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

example, long-term strategies with immediate
needs of the people, and how to understand what
the role of development workers should be when
villagers resort to direct action. A special concern
for proponents of direct action is that wellintentioned
but inexperienced NGO workers can
block direct action as a means of controlling the
situation.
Coordination and Networking
Initially there was a lack of coordination
among groups working on fisheries. A number of
public forums were independently organized by
various groups or networks in the provinces
around the topic of fisheries. While uncoordinated
activities may help raise general public awareness
about an issue, there is also a risk of duplicating
efforts and diluting the effect of the forums
through overexposure. Later in the process
however, organizations and networks did begin
identifying specific areas where they would work
together and coordination improved.
Networks are becoming strong at both the
national and provincial levels, and in particular in
provinces that have the most fisheries disputes,
i.e. Kompong Thom and Battambang. At the
national level, FACT conducts regular monthly
meetings, organizes public forums, and supports
two monthly meetings with province-based NGOs.
Planned activities include publication of a fisheries
bulletin.
Lessons Learned
Dual Approach to Lobbying
Fisheries advocacy in Cambodia presents an
interesting case because NGOs have used a dual
approach to working with the authorities. On the
one hand, as an extension of their work on land
issues, the Oxfam agencies have supported DoF
workshops and occasional studies. This has
enabled Oxfam to maintain an open channel of
communication with the government, facilitating
the flow of information and concerns in both
directions. Conversely, members of the NGO
Forum and FACT fisheries networks have engaged
with the Department in the consultation process
while maintaining their independence. Although,
as mentioned earlier, the process has not always
been smooth, NGOs believe that it has been a
fruitful collaboration because NGOs and
community representatives have been able to
express their views on various policies and obtain
a degree of compromise. Likewise the Department
has gained experience in dealing with NGOs and
has gained confidence about what to expect in
future consultative processes.
When analyzing advocacy, it is important to
identify which approach a particular NGO has
adopted in order to understand what strategies
they might be willing to engage in. NGOs that work
closely with the government for example, do so
because they expect the government to change.
Naturally this form of engagement precludes them
then from adopting conflict strategies that would
undermine their efforts to develop good relations
with the government.
Use of Media
In this campaign fisheries advocates courted
the press by inviting reporters from English and
Khmer language newspapers on field trips to
fishery conflict areas so that they could learn about
the topic in depth. As they take several days, the
field trips also offered an opportunity for NGO
staff to build relations with journalists. After the
field visits, advocates followed up by distributing
reports to journalists and sending them regular
updates. The field trips proved more difficult for
foreign correspondents than local correspondents,
as the conditions were hard for some foreign
reporters.
Other lessons learned from the fisheries advocacy
experience in Cambodia include:
Case Studies
• Case studies need to identify legal articles that are being violated, building an argument for change/
enforcement.
• Reports should always be made available in Khmer.
• At the legislative level, advocates need to stay one step ahead of the draft law.
• Advocates should lobby donors to raise issues with high officials on behalf of the campaign.
• Advocates must understand the legislative process and follow the campaign through to the implementation
stage.
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