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

livelihood of populations, including access to
livelihood assets, resources, market competition
factors, and trade policies. Social issues include
health, education, the environment, and concern
for improving the lot of disadvantaged or
marginalized groups. Social issues also include the
values that provide the foundation for the
economic and political context. At times there is
overlap between these categories.
Characteristics of Advocacy Campaigns
Advocacy campaigns are characterized in a
number of ways. The case studies included in this
report are presented by sectors, some of which are
limited to very specific issues related to a
occupational group, such as fisheries. Others are
broad, such as the women’s movement, and
contain a number of advocacy issues within them.
Advocacy can be organized on behalf of
people – individuals, interest groups, or larger
populations – or for things, such as the
preservation of a temple or to prevent the
extinction of a plant or animal. Advocacy for an
individual could include lobbying to obtain the
release of a prisoner. Examples of advocacy for
interest groups include lobbying for policies that
allow the disabled to participate more actively in
society or asserting the rights of minority groups.
The HIV/AIDS case study in this report describes
how advocates are lobbying for greater
participation of people living with AIDS in setting
national HIV/AIDS policies. On a much larger
scale, the Commune Council Elections Law
campaign is an example of lobbying for something
that will affect the general population of
Cambodia.
In Cambodia, advocacy can take place at the
village, commune, district, provincial, national,
regional, and international levels. Advocating in a
forum like ASEAN against the trafficking of
Garment workers demonstrate in front of
the Council of Ministers demanding that
factory owners be made to respect the
Labor Law and improve working conditions,
February 2, 2000.
Basic Advocacy Steps
1. The first step in designing and implementing an
advocacy campaign is to analyze the problem and set
reasonable objectives. Advocates then need to identify
the target audience. Who are the decision-makers and
who can influence those decision-makers? It is possible
to make mistakes in this analysis that will set back the
advocacy campaign. For example, advocates may neglect
to lobby an important decision-maker or begin to lobby
the wrong government department or ministry before
government responsibility for a particular policy is
established.
2. Once the appropriate decision-makers have been
identified, it is important to assess the human, financial,
and other resources that can be placed at the disposal of
the advocacy campaign. Advocacy will often require
seconding staff from different organizations to work on
the campaign and even gettiing the support of volunteers
who believe in the cause.
3. When objectives and resources have been identified,
it is then possible to set out the specifics of the campaign
and move ahead with activities.
4. While evaluating the impact of advocacy activities may
be difficult, it is possible to review a campaign at regular
intervals to evaluate how well resources were used and
extract lessons learned for the future.
5. Modifying tactics in response to challenges
encountered is an important step in an advocacy
campaign.
women is an example of regional lobbying and
advocating against the production and sale of
landmines is an example of a global advocacy
campaign that involves Cambodia.
The degree to which an existing situation
affects people’s wellbeing influences the nature of
the advocacy response. When an issue only
marginally affects the immediate wellbeing of
people or is nascent, advocacy campaigns will rely
less on conflict and more on pressure and
influence from stakeholders directly affected by
the issues and their supporters. It will be localized
and take place with stakeholders who are familiar
with each other. One example is when
communities submitted petitions to local
authorities to stop fishing violations at the
beginning of the fisheries conflict.
When the livelihoods of groups continue to
be threatened or there is no conflict resolution,
advocacy leads to higher levels of conflict
strategies such as demonstrations, strikes, and
marches. Examples include when rural
Increasing Democratic Space
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