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Development and Advocacy
Annotated Bibliography
Development-related advocacy - from high-level lobbying to development education to efforts to make local government accountable to local citizens - is increasingly an integral part of how development and relief NGOs go about their work. Since the early 1990s, there has been a growing literature from within the aid community outlining the intellectual underpinnings of this aspect of what was then referred to as 'scaling-up' NGO impact, and of external accounts and critiques of specific campaigns. More recently, in their focus on corporate social responsibility and on new (often transnational) social movements, scholars and activists have addressed the actual and potential role of advocacy by NGOs and other civil society organisations in helping to achieve development goals or to redefine what these should be. We have sought to reflect these broad areas in this annotated bibliography.
While their goals and ways of working may differ, there are also many development organisations for whom advocacy is their primary raison d'être; and we have selected some of these in order to illustrate something of the range of organisational approaches to issues of major relevance to development, such as debt, employment, the environment, food, housing, human rights, indigenous peoples, and trade; as well as giving examples of innovative approaches to collaboration across North--South and other major divides.
The bibliography was compiled by Nicola Frost with Deborah Eade, Reviews Editor and Editor respectively of Development in Practice.
Sanam Naraghi Anderlini: Women at the Peace Table: Making a Difference, New York: UNIFEM, 2000.
Although the particular effects of armed conflict on women have been recognised in recent years, the implications of this for womens involvement in advocating for peace has yet to be fully accepted, despite numerous international commitments. This cross-regional study highlights the activities of women who have organised to resist militarisation and to influence peace negotiations. Examples from prominent activists in Burundi, Northern Ireland, and Cambodia, among others, show how womens participation in all stages of peace negotiations is crucial for establishing a peace which is sustainable, equitable, and inclusive. The book aims to share individual experiences and strategies, and to examine some of the challenges facing women working for peace. Full text available online at www.undp.org/unifem/Alan Barker, Firoze Manji et al: Writing for Change: An Interactive Guide to Effective Writing, Writing for Science and Writing for Advocacy, Fahamu and IDRC, 2000, CD-ROM.
An interactive resource to help fundraisers, researchers, and campaigners develop effective writing skills. The section on advocacy includes hints on how to adapt material for specific lobbying and campaigning needs. It includes practical examples and exercises, some of which can be used by people training writers, and links to relevant websites.Sharon Beder: Global Spin: The Corporate Assault on Environmentalism, 2nd edn. Carlton North, Australia: Scribe Publications, 2000.
The author examines the techniques employed by global corporations to manipulate public and political opinion about environmental issues. Beder argues that corporate activism, emerging in the 1970s, and assuming new importance in the 1990s, has enabled the commercial sector to dominate the environmental debate to an alarming degree. The book explains how corporations fund civil society front groups, or PR-generated grassroots responses, and promote issues that are in the interests of business, and how a similar relationship exists between corporations and some right-wing think tanks. It also looks at corporate influence on the media.Manuel Castells: The Information Age: The Rise of the Network Society (Vol. 1), 1996
and The Power of Identity (Vol. 2), Oxford: Blackwell 1997.
The Information Age is concerned with trends of globalisation and identity, in the context of the information technology revolution and the restructuring of capitalism, which have given rise to the network society. Characterised by the pervasive power of global capital, and interconnected media systems, networking is a growing form of global social organisation, and has been accompanied by expressions of collective identity that challenge globalisation and cosmopolitanism. The nation-state is thus called into question, while powerful technological media are now used by various contenders to amplify and sharpen their struggle, as for example in the Zapatistas use of the Internet.Volume 2 examines networks of identity such as religious communalism (including Islamic and Christian fundamentalism), and ethnic and territorial collective identity, which are elaborated into the broader theory of the Information Age. It also covers social movements against the New Global Order, the environmental movement, movements centred on issues of family and sexuality (such as some forms of feminism, and the US gay community), the relationship between states and social movements, and the role of the media and electronic popularism.
Jennifer Chapman and Amboka Wameyo: Monitoring and Evaluating Advocacy: A Scoping Study, London: ActionAid, 2001.
A growing amount of NGO activity falls under the rubric of influencing and advocacy work but there are as yet very few tools with which to measure and evaluate its impact or worth. This study is an overview of existing approaches to advocacy and frameworks for evaluating it, for example by Christian Aid, CIIR, NEF, Save the Children, and USAID. The bibliography is also a useful guide to recent publications and grey literature.Seamus Cleary: The Role of NGOs under Authoritarian Political Systems, Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1997.
Based on his experience in Indonesia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines, the author takes issue with claims by Northern NGOs to be able to represent the most vulnerable people in society, through their links with the grassroots. In Indonesia, for example, Cleary shows how British NGOs, establishing themselves as interpreters of others needs, actually exceeded local peoples demands, and sacrificed accountability to serve institutional ends. The book draws general conclusions about whose interests are served by such representation, making distinctions between operational development organisations and advocacy-based NGOs. It also highlights the importance of domestic capacity for presenting advocacy cases as a crucial element in their success. See also In whose interest? NGO advocacy campaigns and the poorest, International Relations 12(5) 1995.David Cohen, Rosa de la Vega and Gabrielle Watson: Advocacy for Social Justice: A Global Action and Reflection Guide, Bloomfield CT: Kumarian, 2001.
Building civil society and nurturing democracy has become part of mainstream development discourse. But while some NGOs are taking the lead in this work, others still lack the skills needed to assume new roles in policy advocacy for social and economic justice. This book is a direct and interactive response to this growing need. The result of a collaboration between the Washington-based Advocacy Learning Institute and Oxfam America, this resource is the first comprehensive guide for worldwide social and economic justice advocates. It explores the elements of advocacy and offers a toolkit for taking action, comprehensive case studies, training materials, and resource listings. A website supports the published resource with expanded directory material and background to the project.Robin Cohen and Shirin Rai (eds): Global Social Movements, London: Athlone Press, 2001.
While global economic forces, led by transnational corporations, shape the nature of globalisation from above, social movements in a variety of fields are influencing the new global consciousness from below. This activity indicates the shift into a new era of transnational social action which is more participatory, and more focused. This book undertakes a wide-ranging and systematic analysis of the activities of social movements in areas such as human rights, religion, labour, environmental issues, and womens rights.Preecha Dechalert: NGOs, Advocacy and Popular Protest: A Case Study of Thailand, International Working Paper No. 6, London: Centre for Civil Society, 1999.
Through examining a series of popular anti-government protests in Thailand in 1997, in which many local NGOs became involved, the author seeks to understand why public protest has become part of their advocacy work. The author argues that NGOs serve as resources, rather than full actors, by providing access to solidarity networks, and that they therefore can be seen as social movement organisations. Full text available online at: www.lse.ac.uk/Depts/ccs/Denise Deegan: Managing Activism: a Guide to Dealing with Activists and Pressure Groups, London: Kogan Page, 2001.
Written by the head of a PR agency that deals with pharmaceutical companies, this book looks at the issue from the perspective of the companies, governments, and organisations vulnerable to the threat of activist activity. It covers approaches to communication with activists, and gives guidance on how to deal with hostile groups who are unwilling to negotiate. There are also sections on strategies for managing community and media relations, and advice about planning a proactive communications programme.Michael Edwards and John Gaventa (eds): Global Citizen Action, Boulder CO: Lynne Rienner, 2001.
With contributions from a number of leading writers on civil society and global action, this book, this book attempts to represent the cutting edge of thinking about non-state participation in international affairs. It examines the different agendas encompassed within civil society and explores the nature of the engagement with international institutions. Chapters assess the potential for a Southern constituency for global advocacy movements, look at the relationship between civil society and global financial institutions, and explore the possibilities for transnational advocacy networks.Jonathan A. Fox and L. David Brown (eds): The Struggle for Accountability: The World Bank, NGOs, and Grassroots Movements, Cambridge MA: MIT Press, 1998.
This book analyses reforms within the World Bank to adopt more rigorous environmental and social policies, and the subsequent conflicts over how and whether to follow them in practice. It asks how the Bank has responded to NGO/grassroots environmental critiques, with case studies to assess degrees of change, how far advocacy campaigns (often led by NGOs) represent those most directly affected by Bank projects, and how accountable NGOs are to their own partners. The Bank is shown to be more publicly accountable as the result of protest, public scrutiny, and their empowering effect on inside reformers. Transnational NGO networks are also gradually becoming more accountable to their local partners - partly because of more vocal and autonomous grassroots movements, and partly in response to the Banks challenge to the legitimacy of its NGO critics. (See entry for IDR for the authors recent update on this book.)Colin Fraser and Sonia Restrepo-Estrada: Communicating for Development: Human Change for Survival, London: I.B. Tauris, 1998.
The authors argue that the substantial shift in human attitudes and behaviour needed to realise sustainable global development is best achieved through a focus on communication processes as a way of facilitating change. This book is full of lively illustrative examples, including observations of communication within and between institutions as well as between developers and developed. The authors also consider the role of communications policies at the level of national government and conclude with a framework for action, which fits communication into a holistic strategy for sustainable development.Dan Gallin: Trade Unions and NGOs: a Necessary Partnership for Social Development, Geneva: UNRISD, 2000.
This paper, prepared for Copenhagen Plus 5, argues that trade unions and NGOs are distinct from other actors in civil society in that they have specific agendas for the improvement of society, but also emphasises the differences between them - most notably that NGOs can choose whether and how to become involved in labour-related issues. The author, head of the Global Labour Institute, reviews the history of their alliance, and looks at new areas of cooperation, for example on environmental issues and gender equality.Sara Gibbs and Deborah Ajulu: The Role of the Church in Advocacy: Case Studies from Southern and Eastern Africa, Occasional Papers Series No.31, Oxford: INTRAC 1999.
In this review of the involvement of churches and church organisations in advocating for human rights, democracy, and poverty alleviation in Africa, the authors consider what opportunities exist for mutual support from similarly involved NGOs in Europe. They examine the churchs role in advocating specific issues such as human rights and democracy in Kenya; transition to a multi -party democracy in Malawi; and economic issues related to improving the basic standard of living in Zambia. The study focuses attention on the strength of national and international links as a crucial factor contributing to successful advocacy work, even at a grassroots level.Gustavo Gutiérrez: The Density of the Present: Selected Writings, Orbis Books, New York: 1999.
Presenting the work of one of the intellectual architects of Liberation Theology, this anthology offers Gutiérrez' account of a century of social teachings on the 'preferential option for the poor', and describes the political journey of Catholicism from Pope John II's encyclical on work, to the landmark 1968 Conference of Latin American Bishops at Medellín, and the 1992 Conference at Santo Domingo. This radical interpretation of the teachings of Christ inspired a continent-wide popular movement for change throughout the 1970s and 1980s, in which many of its proponents were persecuted. See also A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics and Salvation (1988) by the same author, The Violence of Love (1998) a posthumous work by Msgr Oscar Romero, and 2000: Reality and Hope, edited by Jon Sobrino and Virgilio Elizondo.Richard Heeks: Information and Communication Technologies, Poverty and Development,
Development Informatics Working Paper No. 5, Manchester: Institute for Development Policy and Management, University of Manchester, 1999.
This paper looks at whether new information and communication technologies (ICTs) might contribute to poverty alleviation in developing countries, particularly through their application to small and micro-enterprises. It concludes that, since there are serious restrictions on access to ICTs, and to relevant data, their role is most likely to be one of facilitating communication and information sharing, making poor people information providers rather than information recipients. The wider goal will be achieved only when the tendency to fetishise ICTs is overcome, and the true opportunity costs of investing in this area rather than others is understood. Full text available online at: www.man.ac.uk/idpmInstitute for Development Research: Building Knowledge and Community for Advocacy, IDR: Boston MA, 1999.
This report on a workshop on NorthSouth advocacy partnerships explores the theory and the practice of advocacy work. Among the topics discussed are: measuring impact, advocacy models and assumptions about power, the challenges of NorthSouth collaboration, capacity building in both Northern and Southern organisations, and building constituencies for advocacy initiatives. It offers a practical resource for anyone interested in fostering a local, national, or international community of advocates.Lisa Jordan and Peter van Tuijl: Political Responsibility in NGO Advocacy: Exploring Shapes of Global Democracy, Washington/The Hague: World Bank Information Center/NOVIB, 1998.
NGOs have become a political reality as they mobilise, articulate, and represent peoples interests or concerns in many decision-making arenas. However, the authors argue, the relationships among NGOs that engage in advocacy across geographical and institutional boundaries are highly problematic. Such dynamics determine the quality of NGO advocacy, both as a channel for differing goals and expectations of development as well as in effectively shaping new forms of democracy. This paper uses the concept of political responsibility to describe representation and accountability in transnational NGO networks. Based on case studies of NGO advocacy campaigns, the paper identifies four types of relationship which may develop among NGOs, each leading to different levels of accountability: the hybrid campaign, the concurrent campaign, the disassociated campaign, and the competitive campaign.Margaret E. Keck and Kathryn Sikkink (eds.): Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1998.
The contributors to this volume examine pressure groups that take the form of networks of activists that coalesce and operate across national frontiers. They sketch the dynamics of emergence, strategies, and impact of activists from different nationalities working together on particular issues, such as violence against women. See also Transnational advocacy networks in international and regional politics, International Social Science Journal, 1999, 51(159):89-101.Robin Mansell and Uta Wehn (eds.): Knowledge Societies: Information Technology for Sustainable Development, Oxford: OUP, 1998.
Commissioned by the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development, this comprehensive study examines the potential risks and benefits for developing countries of the dramatic advances in the development of information and communication technologies. It looks at how these new technologies can be used to promote development goals at a national level, through the strategic development of an inclusive knowledge society, including sections on developing indicators of participation, improving access and capacity with regard to information technology, and issues of intellectual property.Phil McManus and Gerald Schlabach (eds.) Relentless Persistence: Relentless Persistence Nonviolent Action in Latin America, New Society Publishers Ltd., Philadelphia, 1991.
Introduced by the Brazilian priest Leonardo Boff, a leading proponent of Liberation Theology, this volume illustrates in human terms diverse social movements inspired or supported by the radical Catholic church -- from Christian Base Communities to human rights workers, from indigenous and landless people's organisations to popular resistance to military dictatorship. Through case studies and personal testimonies, this collection explores the relationship between faith and politics, and demonstrates the dynamic integration of reflection, strategy and action that have given many thousands of ordinary people the courage to work for social transformation. See also Boff's 1997 work on the destruction of the Amazon and the oppression of Brazil's indigenous population, Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor.Carol Miller and Shahra Razavi (eds.): Missionaries and Mandarins: Feminist Engagement with Development Institutions, London: IT Publications in association with UNRISD, 1998.
Contributors document various strategies adopted by women working within development bureaucracies to advance a feminist agenda - so-called 'femocrats' - and women's movements pushing for the adoption of progressive policies, with examples from Australia, Canada, Morocco, and New Zealand. Other contributions look in a more generic fashion at organisational behaviours and at how gender policies are often simultaneously promoted and undermined both in state and intergovernmental institutions and in the NGO sector. The overview essay by Shahra Razavi, 'Becoming multilingual: the challenges of feminist policy advocacy, is particularly relevant.Valerie Miller and Jane Covey: Advocacy Sourcebook: Frameworks for Planning, Action & Reflection, Boston MA: IDR, 1997.
Aimed at advocates and trainers, this sourcebook offers analysis and practical advice to organisations wishing to expand their advocacy capacity. The result of joint-learning projects between Southern and Northern NGOs, the book draws upon the ideas from around the globe to tap into the growing body of collective NGO knowledge and experience. Containing a broad range of frameworks and concepts, as well as case studies of successful advocacy efforts, it provides strategies for assessing public policy systems, increasing organisational capacity-building, and measuring the impact of individual advocacy campaigns. Valerie Miller is also author of Policy Influence by Development NGOs: A Vehicle for Strengthening Civil Society (IDR Reports 11(5), 1994) and NGO and Grassroots Policy Influence: What is Success? (1994) in NGOs In Policy Influence: A Selection of IDR Reports (1997) Collection IV. (See IDR entry for more information.)Andrew A. Moemeka (ed.): Development Communication in Action: Building Understanding and Creating Participation, Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 2000.
Moemekas vision of development communication is one of dialogue, discussion, and exchange rather than persuasion. This book begins by tracing the changing communication roles that have accompanied the paradigm shifts in development in the last 50 years. It examines the cultural implications of the new world communication order, where access to information is recognised as a critical index of power. Although the book has a strong conceptual and theoretical element, contributors also consider the role of the mass media and religion in development communication, and there is a reminder of the importance of effective intra-household communication with regard to issues such as domestic violence.Paul Nelson: The World Bank and NGOs: The Limits of Apolitical Development, London: Macmillan, 1995.
Drawing on academic study and activist research, the author explores the growing NGO involvement with World Bank activities, both as partners in programmes to mitigate the social cost of structural adjustment, and as promoters of an NGO agenda in policy dialogues. He examines the implications for global development of the Bank's apparently more informal, pragmatic approach, and asks whether NGOs' engagement with its policy and practice compromises their own legitimacy in developing civil society institutions. He concludes that strategies of engagement and collaboration have more often resulted in NGOs becoming vehicles for service delivery than instruments for evaluation and scrutiny. Hence, the rapprochement is changing NGOs more than the Bank. Nelson concludes that, while NGOs should support resistance to anti-egalitarian programmes, dialogue and monitoring are critical.Andy Norrell: Bridging gaps or a bridge too far? The management of advocacy within service providing NGOs in the UK, International Working Paper No.3, London: Centre for Civil Society, LSE, 1999
NGOs' greater involvement in advocacy has resulted in changes to their organisational structures and strategies, with implications for internal and external relationships. This study includes a literature review on the links between NGO growth, the emergence of different organisational forms for advocacy and collective action, and organisational change. Advocacy management differs from that of service-provision, and a structural approach makes it easier to see how the integration of an advocacy function could strengthen organisational links. A survey of 17 British NGOs allows the author to suggest how NGO service-providers can combine appropriate organisational structures and strategies for managing advocacy. Full text available online at www.lse.ac.uk\depts\ccsPeter Nwosu, Chuka Onwumechili and Ritchard MBayo (eds.): Communication and the Transformation of Society: a Developing Regions Perspectives, Lanham, Maryland: University Press of America, 1995.
The contributors to this book cover an exceptionally wide range of topics relating to the theory and practice of communication for development across Africa. The book opens with a theoretical framework for considering the function of communication policy in promoting and supporting social and economic development. Contributors then consider the role of the media in African history, and contemporary use patterns, in order to contexutalise the application of development communication to sectors such as health and agriculture. Case studies illustrate this application, and the book ends with some potential future directions. Although the world of communication technology is changing very quickly, the books sound conceptual focus means it is less likely to date than other similar works.Robert OBrien, Anne Marie Goetz, Jan Aart Scholte, and Marc Williams: Contesting Global Governance: Multilateral Economic Institutions and Global Social Movements, Cambridge: CUP, 2000.
This book examines the relationship between global social movements (GSMs) and the multilateral economic institutions (MEIs) over the last two decades. Do the GSMs play a significant role in global governance? What influence have they had over the internal structures and practices of the economic institutions? The authors argue that an understanding of this relationship is the key to comprehending the form and nature of global governance. The case studies used to unpack these interactions include the World Bank and the womens movement, the WTO and labour, the IMF and civil society groups, and the contrasting approaches of the Bank and the WTO in engaging with environmental groups. The conclusion is that the current situation is best described as a concept of complex multilateralism, a hybrid model of interactions, but one which results in only minor reform of the economic institutions.Molly Reilly and Margaret Schuller (eds.): Becoming an Advocate Step by Step: Womens Experiences in Central and Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States, Washington DC: Women, Law and Development International, 2000.
With contributions from human rights activists from many countries in Central and Eastern Europe, this book seeks to describe the incremental process of learning and participation experienced in the development of human rights advocacy in these states, as much as it documents the achievements of policy change. The papers give some insight into the particular problems facing advocates in a region with weak civil society and legal systems, and considerable social and economic dislocation.Judith Richter: Holding Corporations Accountable: Corporate Conduct, International Codes, and Citizen Action, London: Zed Books, 2001.
As large transnational corporations have an increasing impact on many aspects of social and economic life, this book asks whether it is sufficient to continue to rely of industry self-regulation alone. The author argues that the most successful method of fostering a global political climate amenable to practical regulation of TNCs is to attend closely to their adherence to such regulation as currently exists. She also explores the roles of citizen groups, national governments and international agencies.Amory Starr: Naming the Enemy: Anti-Corporate Social Movements Confront Globalization, London: Zed Books, 2000.
A systematic survey and analysis of the social movements that oppose the way in which multinational corporations exploit the legal mechanisms of globalisation to the detriment of human rights and national sovereignty. The author suggests a three-part typology of these movements: those that use existing democratic institutions, state structures and direct action to constrain corporate power; those that build new transnational democratic frameworks for a more populist and participatory approach to social justice; and those seeking to de-link communities from the global system in favour of small-scale local economies.Henk Thomas (ed.): Globalisation and Third World Trade Unions, London: Zed Books, 1995.
Addressing the crisis in which the Southern organised labour movement has found itself, the author finds that as a result of globalisation, and transnational corporate management strategies, trade union membership has been eroded, and labour is increasingly casualised. Structural adjustment has reduced the ability of the state to intervene in labour issues, just as the informal sector grows in importaance, and many women, often unorganised, enter the workforce. This book examines these challenges in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and considers some potential strategies trade unions might use to protect standards of living and labour rights in the South.UNESCO World Communication and Information Report 1999-2000, UNESCO Publishing, Paris, 1999.
This report offers an overview of the development of information and communication technologies and their socio-cultural impacts, particularly on human development and on the role of government. Freedom of the media, the role of public service broadcasting, editorial independence, the use of the Internet in education, cultural pluralism, worldwide access to information resources, challenges to intellectual property, and censorship on the Internet are discussed by eminent specialists from all origins. Regional chapters examine to which extent telecommunications, computers, and the Internet reach developed and developing countries, urban and rural areas, literate and illiterate, the rich and the poor.Jim Walch: In the Net: A Guide for Activists, London: Zed Books, 1999.
Written for activists, this book is a practical guide to progressive uses of information and communication technology for social and political change. However, it also gives an overview of the history of the Internet, in particular the way computer networking has moved from being an exclusive instrument of state and business, to being a tool for global humanisation. The argument is supported by case studies from a variety of political and social contexts worldwide.Lawrence Marshall Wallack et al: News for a Change: An Advocates Guide to Working with the Media, London: Sage, 1999.
Written by seasoned activists with long experience of media advocacy, this guide provides step-by-step instructions for working strategically with the media to promote social change. It includes sections on using advertising as well as the more obvious avenue of news media and internet channels, to achieve visibility, gather support, and challenge established positions. There is also advice on how to evaluate media work.Thomas G. Weiss and Leon Gordenker (eds.): NGOs, the UN, and Global Governance,
Boulder CO: Lynne Rienner, 1996.
Based on a special issue of Third World Quarterly, this book discusses the implications of the NGO phenomenon particularly the growing influence of transnational NGOs in promoting a principle of decentralised, collaborative global governance. Contributions examine a range of NGO activities and relationships, including NGO interaction with the UN on issues such as the environment, HIV/AIDS, and the international womens movement. The conclusion is that the UN--NGO relationship is characterised by ambiguity: issues of accountability became more urgent as NGOs become more influential, yet continued NGO pressure and scrutiny is needed to ensure that the UN's rhetoric of transparency and participation is put into practice.Peter Willetts (ed.): The Conscience of the World: The Influence of Non-Governmental Organisations in the UN System, London: Hurst, 1996.
Taking a deliberately broad definition of NGOs, this book aims to trace the history of their growing involvement with the UN, and the development of transnational NGO advocacy networks. There are portraits of NGO relations with various UN agencies, especially with relation to human rights and the environment, with chapters written by staff of Amnesty International and Save the Children. The conclusion, which may sound slightly dated today, is upbeat about the growing potential for NGO influence at the UN.Anne Winter: Is Anyone Listening? Communicating Development in Donor Countries, Geneva: UN NGLS, 1996.
Drawing on a series of consultations on communication for development, the author focuses on how communicators might help to formulate new and more nuanced understandings of development and gain broad public support for an international agenda of support for and solidarity with people living in poverty. She examines the phenomenon of donor fatigue, but finds that the general public is rightly sceptical about the relationship between aid and development, weary of being patronised by aid agencies who over-simplify the issues in order to raise funds ($16 will save a child. Its so simple., Help agency X save 6000 lives a day), and confused by limited and generally negative coverage of poverty-related issues in the mass media.World Vision has produced a number of thought-provoking titles on NGO advocacy, in addition to its own position papers. See, in particular, the multi-authored African Voices on Advocacy and Transnational NGOs and Advocacy, (Discussion Papers 4 and 5), both published by World Vision UK in 1997.
Journals
(Few journals are dedicated to this subject; see author entries for individual articles.)
Development in Practice: published five times a year by Carfax, Taylor & Francis on behalf of Oxfam GB. ISSN; 0961-4524. Editor: Deborah Eade.
A multi-disciplinary journal of practice-based analysis and research concerning the social dimensions of development and humanitarianism, which acts as a forum for debate and the exchange of ideas among practitioners, policy makers, and academics worldwide. The journal seeks to challenge current assumptions, stimulate new thinking, and shape future ways of working. Contents reflect a wide range of institutional and cultural backgrounds and a variety of professional experience. Other relevant titles in the Development in Practice Readers series include: Development and Social Action and Development, NGOs, and Civil Society. Web: www.developmentinpractice.org.The Ecologist: published monthly. Editor: Zac Goldsmith.
The worlds longest running environmental magazine, The Ecologist covers a broad range of both topical and broader debates, such as the implications of globalisation for employment, health, and the environment; farming, and ecological protests of all kinds. The website has details of related campaigns events around the world.Global Networks: published quarterly by Blackwell. ISSN: 1470-2266. Editor: Alisdair Rogers.
This new journal (launched in January 2001) approaches transnationalism and globalisation from a social scientific perspective. It looks at cultural, economic, and political networks with bases in international business, family relationships, or social organisations, and considers how these new forms of transnational association can enable the imagination and construction of innovative forms of human solidarity and citizenship, which can include resistance and alternatives to the prevailing model of globalisation.The International Journal of Childrens Rights: published quarterly by Kluwer, ISSN: 0927-5568. Editor: Michael Freeman.
Edited by lawyers, this journal provides an explicitly interdisciplinary look at the policy and practice of furthering childrens right in all parts of the world. Recent issues have included papers on relevant UN conventions, labour issues, and religion.Gazette: The International Journal for Communication Studies: published six times a year by Sage. ISSN: 0016-5492. Editor: Cees J. Hamelink.
Publishing articles on the full range of communications and technology issues, the journal focuses on the role of communication in world politics and world trade, and the relationship between communication and development processes. As well as covering more theoretical fields, it explores the legal, social, and ethical implications of new communications technologies, and in particular the implications of international human rights standards for communications policy and planning.New Internationalist: published monthly.
Edited on a rotation basis by members of the NI cooperative, each issue takes a theme relating to an aspect of poverty and social injustice, with impressive lists of action groups campaigning on the issues covered. Recent topics include: global governance, fair trade, torture, and sustainability. The website has some useful human search engines, allowing searches by theme, author, or date. The entire magazine, plus back issues, is available online.Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly: published quarterly by Sage, ISSN: 0899-7640. Editor: Steve Rathgeb Smith.
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The journal publishes articles that report on research on voluntarism, citizen participation, philanthropy, civil society, and nonprofit organisations.
Organisations
Amnesty International is a worldwide campaigning movement that works to promote all the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and other international standards. In particular, AI campaigns to free all prisoners of conscience; ensure fair and prompt trials for political prisoners; abolish the death penalty, torture and other cruel treatment of prisoners; end political killings and 'disappearances'; and oppose human rights abuses by opposition groups. With around on million members and supporters in 162 countries and territories, AI is possibly the world's largest organisation that advocates on behalf of others. Activities range from public demonstrations to letter-writing, from human rights education to fundraising concerts, from appeals on particular cases to topic-based global campaigns. It is financed largely by subscriptions and donations from its members.
Association for Progressive Communication is a global network of NGOs whose mission is to empower and support organisations, social movements, and individuals in and through the use of information and communication technologies to build strategic communities and initiatives in order to contribute to equitable human development, social justice, participatory political processes, and environmental sustainability. APC advocates for and facilitates the use of information and communications technologies (ICTs) by civil society, defends and promotes non-commercial online space for NGOs, and seeks to ensure that these concerns inform telecommunications, donor, and investment policies. The APC Toolkit Project: Online Publishing and Collaboration is developing and adapting software tools to meet the unique needs of activists and non-profits, in order to make it easier and more affordable for them to run online campaigns, publicise their events, and work together over the Internet. Contact details: APC Secretariat, Presidio Building 1012, Torney Avenue PO Box 29904, San Francisco CA 94129, USA. E-mail: <apcadmin@apc.org>; Web (in English and Spanish): www.apc.org
The Bretton Woods Project circulates information, undertakes research, and monitors and advocates for change in the Bretton Woods institutions. Issues addressed include structural adjustment programmes, conditionality, and controversial large projects. Its bulletin, Bretton Woods Update, is available in print, e-mail, and web versions. New leaf or fig leaf? The challenge of the new Washington Consensus (2000), by Brendan Martin, was co-published with Public Services International (PSI). E-mail: info@brettonwoodsproject.org. Web: www.brettonwoodsproject.org
Catholic Institute for International Relations (CIIR) is a UK-based agency with current advocacy programmes on civil society, advocacy and trade, and social justice and human security. CIIR has been a long-term supporter of the struggle for freedom from oppression in East Timor, and has published widely on the topic. Relevant publications include: Stephen Baranyi, Making Solidarity Effective: Northern Voluntary Organisations, Political Advocacy and the Promotion of Peace in Angola and East Timor (1997) and Rolando Modina, Democratising Development: Civil society Advocacy in South East Asia (2000). Contact details: Unit 3 Canonbury Yard, 190a New North Road, London N1 7BJ, UK. E-mail: <ciir@ciir.org>; Web: www.ciir.org/
El Comité de América Latina y el Caribe para la Defensa de los Derechos de la Mujer (CLADEM) is a womens rights network made up of individuals and womens organisations throughout the subcontinent. Believing in the importance of legal frameworks, it undertakes and encourages a wide range of initiatives in order to defend and promote womens rights: legislative reform, legal casework, training, university teaching, publications, and solidarity work. In order to avoid a centralised or hierarchical structure, CLADEM is made up of semi-autonomous national chapters; its coordinating committee is currently based in Argentina. Web: www.eurosur.org/CLADEM/
Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) is a network of women scholars and activists from the economic South who engage in feminist research and analysis of the global environment and are committed to working for economic justice, gender justice, and democracy. DAWNs global advocacy is aimed at influencing mainstream development thinking and policy, securing the gains made at UN conferences, working for greater accountability and radical restructuring of international financial institutions, and mainstreaming gender analysis in development organisations. This work includes disseminating new analyses, engaging in key global processes, participating in selected institutional reform initiatives, working with like-minded feminist and development organisations and networks, and engaging with global civil society and social movements. Contact details: Claire Slatter, DAWN Secretariat, The University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji. Email:<>; Web: www.dawn.org
The Development Group for Alternative Policies (Development GAP) aims to assist Southern organisations to engage fully with international development policy debates, and to ensure Southern concerns and opinions inform decisions made in the North about global economic and environmental issues. It also helps to develop NGO coalitions in the North which can work in partnership with and on behalf of Southern counterparts on economic and environmental issues. Its analysis and advocacy centre in Washington helps to develop development alternatives, and to encourage and support Northern policy makers with an interest in promoting economic development rooted in local realities and priorities. Contact details: 927 Fifteenth Street NW, 4th Floor, Three McPherson Square, Washington DC 20005, USA. E-mail: <dgap@developmentgap.org>; Web: www.developmentgap.org.
Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy (IFDP): IFDP, better known as FoodFirst, is a member-supported, non-profit think tank and education-for-action centre. Its work highlights root causes and value-based solutions to hunger and poverty. Regarding food as a fundamental human right, FoodFirst produces books, reports, articles, films, electronic media, and curricula, plus interviews, lectures, workshops and academic courses for the public, policy makers, activists, the media, students, educators, and researchers. FoodFirst was founded in 1975 by Frances Moore Lappé and Joseph Collins, following the international success of their book, Diet For a Small Planet. The FoodFirst Information and Action Network (FIAN) is the action and campaigning partner of the Institute. Contact details: 398 60th Street, Oakland, CA 94608 USA. Email: foodfirst@foodfirst.org. Web: www.foodfirst.org/
Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) is a broad-based coalition of organisations, individuals, and political bodies advocating debt relief, economic reform, and the adoption of a pro-poor development model in the Philippines. It does this by a combination of grassroots popular education and mobilisation, high-level lobbying, and well-focused research. FDC was launched in 1988, in the wake of the popular uprising that led to the overthrow of the Marcos dictatorship. It has since grown into an internationally respected voice on economic issues and is a model of how to develop an issue-based alliance. Contact details: 34 Matiaga Street, Central District, Quezon City, Philippines. Email <mail@fdc.org.ph>.
Global Policy Network links policy and research institutions connected to trade union movements worldwide. Its members feel that the neo-liberal policy regime being pursued by international and national institutions fails the test of social legitimisation, and protects the interests of multinational investors while undercutting the living standards and bargaining power of workers. The Network aims to foster international solidarity and share research and ideas on the common challenges of globalisation. It plans to facilitate regular conferences, workshops, and exchanges between member institutions, thus creating the basis for collaborative research projects. Web: www.globalpolicynetwork.org/
Greenpeace is an international environmental campaigning organisation with a strong local presence, which combines high-level lobbying with headline-grabbing direct action. The central website includes the opportunity to join more than 7000 existing cyberactivists through the sites chat rooms, and there are plans to establish more focused action groups, which would also act as a self-categorising directory of members. This site provides access to all national Greenpeace offices, all of which have their own websites. International office: Keizersgracht 176, 1016 DW Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Web: www.greenpeace.org
Habitat International Coalition is an international alliance of 350 CSOs and NGOs from 70 countries working primarily on housing rights, forced evictions, and human settlements, and concentrating on the recognition, defence, and realisation of the human right to adequate housing. Its three committees work at various levels through training, alliance-building, using the UN system, and research: the Housing and Land Rights Committee (India), the Women and Shelter Network (Tanzania), and the Housing and Environment Committee (Senegal). E-mail: <hic@mweb.co.za>.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is dedicated to protecting the human rights of all, standing with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice. Its extensive network of expert staff and local collaborators investigate and expose human rights violations worldwide, basing their work on universal rights as embodied in international laws and treaties. Through its authoritative reports and influential press and advocacy work, HRW seeks to embarrass and challenge governments, multilateral bodies, and other powerful institutions to end abusive practices and respect international human rights law. In addition to reports and briefings, HRW produces an overview of human rights abuses in its annual world report. HWR was founded in 1978 as Helsinki Watch (now Human Rights Watch/Helsinki) and is now the largest US-based human rights organisation. It has four offices in the USA as well as representation in Brussels and London. Its excellent website contains information in Arabic, French, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Contact details: 1630 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 500,Washington, DC 20009, USA. Web: www. hrw.org
Institute for Development Research (IDR) is a nonprofit research, education, and consulting organisation dedicated to increasing the capacity of civil society groups to advance just and sustainable development. IDR believes that new knowledge should directly affect practice as well as policy making and theory building, and dissemination is therefore integral to its work. A wide range of resources, from IDR Reports to practical guides and thematic collections are available in print form and on-line, free of charge. Relevant publications include: Darcy Ashman (2000) Strengthening North-South Partnerships: Addressing Structural Barriers to Mutual Influence; L. David Brown and Jonathan Fox (2000) Transnational Civil Society Coalitions and the World Bank: Lessons from Project and Policy Influence Campaigns; L. David Brown (1998) Social Learning in South-North Coalitions: Constructing Knowledge Systems Across Social Chasms; Harold Sibande (1996) NGO Influence on National Policy Formation in Zimbabwe; Jane G. Covey and L. David Brown (1994) Forming a Multi-National Development Coalition: Diversity and Oppression in Organizational Relations. Contact details: 44 Farnsworth Street, Boston MA 02210-1211, USA. Web: www.jsi.com/idr
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), an agency which can provide humanitarian assistance in situations of armed conflict because of its commitment to political neutrality, as well as the status accorded in the Geneva Conventions and Protocols, the ICRC might seem an unlikely candidate for inclusion in this bibliography. However, much of its work is indeed involved both in developing and promulgating international humanitarian law, and in the quiet diplomacy which allows it to work in highly charged situations. See S. Davey and J.L. Blondel (1999) The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movements involvement in public advocacy campaigns, International Review of the Red Cross, 81(833):149-181. Contact details: 19 avenue de la Paix, CH 1202 Genève, Switzerland. Web: www.icrc.org
International Federation for Alternative Trade (IFAT) is a global network of producers and 'alternative' trading organisations (ATOs) which aims to improve the livelihood and wellbeing of disadvantaged people in developing countries; and to change unfair structures of international trade. In IFAT, producers of handcrafts and food products from the South come together directly with buyers and managers of ATOs in a spirit of mutual trust. They cast aside the traditional trading system of intermediaries and create an 'alternative' way of doing business that is beneficial and fair. IFAT was formed in 1989 in response to the growing need to strengthen the ATOs to cooperate on an international level, to lobby on international issues, and to become more influential on the international stage. Two-thirds of its members are from the South, and its routine work is funded entirely through membership fees. Contact details: IFAT Secretariat, 30 Murdock Road, Bicester, Oxon, OX26 4RF, UK. Web: www.ifat.org/
Jubilee Plus is the successor to Jubilee 2000, the debt campaigning coalition, operating under the umbrella of the New Economics Foundation (see separate entry). It will continue to link with debt campaigners worldwide in order to sustain momentum in global popular campaigning and education while preparing to shift the campaign towards a focus on the causes of international debt. Jubilee Plus will continue Jubilee 2000s programme of analysis and research, and will add to existing capacity building work in the South the aim of embedding more elements of the core campaign in the South. Web: www.Jubileeplus.org
Oxfam International believes that the causes and effects of poverty require a global response and cannot be solved through project work alone. The OI Advocacy Office coordinates the development of joint strategies and policies for its 11 members and for partners in the South. Through targeting influential players in governments and institutions such as the World Bank, the IMF, and the UN, OI works to influence the policies which affect the lives of millions of poor people. This entails coordinated, simultaneous lobbying in the countries in which members are based, lobbying with Southern partner organisations, and direct lobbying of relevant institutions. Contact details: Suite 20, 266 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7DL, UK. Email:. Web: www.oxfaminternational.org
Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST) (Brazilian Landless Rural Workers' Movement) is the largest social movement in Latin America and one of the world's most successful grassroots movements. It grew out of direct action in the form of land takeovers by peasants and rural workers in Brazil, where landholding patterns are profoundly skewed. MST's success lies in its ability to organise, to articulate a socioeconomic development model that puts people before profits (for instance through organising food cooperatives and primary schools), and to capture the imagination of other farmers movements and activist groups worldwide. Though its members often face violent repression, MST has the support of an international network of human rights groups, religious organisations, and labour unions, and has received the Right Livelihood Award and an education award from UNICEF. MST is the Brazilian affiliate of La Via Campesina (www.agronor.org), a global peasant farmers network that campaigns internationally on food and land rights issues. MST has a multilingual website at: www.mst.org/
The New Economics Foundation (NEF) is a UK-based think tank, committed to advancing models of a new economy centred on people and the environment. NEF works to promote participatory democracy through training in the development of sustainability indicators, and has a long-standing interest in enhancing corporate accountability. Relevant publications include: Jennifer Chapman and Thomas Fisher (1999) Effective NGO Campaigning: A New Economics Foundation Briefing, and Jennifer Chapman and Thomas Fisher (1999) 'The thoughtful activist: a toolkit for enhancing NGO campaigning and advocacy(full text available online). Contact details: Web: www.neweconomics.org/
Self Employed Womens Association (SEWA): Registered in 1972 as a trade union for self-employed women workers, SEWA now has over 2 million members, in cooperatives, savings and credit schemes, and advocacy organisations. Its members are home-workers, manual workers and small business owners who are traditionally unprotected and unorganised. SEWA aims to improve its members bargaining power, and to encourage recognition of their economic and social contribution. As well as organising at the local level, SEWA runs public campaigns in support of its work. SEWA Reception Centre, Opp. Victoria Garden, Bhadra, Ahmedabad 380 001, India. E-mail : <mail@sewa.org>; Web: www.sewa.org.
Survival International supports the rights of tribal peoples worldwide and has supporters in 82 countries. Its combination of campaigning, education, and funding has helped to push these issues onto the mainstream political agenda. Campaigns are not only directed at governments, but at companies, banks, extremist missionaries, guerrilla armies, museums, narrow-minded conservationists, and anyone else who violates tribal peoples' rights. Advocacy work includes advising on the drafting of international law as well as informing people of their legal rights and about the situation of indigenous peoples elsewhere in the world. Educational programmes in the North promote respect for tribal cultures and explain the contemporary relevance of their way of life. Survival believes that public opinion is the most effective force for change and, if mobilised, will eventually make it impossible for governments and companies to oppress tribal peoples. Contact details: Survival International UK, 11-15 Emerald Street, London WC1N 3QL, UK. Web: www.survival.org/
The Third World Network (TWN) is an international network of organisations and individuals involved in questions relating to development, the Third World, and North--South issues. Its conducts research on economic, social, and environmental issues pertaining to the South; publishes books and magazines; organises and participates in seminars; and provides a broad platform for Southern interests and perspectives at international forums. Publications include the daily bulletin SUNS (South--North Development Monitor), the fortnightly Third World Economics, and the monthly Third World Resurgence. TWN is a member of the World Bank--NGO Committee and collaborates with the South Centre in Geneva. TWN's international secretariat is based in Malaysia, with regional offices in Latin America and Africa. Contact details: 228 Macalister Road 10400 Penang, Malaysia. Email: twn@igc.apc.org. Web: http://www.twnside.org.sg
The Transnational Institute is an independent fellowship of researchers and activists worldwide who work on major issues of poverty and injustice focusing especially on the global economy, peace and security, and democratisation. TNI undertakes advocacy work on behalf of Southern associates among Northern policy makers. The website includes an extensive archive of materials produced by fellows, as well as details of formal publications.
Contact details: Paulus Potterstraat 20, 1071 DA Amsterdam, The Netherlands. E-mail: <tni@tni.org>; Web: www.tni.org.
