Advocacy in Cambodia: Increasing Democratic ... - Pact Cambodia

Increasing Democratic Space
Labor Code, an exposure trip to other countries
with Labor Codes based on international best
practices helped to improve relations. Advocates
for the Commune Council Election Law suggest
that exposure trips helped make NEC
representatives more open-minded when they
received requests from the EMOs.
Including Authorities from the Start
Another strategy to raise concern among
communities and local authorities is to make
awareness raising activities part of a series of
activities. LICADHO’s Child Labor program in
Siem Reap starts with workshops at various levels
(provincial and district authorities, departments,
parents, and children). Participants were invited
to attend a series of three or four workshops, and
then asked to send two representatives from the
workshops to attend a monthly meeting.
LICADHO’s strategy to generate concern about a
situation has succeeded and participants in the
monthly meetings (including department officials)
have initiated action when cases of child labor
abuse have been brought to their attention. Part
of the success of the program is attributed to the
identification of community members who
demonstrated concern about child labor and took
action on their own initiative prior to the
LICADHO workshops.
Lobbying
Lobbying is the act of having direct contact
with government officials to convince them to
represent advocacy campaign concerns within
government. To accomplish this, in addition to
workshops and conferences, advocates meet
directly with lawmakers and other government
officials. Meetings can be set up formally through
their offices but most often they are done
informally through personal diplomacy. As this
type of activity is fairly high level, lobbyists must
have a certain amount of status or legitimacy in
order to be able to access lawmakers. They must
also have strong networking capacity and many
contacts. One of the challenges experienced by
young Cambodian professionals is difficulty in
breaking into high circles for lobbying purposes.
Advocates have found that while government
officials are privately willing to express their views
and even support arguments presented by
advocates, this does not usually translate into
support for a cause when they are in public. Such
was the case during the Commune Council
Election Law campaign. Lobbyists have to
recognize that most mid-level lawmakers are
hesitant to advocate for certain issues due to fear
of more powerful counterparts in the government.
Even when government officials indicate that they
are willing to hear recommendations, advocates
in Cambodia are careful to avoid submitting these
too openly, lest the officials feel they lose face.
As lobbying Cambodian government officials
has had a limited effect in the past, NGO leaders
tend to focus lobbying efforts on foreign embassies
and bilateral agencies, both in the country and
abroad. Their purpose is to appeal to these
agencies to act as intermediaries for them, and the
reality is that at present that this type of lobbying
tends to yield better results. Critics of the use of
lobbying as a means to influence policy believe that
this is not a long-term solution. In their view
advocates may be relying too heavily on this type
of lobbying. In contrast, others suggest that
lobbying that convinces some donors to
incorporate fund conditionality opens the door for
local activists to engage with policy makers and
provides a protective environment for advocacy
to grow.
Networking
Working within a network of organizations
interested in the same advocacy issue presents
another important strategy that can create broadbased
support for an issue and legitimize an
advocacy campaign. By working together through
networks, NGOs gain greater legitimacy with their
advocacy audience. This strategy is well known to
international organizations that formed networks
early on when they began to work in Cambodia –
thus was created the CCC, MEDICAM, and the
NGO Forum on Cambodia. These membership
associations facilitate communication and the flow
of information between government and NGOs.
Since the mid-1990s, the proportion of local NGOs
represented in these membership organizations
has been steadily increasing.
The existence and coordination of networks
within a sector is a good indication of the strength
of that sector. Most sectors have at least one
network and some of the broader sectors have
more than one. While some sectors have strong
coordination, such as the fisheries sector, others
are more loosely organized, such as the women’s
sector. Networks at the provincial levels tend to
be better organized and coordinated. Provincial
NGOs rely on these networks for information and
protection gained from being part of a larger
organized campaign. The four advocacy networks
organized by Star Kampuchea provide a venue for
NGOs from various sectors to come together to
address advocacy issues. As networks represent
an important aspect of advocacy capacity, they are
discussed in greater detail in the section on impact.
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