What is Advocacy

The word advocacy has its origins in law and is defined by most dictionaries as the process of ‘speaking on behalf of someone’. Today, it has evolved to include work undertaken by development agencies, civil society groups and individuals to bring about change.

Advocacy in this context encompasses a range of activities, all focusing on a process of change. This change may be in policies and laws themselves, in the implementation of these policies, or even in people’s awareness of the policies and their own rights. It therefore encompasses working for change in any of the following areas:

Who makes the decisions: participation of civil society, representation of community

What is decided: legislation, policies, budgets, programmes, practices

How it is decided: accountability and transparency; participation of local communities to be affected

How it is enforced or implemented: accountability, awareness raising (source: Veneklasen, 1997).

In the human rights context, national and international civil society movements have used human rights treaties to:

• lobby states to sign and ratify these instruments
• lobby for national legislation consistent with international state obligations
• highlight state practices that are inconsistent with their international obligations, especially in regard to denial and abuse of human rights, in order to bring international and national public opinion to bear upon offending States Parties
• analyse existing policies and/or develop alternative ones
• empower communities to seek enjoyment of their human rights.