Collective Learning for Advocacy

This article discusses three tools for analysing the political context for launching an advocacy campaign to influence relevant government bodies and ministers. It is from the Centro de Colaboración Cívica (Centre for Civil Collaboration), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) working to reinforce democratic change in Mexico through dialogue, collaboration, and conflict management. The article grew out of lessons learned from a workshop to find a basis on which 14 organisations active in sexual and reproductive rights issues could develop their collective strategies.

From the article:

"The tool used for context analysis was a ‘political map’ setting out the positions of relevant officials in the various branches of government with regard to sexual and reproductive rights. Prior to the workshop, the facilitators interviewed representatives of the 14 organisations, and identified the groups to be targeted in the campaign. The facilitators compiled brief profiles of each of the target groups identified by the 14 organisations. They mapped their attitudes, based on previous voting records, public statements and, where possible, personal interviews....

During the workshop, participants...were asked to review the map and to identify opportunities for advancing the group’s agenda as well as possible threats.... The map thus revealed areas where increased efforts by the group might yield favourable results, and where they would be wasted....[T]o avoid the duplication of efforts, and to identify any gaps...the facilitators drew up a simple matrix in which the participants wrote the name of their organisation next to the groups they would target in their activities.

Finally, the group used an abbreviated version of the Appreciative Inquiry (AI) method to highlight the capacities of their organisations.... Through this exercise, many stories of success in difficult political circumstances emerged, making the current situation seem less daunting. In the process, the dominant narrative gradually changed from one of doom and gloom, to one of possibility. The participants made a collective inventory of their best practices, which generated a great deal of motivation to work together to face the challenges ahead."

The conclusions drawn include:

1. "Collective analysis can generate a process of learning that is not possible in other settings....
   
2. Context analysis is important, but is not often done....
   
3. A common document or proposal is useful for organising the group discussion....
4. Consensus, while useful, should not be required....
5. Stereotypes must be challenged. The importance of building coalitions across party lines cannot be overstated – preconceived notions of who may or may not be friendly to one opinion or another may hinder the ability to build winning coalitions....
6. The narrative constructed around the possibilities for action matters. Perceptions can become reality as people act, or not, based on what they believe to be true..."