, the detailed insight in your topic is usually less, which means that your message should be simple (compare it with an advert in the newspaper). The ‘technical’ complexity of your message can and needs to be more elaborated when you are targeting a smaller audience with more knowledge, such as a parliamentary committee.

Mass Audience

We aim to push people into the knowledge funnel & with time move their knowledge up the levels

Mass Audience

Level 1: Entry level General public, new supporters, children Level 2: Committed supporters, volunteers (no brief) Level 3: Higher level activists, journalists, most MP’ss, all staff

Number of people

People join the funnel at any time

< Targeted Audience

Level 4: Main level Includes decision maker, some MP’s (e.g. on select committee) opinion formers Level 5: Specialist contacts, e.g. academic specialists, civil servants

Technical complexity of message

> Targeted Audience

Important questions There are three important questions to answer when preparing advocacy messages: 1. What do you want your message to achieve? (What change is needed?) 2. Who are you trying to reach with your message? (Who has the authority to bring about change?) 3. What do you want the recipient of the message to do as a result of the message (the action you want them to take)? Choosing the right words is decisive in getting the message across. Your message must resonate, because the purpose of advocacy is to motivate people to initiate action. Words should be culturally appropriate and clear, so they are understood, and motivate people in favour of the cause, so they will undertake action. Example of an advocacy message: In Malawi, mothers die of giving birth. According to the WHO, 7 out of 10 women who deliver at home are under the age of 15 and have serious complications that result in either maternal or child death. Recently, I was part of a survey conducted in Malawi and I personally interviewed many young women who lost a child during birth. Therefore, we urge that by 2020 no child marriages and pregnancies in Malawi occur. The parliament needs to pass a law that increases the minimum age limit for marriage to 21, as well as a supportive law to reinforce the punishment of offenders. Construction of the message It is not easy to reduce complex issues facing the situation of girls and young women to one simple statement. But it needs to be done, because complex and overly technical messages do not receive attention. Simple and direct messages have great power to attract attention to your cause. Once you have your audience’s attention, there will be many more opportunities to explain the issue in detail.

47 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 8

The advocacy message should be constructed like this: inform > persuade > move to action Recommendations for clear and effective messages Keep it short and simple (KISS) Try to keep messages as short and simple as possible Be direct, straightforward and memorable Have recognizable sound bites It sum: the job of the advocacy campaigner is to translate complex policy amigos into simple and emotive messages 2. LANGUAGE Language refers to the words you choose to communicate your message. Are the chosen words clear or could they be interpreted differently by various audiences? Is the language appropriate for your target audience? Naturally, you would use different language when appealing to academic researchers than you would when communicating to a youth group. Next to the actual words you choose, body language plays an important role as well: the way in which you deliver your message is just as important as the content of it. When presented orally, the message should be supported with convincing body language and use of voice. When the message is written on paper, it should look attractive. 3. MESSENGER The messenger or source is the person who will deliver the message. Is the messenger credible to your target audience? Is it possible to involve representatives of the community affected by the policy change as messengers? For example, can you invite a community leader to join you for a high-level meeting with a policy-maker? The same message has a very different impact depending on who communicates it.

The checklist below will help you in choosing messengers strategically for the primary messages that have been developed. In order to decide on a messenger, relevant questions and points need to be considered:

Points to consider

Questions to help reach a decision

Messenger (consider several different messengers) Position

Individual or group that can influence a target audience.

Power

What level of influence does the messenger have over the target?

Knowledge

How much does the messenger know aboutt the issue?

Credibility

How credible is the messenger in the eyes of the target audience?

Access to the messenger

How and when does the advocate interact with the messenger? Does the advocate have the capacity to engage with the target?

Access to target

How and when does the messenger interact with the target?

Action

What will the advocacy strategy encourage the messenger to do?

Risks

What are the risks of engaging with the messenger?

Massage

What will the advocacy encourage the messenger to tell the target? The advocacy message must be shaped to give the messenger an opportunity to move the target towards taking the action promoted by the advocate. Can the messenger deliver the message with clarity and with empathy

What has the messenger said or written about this issue? Add notes from research. Where does the messenger stand in relation to support the Advocacy issue?

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Recommendations for choosing messengers Involving girls and young women in preparing and sharing advocacy messages is a vital way to gain credibility and bring added strength to advocacy efforts. Girls and young women know best how their (economic) development is encouraged. They are capable of playing leading roles in their lives and in their communities. If they are given the possibility to speak for themselves, their authentic opinions and stories will contribute to the power of your message. 4. FORMAT/MEDIUM The format or medium is the communication channel that you will use for message delivery. What is the most compelling format to reach your target audience - a signed petition, a faceto-face meeting, or a TV or radio advertisement? Common tactics vary from country to country; however, it is useful to have a list with suggestions to spark new ideas and foster creativity. EXAMPLES OF COMMON FORMATS OR TACTICS: °° Face-to-face meetings °° Petitions, letters °° Fact sheets °° Policy forums °° Workshops °° Briefing packets °° Media: Press releases/press conferences °° Public rallies °° Posters, flyers in public places °° Public debates/events °° Contests to design posters, or slogans

Facts and information Decision-makers and policy actors need information, publications, and detailed examples of the problems with regard to GBV and Economic Exclusion of girls and young women. They should be sent or given relevant material about the GAA and its goals, such as an information sheet presenting the cause, goals, objectives, target groups, areas of intervention, intervention strategies, and implementation partners. Direct versus indirect contact Talking directly to your advocacy targets can be the most efficient way to bring about change as it allows you to talk to people who have the power to make the change that you want. It can, however, be difficult to arrange face-to-face meetings with decision-makers when you are working on issues such as GBV and Economic Exclusion of girls and young women, as many may be unwilling to associate themselves with organisations working on these issues. In such situations you may want to use a more indirect approach, by involving influential people: they would be people who are close to your target and willing to lend themselves for your cause. Additionally, face-to-face meetings are important to build lasting relationships. Involving (new (or non-traditional) / social) media It may help to invite guests or media to a meeting to give the decision-makers an opportunity to commit publicly. Media involvement is important in positively influencing opinions about the advantages of improving the situation of girls and young women of government and the general public. Therefore, media publications may strengthen your advocacy efforts by raising public awareness about the importance of the issue and by holding governments accountable. Public actions and the role of influential persons or role models It has been proven successful to involve influential persons and/or celebrities, and to have them take part in a public event like a debate or a rally. You could invite ministry officials, parliamentarians, members of national technical or implementing bodies, but also famous singers, actors or comedians. Personal testimonials of girls and young women could add a powerful component to show policymakers why change is necessary. 5. TIME AND PLACE When and where will you deliver your advocacy message? Is there an electoral campaign underway that might make policymakers more receptive than normal to your message? Is the

49 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 8

newly appointed minister already properly briefed on your issues? Are there other political events that you can link up with, to draw more attention to your cause? Some advocacy groups connect their communication strategies to events such as International Women’s Day (8th of March) or the International Day of the Girl Child (11th of October). What makes a good advocacy opportunity? Review the Opportunity Mapper you developed in Step 6. Be selective, focus your efforts where: °° The timing is right in the decision-making process and you can influence decisions °° Decision-makers have an invested interest in the outcome °° There are chances to network and meet influential people °° There are opportunities for media attention to alert the public °° The agenda is not too full Possible opportunities include: °° Conferences °° Workshops °° International recognised days such as International Women’s Day °° Consultations on major policy reviews °° Celebrity visits °° Reporting platforms pertaining to the UN Convention on Children’s Rights °° Other international instruments and reporting processes The following tool is commonly used to develop a primary message.

TOOL 16: DEVELOPING A MESSAGE

Choosing the right words is decisive in getting the message across. Your message must resonate, because the purpose of advocacy is to motivate people to initiate change. Words should be culturally appropriate, so they are understood, clarify and motivate people in favour of the cause. The primary message is constructed as follows:

statement + evidence + example + goal + action desired

Statement: the statement is the central idea of the message (the issue/problem). The spokes-

person should be able to present the ‘essence’ of his/her message in several strong sentences.

Evidence: the evidence supports the statement or central idea with facts and/or figures. The

message should include limited data that an audience can easily understand

Example: after providing the facts, the spokesperson should add a face to the story. An anecdote

based on a personal experience can personalise the facts and figures. Goal: highlights what you want to achieve. Action: the desired action is what you want the audience to do as a result of hearing the message. The advocacy objective should be stated clearly to the audience as an invitation to act.

50 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 8

SUGGESTIONS FOR WORK-SESSIONS

In order to work with colleagues on developing a priority message, you could consider organising the practical exercise explained below. WORK-SESSION PREPARATIONS AND NECESSITIES: °° Organise examples of various advocacy messages of likeminded organisations/campaigns °° Agree on the target group (see also Step 5 of the advocacy cycle), as this will help to develop an effective and focused message Please note that the GAA communication strategy foresees in communication advice (from the Dutch GAA communications team) for the development of advocacy messages as well. Developing a Primary Message PROCESS 1. Have a Flip chart with an empty template for the five components of a primary advocacy message ready 2. Ask participants in advance to review the example advocacy messages 3. Have each participant individually brainstorm and fill in the five components of the message related to your issue on Post-it’s 4. Plot the Post-it’s on the prepared flipchart 5. Facilitate a group discussion on the result and mix components if necessary for the best primary advocacy message 6. If the plotting results in any of the five components are not being sufficiently covered, facilitate a group brainstorm about these

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POINTS OF DISCUSSION: °° Discuss what is the best Language for the developed advocacy message, who is the best Messenger to bring it to your advocacy target? Which Format/Medium suits the target best and when and where (Time and Place) can the message best be delivered? PRODUCTS °° A primary message to be used by the GAA partners. °° Secondary messages can be developed using the same process steps as above, targeting other and more specific audiences.

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IDENTIFY PMEL PRIORITIES

STEP 9

WHAT TO DO? IDENTIFY PLANNING, MONITORING, EVALUATION AND LEARNING (PMEL) PRIORITIES Advocacy work is very often complex in nature. In the context of this manual, complex means that advocacy issues and proposed solutions are contested and that it is uncertain whether a certain intervention will have the desired positive effect.

> Compare advocating for implementation of policies banning child marriage to implementing an immunization campaign. An immunization campaign is quite technical in nature. while it may be complicated to plan and execute, the problem is mostly clear and uncontested, as is the solution. The outcomes of the intervention are known in advance and not very dependent on the specific context. In this case, it makes a lot of sense to plan the whole logistical operation in advance, based on similar experiences elsewhere. The child marriage campaign, on the other hand is likely to be much more political. There may be fierce opposition to the advocacy effort because others have different values or interests. While the current government may be quite progressive, upcoming elections may put more conservative leaders in power. In such circumstances, experience in other contexts is less relevant and your work cannot be planned years ahead. You will have to reassess the situation constantly and adapt your planning as you go along.

Influencing the development or application of laws and public policies is by their very nature a messy and unpredictable process. Many actors are involved or have a stake in the process and outcomes; relationships between stakeholders are continuously changing; agreements on a desired policy change may shift during the process and unexpected events can dramatically alter the existing constellation of power, interests and ideas. In such a dynamic environment, the traditional methods of programme design and planning are no longer sufficient. An adaptive programming approach is needed to enable GAA partners to react and respond to changes in the political and socio-economic operating environment.

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HOW TO DO IT? TOOLS

The GAA programme works with a well thought-through PMEL system to plan, monitor, evaluate and learn. This system is elaborated in the PMEL Manual, of which some relevant parts are reproduced here. In order to plan, monitor, evaluate and learn, the GAA programme applies the Theory of Change approach and uses principles of Adaptive Programming. Adaptive programming is basically about the ability to continuously learn and adapt throughout all the stages of a programme, instead of only assessing success at the middle and the end of a programme. GAA considers adaptive programming as the foundation for its PMEL system. This means that the PMEL system has been designed to facilitate frequent feedback loops to enable joint learning and adaptation.

Key building blocks of this system are: °° Use of Theories of Change and a Result Framework °° Outcome-based reflection through collective Outcome Harvesting, rather than a focus on individual organisations’ output-based reporting °° Attention paid to how we learn instead of focusing solely on checking the delivery of planned outputs °° A high degree of decentralisation of decision-making, based on frequent feedback loops The Theory of Change (ToC) contributes to a profound and detailed understanding of how change actually happens. It supports the planning of interventions and actions that are well-attuned to longer-term goals. Result Frameworks describe in more detail what the GAA organisations precisely aim for and what their strategies are. On an annual basis, Work plans describe what all GAA organisations and partners involved at each programme level will do to achieve the expected outcomes. Outcome Harvesting Outcome Harvesting (OH) is particularly tailored to monitor complex advocacy programmes because it does not measure progress towards predetermined objectives or outcomes, but rather collects evidence of what has changed. Then, working backwards, it facilitates determining whether and how an intervention contributed to these changes. The use of OH enables you to analyse and interpret changes occurring for each of the actors in your ToC. Moreover, it helps to jointly monitor and reflect on the relationships and linkages between these actors

The PMEL cycle Planning and monitoring The GAA planning and monitoring cycle is organized around two annual milestones: the annual plan and the annual report. To enable the joint reflection on outcomes and the development of annual strategic planning documents and annual reports, meetings are organized twice per year: in August/September for a strategic planning meeting, and in February?March for an annual monitoring meeting. Evaluation The GAA evaluation agenda foresees a baseline study, a mid-term review and an end term evaluation. All three exercises will be conducted by an external party. The baseline study was finalised in August 2016; the mid-term review will take place in the second half of 2018 and the end term evaluation will be conducted during the first half of 2020. Learning Learning is an integral element of the alliance planning, monitoring and evaluation processes. The learning agenda is built upon the core assumptions underlying the GAA ToC. Through continuous learning about the relevance and validity of these core assumptions, the GAA learning agenda helps us to ensure (a) that our understanding of the pathways of change remains relevant, clear and useful; and (b) that we continuously adjust and improve our strategies and actions in accordance to the generated learning.

The PMEL manual defines advocacy monitoring as an ongoing, continuous process of collecting information about programme implementation and changes in the programme context and behaviour of relevant actors. Collecting such information should be done throughout the implementation of your advocacy effort.

53 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 9

Note that many of the products developed thus far can be used for monitoring purposes. The Force Field analysis for example, can be revisited after a year’s time, to see if anything relevant in the context changed. Are there any new factors? Or perhaps different levels of assumed impact of existing factors? Similarly, the Power / Will and Venn diagram visuals can be attached to an office wall and be updated continuously as implementation of the advocacy strategy progresses.

Two additional monitoring tools that can be used for this purpose are explained in detail in the Country training packs and the PMEL manual. These include an Advocacy Actions Logbook, capturing data at Activity and Output level (“What did we do?”) and an Advocacy Signs Logbook, capturing data at Outcome level (“What change did we observe?”). In addition to these general tools, information can also be documented at specific moments following up on periods of intense advocacy activity, by using an After Action Review, which can be particularly informed by staff reflections and experiences. Another useful tool is the Bellwether Interview, which should be used at regular intervals gauging the position of an advocacy issue on the policy cycle, particularly based on external expert knowledge.

TOOL 17: PMEL PRIORITIES TABLE It is important to realize that “not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted”. This is particularly true for complex programmes such as a GAA advocacy programme.

In monitoring and evaluating policy advocacy work, it is important to focus your efforts on your priority: understanding how change happens to be able to adapt your strategy accordingly. While it is important to be cost-conscious and efficient with the GAA budget, the focus should not be on conducting as many activities as cheaply as possible, or only capturing output data to monitor progress, but on trying to be strategic when identifying and executing the GAA PMEL agenda. Another important reminder is the notion that advocacy changes cannot be attributed to single programmes or organisations, because of the complexity of the change process. Through the validation process that is part of the Outcome Harvesting methodology (substantiation), an attempt is made, with third party insights, to formulate an indication of the extent to which the GAA programme has contributed to the observed changes. The key components for monitoring and evaluating GAA advocacy are captured in the overall GAA PMEL system, the country or regional ToCs and Result Frameworks. As part of the Advocacy Strategy development process, it is advisable to fill out the below tool to ensure that monitoring and learning is being considered sufficiently for this specific advocacy strategy.

SUGGESTIONS FOR WORK-SESSIONS

In order to work with colleagues on conducting a quick scan of PMEL priorities, you could consider organising the practical exercise explained below. Note that this exercise is not a replacement of the PMEL process outlined in the PMEL manual in more detail. The main purpose of this exercise is to do a quick reflection on monitoring as part of the advocacy cycle. Guidance on planning, evaluation and learning can be found in the PMEL Manual and Country training packs. WORK-SESSIONS PREPARATIONS: °° Review products from previous steps, in particular the advocacy goals and expected outcomes (Step 4), opportunity planner (Step 6) and selected approaches, tactics (and, if available the If Then Because statement) (Step 7) °° Check the existing PMEL system and framework, developed to plan, monitor, evaluate and learn about the country or regional programme °° Check the PMEL manual for guidance on GAA PMEL principles, annual cycle and suggested tools °° Reproduce, on a Flip chart or brown paper, the top row of the table below

54 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 9

NECESSITIES: °° Prepared Flip charts or brown paper (depending on the amount of ToC elements to cover) °° Large Post-its or similar materials with sufficient space to capture the requested information, markers PROCESS: 1. Explain the importance of monitoring for effective advocacy: the situation is constantly changing, which may require adaptations in the programme in order to remain relevant. See the PMEL manual section on adaptive programming for more background information. 2. Present the PMEL priority table. Stress that the purpose is not to have a fully filled out table, but to critically review all the elements in our expected change process to see what is worthwhile to monitor and why. If relevant, identify which tools could be used when. 3. Facilitate a guided discussion per row of the table. Start with impact and work your way back through the ToC elements. Note that Interventions / Outputs is purposely mentioned as the last element, since this is the least critical component of the ToC monitoring process. PRODUCT: °° A table with priorities to monitor, primarily intended to support the adaptive programming approach

TOC element

what to monitor

add rows as necessary

(what specific information will we collect?)

Impact

Any changes in the lives of GYW?

Pathways

How did change happen

Assumptions

Did our views on change hold true?

Outcomes

What changed?

Interventions

What did we do?

Contribution

What did we contribute?

why monitor (What is the purpose of collecting this information?)

how to monitor

when to monitor

(Which tools will we use to collect this information?)

(What is the timeframe/frequency for data collection?)

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WRITE UP AN ADVOCACY STRATEGY

STEP 10

WHAT TO DO? CONSOLIDATE INFORMATION IN ADVOCACY STRATEGY DOCUMENT The last step of the cycle is to bring all the information and products from Steps 1 to 9 together in the Advocacy Strategy Template to facilitate the planning, monitoring and evaluation of your advocacy work.

Overview of steps, tools and products advocacy strategy template

STEP

purpose

tool / product

Analyse the situation

1. PESTLE overview 2. Force Field analysis 3. SWOT analysis

Key issues & trends influencing GAA advocacy

Select a policy issue

4. Priority ranking 5. Problem & solution grid

Rationale for the selected policy issue

Analyse the legal & policy context

6. Policy analysis grid 7. Visibility/Influence map

Status overview of relevant formal & informal policies

Formulate goals & outcomes

8. SMART advocacy goal 9. Backward mapping

Description of advocacy goal & change process

Identify targets & influentials

10. Power / Will matrix 11. Venn-diagram

Analysis and overview of targets & influentials

Map opportunities & assess risks

12. Opportunity mapper 13. Risk assessment

Overview of opportunities & analysis of risks

Choose an influencing approach

14. GAA advocacy mapper 15. If Then Because statement (advanced)

Selection of approaches & tactics Description how GAA thinks change happens

Develop messages

16. Message development

Description of the key GAA message(s)

Identify Plan, Monitor, Evaluate, Learn priorities

17. PMEL priorities table

PMEL priorities

Consolidate advocacy strategy document

18. Strategy template

Consolidated overview of Advocacy strategy & underlying analyses

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TOOL 18: ADVOCACY STRATEGY TEMPLATE STRATEGY COUNTRY / REGION A Policy issue

STEP 2, Tools 4 and 5: What policy issue did you prioritise?

B Goal & expected outcomes

STEP 4, Tool 8: What is the (SMART) description of your advocacy goal?

Medium- & shortterm outcomes

Interim outcomes

Timeframe

Responsible

STEP 4, Tool 9: What are the intermediate steps needed to reach your objective

What is the timeframe?

Who is responsible?

Add rows as necessary

C Influencing approach

STEP 7, Tools 14 and 15: How do you intend to engage with your audiences to realise your goals? Advice, advocacy, activism? Briefly describe your approach.

D key / overall

STEP 5, Tools 10 and 11: Who are your primary and secondary targets? STEP 8, Tool 16: What are the Priority message and targeted messages? Target

Massage

Messenger

Primary target & message Secondary targets & messages

Add rows as necessary objective

Who is best placed to relay the message? See stakeholder analysis tool / Venn diagram & messengers checklist in step 8

57 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 10

ANALYSES CONTEXT ANALYSIS

STEP 1, Tools 1, 2: Briefly describe (maximum of 10 sentences) how this problem affects the lives of girls and young women. What factors are involved, what are the causes and consequences? For example using the outputs of a PESTLE or Force Field analysis.

ISSUE PRIORITISATION

STEP 2, Tools 4 and 5: Briefly describe why this issue is prioritised. Why should we conduct advocacy on this issue to tackle the problem? For example using the questions from the Priority ranking tool.

POLICY ANALYSIS Detrimental policies

non-existent policies

not implemented

not widely known

STEP 3, Tool 6: List the existing policies that are related to this issue in the appropriate column

POLICY SOLUTION GRID policy issue

policy solution

not implemented

not widely known

STEP 3: Describe, based on Step 2 and 3, what the policy issue is and your proposed solution, for example using the Policy solution grid.

STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS (Prioritise a maximum of 10) stakeholder STEP 5, Tool 10, 11: Analyse the relevant stakeholders

Attitude

influence

concern

H/M/L

Main interest

Influental

58 Girls Advocacy Alliance - Advocacy cycle - Step 10

RISK ANALYSIS RISK AREA STEP 6: List the risks of doing advocacy & how to mitigate them, for example in terms of: • Staff / Programme implementation • Relationships, Safety affected population • Reputation

LIKELIHOOD

IMPACT

MITIGATION

H/M/L

OPPORTUNITY MAPPER DATE

EVENT

RATIONALE

ACTION

RESPONSIBLE

When is the opportunity taking place?

What is the opportunity about?

Why is this opportunity important? To which expected outcome does it contribute?

What are you planning to do?

Who is taking the lead on this?

STEP 6: List the opportunities

M&E MONITORING PLAN STEP 9 TOC element

what to monitor

add rows as necessary

(what specific information will we collect?)

Impact

Any changes in the lives of GYW?

Pathways

How did change happen

Assumptions

Did our views on change hold true?

Outcomes

What changed?

Interventions

What did we do?

Contribution

What did we contribute?

why monitor (What is the purpose of collecting this information?)

how to monitor

when to monitor

(Which tools will we use to collect this information?)

(What is the timeframe/frequency for data collection?)

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The Girls Advocacy Alliance is one of the strategic partners of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Dialogue and Dissent framework.