• Topic: Advocacy
• Article on Advocacy

Kenya. In Kenya the Youth Initiatives Project developed an advocacy strategy to reach policy-makers and community decision makers after a study found that many leaders did not believe in or support programs and organizations to help youth. The advocacy campaign was intended to show leaders that providing youth with health care information and services could address many of their reproductive health concerns.

The first step was to analyze government policies and legislation toward youth and to interview over 100 political and community leaders. The project trained over 40 advocates from districts throughout Kenya in how to reach leaders in their area. Following training, these advocates held public meetings with community groups, distributed an information kit to selected leaders, and discussed with them the need for more focus on youth. Following the campaign over 80% of district development committees, parents, church groups, and social workers approved of measures to address adolescent reproductive health (110).

Turkey. In Turkey, to promote equality for women, 17 women's organizations developed an advocacy strategy based on networks of supporters and collaboration among organizations. By joining together and adopting a common goal and theme, the organizations had far more influence on policy-makers than if each had made a case separately. As a coalition, they were able to obtain new government funding for contraceptive supplies, which helped compensate for a reduction in funding from the United States Agency for International Development (107).

The Philippines. In 1995, when religious groups publicly attacked family planning as "anti-child, anti-family, and anti-life," the Family Planning Organization of the Philippines (FPOP) developed an advocacy strategy to refute their criticism. The strategy focused on providing persuasive information about how family planning benefits children and families, demonstrating that in fact, family planning is "pro-child, pro-family and pro-life."

In public messages the FPOP also stressed the key role that family planning programs play in increasing reproductive choices for couples and improving their reproductive health. In addition, the FPOP persuaded President Fidel Ramos to declare his full support for family planning (143).

Bolivia. In 1991 a coalition of Bolivian family planning organizations developed an advocacy strategy that focused on the family health benefits of family planning. The goal was to make the topic of family planning less taboo and to encourage public discussion. Campaign messages emphasized family planning as part of a larger reproductive health agenda and highlighted the need to achieve goals related to safe motherhood and women's health (111).

The Bolivian campaign organizers obtained endorsements from President Sanchez de Lozada, Vice President Victor Hugo de Cardenas, and their wives, who stressed how family planning benefits mothers and their children.

Jordan. As part of an advocacy campaign to increase men's approval of modern contraception, the Jordan National Population Commission focused on male religious leaders, physicians, social workers, and other community opinion leaders.

The campaign particularly sought to increase religious leaders' approval of contraception because their approval would strongly influence Jordanian men. To win their support, the commission sponsored community meetings, providing information about family planning and assuring the religious leaders that contraceptive use is safe and effective and in concordance with Islam. The meetings succeeded in motivating the leaders to discuss family health issues with their wives and to use health services. Participants agreed to return to their communities as advocates for family planning—creating a ripple effect that could reach as many as 50,000 people (112).

Guides to Advocacy

• International Planned Parenthood Federation, Advocacy Guide (106);
• Academy for Educational Development, An Introduction to Advocacy: Training Guide (205);
• Johns Hopkins Population Communication Services, "A" Frame for Advocacy (114);
• The POLICY Project, Networking for Policy Change: An Advocacy Training Manual (178).