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Social Change via Communication

Finding a winning and doable equation:

BCC + Advocacy + Social Mobilization + Education

Advocacy to Achieve Social Change

Differences [and complementarities] with the Communication for Social Change framework:

Advocacy: a programme vehicle to achieve social change and to contribute towards meeting the goals of the ICPD

Its overall purpose is to bring about an improved environment for sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender equity and sustainable population and development programmes.

What is advocacy communication?

Advocacy involves attempts to influence the political climate, policy and programme decisions, public perceptions of social norms, funding determinations, and community support towards specific issues, through a set of well planned and organised actions that are undertaken by a group of committed individuals and/or organisations working in concert.

Advocacy as a key programme area

Advocacy is a relatively new programme area for most country offices and national partners, and there are differences of interpretations.

What advocacy actions consist of is not always clear at programme level

Can be interpreted as:

Evaluation Challenge 1

To measure advocacy impact, there is a need to clarify what kind of social change we are aiming at and what aspects of social change can be achieved via advocacy communication interventions

Place of Advocacy in the BCC model

In the diffusion-based BCC model, advocacy as the ultimate step in the process of behaviour change. It is the final stage where the individual becomes an advocate that is needed for social mobilisation.

Adapted from Piotrow et al., JHU/CCP, 1997

For RH clients, speaking out in favour of condom use or VCT or access to quality treatment would validate their choices and sustains their commitment. As more and more people speak up, their behaviour becomes the community's social norm. Healthy behaviour becomes not just accepted but also expected.

Advocacy and/or Behaviour Change?

For instance, still some confusion between behaviour change communication at individual level, in service and school settings, and advocacy.

Some communication programmes assume that individuals have complete control over their risk factors and they ignore contextual or environmental factors over which people have no control.

Importance of contextual factors in HIV/AIDS prevention

This is true for instance for condom use and abstinence among young people and for women who often cannot negotiate sexual relationships

This is also true of gender-based violence and other harmful practices where much depends on men's socialization and circumstances that affect their perceptions of what constitutes masculinity [what Herdt calls a “sexual culture milieu”] and women' s access to safety nets

Evaluation Challenge 2

What constitutes such an enabling environment and how much can be changed through advocacy is often not explicated.

E.g., Advocacy often tends to focus on the policy and/or resource elements of the environment.

Which environment?

UNAIDS framework of the environment :

5 key contextual domains outside the control of individuals, that have a significant influence on HIV/AIDS-related health behaviours.

UNFPA's four contextual domains that affect the population, RH and Gender practices of individuals and organisations:

Operationalizing the framework?…

We have defined the environment….

So what for communicators????

Two-way relation between advocacy and the environment

A common assessment framework is needed to evaluate advocacy projects.

Searching for a framework to:

5 Result Domains of Advocacy

Synergy between different result areas

Can choose to work on all these result areas or components simultaneously or selectively

These results areas should not be viewed in isolation from each other.

Framework for Operationalizing Advocacy

Exploring the set of arrows that link activities to outputs in results-based programming.

A participatory approach to design of strategies (Aspen Institute)

Reflecting on interventions

Thinking about change can/should be participatory

Allows to surface and negotiate the set of assumptions and to map out the pathways to change

Other challenges and complexities of monitoring and evaluating advocacy work

What does this have to do with HIV/AIDS? Good advocacy process indicators needed

Beyond policy change: policy implementation for access to reproductive health services, economic empowerment; and

Beyond consensus building: community empowerment to change harmful norms such as GBV, double standards for women and young people sexuality, and stigmatization of PLWAs

Measuring the advocacy skills of civil society organizations

Creating positive cultural milieu such as supportive networks for young people

Partnering with men as policy-makers, community leaders, sexual partners and RH clients.

Acknowledging conflict of interests [men accepting to release power and benefits; negative attitudes of providers; property rights; resistance to the language of rights]