Advocacy Capacity

As a self-sustainability strategy, some development initiatives try to exert influence on the institutions, laws and public policies that may impact their ability to solve problems. 

Several initiatives have found that advocating for certain public budgets, laws or public policies can bring about more favorable conditions for their self-sustainability and help them solve the root causes of the problems they target. In addition, political support often comes with opportunities, spaces, permits, money, partnerships and other resources that allow an initiative to negotiate its interests and needs on more equitable grounds. 

To improve their advocacy capacity, initiatives use different strategies to inform, educate and raise awareness among the general public – and especially among decision-makers– about the problems they are targeting and the concrete ways in which these could be addressed. Some, for instance, go on TV or social media to discuss their work, while others publish research or reports. Others ask celebrities to talk about the initiative’s issues and proposals and encourage all kinds of support, including political –sometimes making the most of platforms such as sporting events or concerts, for instance. Still others organize workshops, exhibitions or conferences. In these ways, different projects can transform society’s perspectives, emotions and opinions and encourage everyone’s engagement.

In these education and awareness raising efforts, many initiatives take special care to clearly and transparently communicate their objectives, processes, experience and resource management and allocation, as well as the proven results of their proposals in terms of achieving comprehensive and relevant interventions for all, i.e., sustainable interventions. This fosters widespread trust and support, which encourages decision-makers to consider their views, diagnoses and work proposals when allocating budgets or designing or amending laws and public policies.