Improving the Impact of Advocacy Initiatives in Uganda

215 Pages·2008·1.66 MB·English

Improving the Impact of
Advocacy Initiatives in
Uganda
A summary of approaches developed and shared with civil
society organisations in Uganda as part of the technical
support provided to organisations funded by DFID's Civil
Society Umbrella Programme
(2005 -2008)
February 2008
Funded by:
CONSULTING
Contents

Foreword ................................................................................ iv
Acknowledgements ....................................................................... v
Abbreviations and Acronyms....................................................... vii
Chapter 1 Background and how to use this book.......................1
Chapter 2 Introducing Rights-Based Approaches......................3
2.1 Understanding rights-based Approaches.........................................3
2.2 Why are rights-based approaches relevant?....................................4
2.3 Rights-based programming: what is the difference? .........................6
2.4 Understanding the culture of rights in your context..........................8
2.5 Situation analysis........................................................................9
2.6 Setting priority interventions.......................................................12
2.7 Implementation ........................................................................13
2.8 How do you know it makes a difference? ......................................14
2.9 Conclusion in relation to rights-based approaches..........................14
2.10 Further useful references............................................................15
Chapter 3 Organisational Assessment.....................................17
3.1 What is organisational assessment...............................................17
3.2 Why do organisations use organisational assessment?....................17
3.3 Models for understanding organisations........................................18
3.4 A rough guide to organisational assessment methods.....................23
3.5 Basic steps in organisational assessment......................................25
3.6 Choosing an organisational assessment method.............................31
3.7 Risks in organisational assessment ..............................................33
3.8 Is organisational assessment right for you?...................................34
3.9 Further useful references............................................................35
Chapter 4 Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation.......................36
4.1 What is Monitoring and Evaluation?..............................................36
4.2 What is the relationship between activities, outputs, outcomes and
impact? ...................................................................................37
4.3 What is meant by a performance monitoring system?.....................41
4.4 What is a monitoring framework?................................................41
4.5 When might it be appropriate to revise the original strategy?...........44
4.6 Monitoring advocacy - Where do we begin?...................................45
4.7 What kinds of outcomes and impact should we be looking for?.........48
4.8 How can we decide our intended outcome and impact indicators?.....50
4.9 How can we claim successful outcomes are due to our actions when
many other factors are involved?.................................................50
4.10 Further useful references............................................................50
Chapter 5 Managing an Advocacy Intervention.......................52
5.1 What is advocacy?.....................................................................52
5.2 Stakeholder analysis..................................................................54
5.3 Force-field analysis....................................................................57
5.4 Measuring your capacity to advocate............................................58
5.5 Designing an advocacy strategy in ten steps.................................60
5.6 Step One: Deciding on the right goal............................................60
5.7 Step Two: Deciding on the right audiences....................................61
5.8 Step Three: Deciding on the right evidence...................................62
5.9 Step Four: Deciding on the right communication objectives, right
messages and media.................................................................62
5.10 Step Five: Deciding on the right communicators............................63
5.11 Step Six: Deciding on the right timing..........................................63

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5.12 Step Seven: Deciding on the right partners and alliances................64
5.13 Step Eight: Deciding on the right planning and resources................64
5.14 Step Nine: Deciding on the right indicators and impact measures.....64
5.15 Step Ten: Right organisational framework.....................................65
5.16 Monitoring your advocacy activities and outcomes..........................65
5.17 Assessing impact.......................................................................66
5.18 Learning and sharing lessons......................................................67
5.19 Understanding attribution...........................................................67
5.20 Case Study – KRC’s advocacy engagement on water access ............69
5.21 Further useful references............................................................72
Chapter 6 Communications for Advocacy ................................75
6.1 Understanding communications as an advocacy tool.......................75
6.2 Communications Strategies ........................................................79
6.3 Who? - Target Audiences............................................................80
6.4 Why? - Communications Objectives .............................................83
6.5 What? – Messages.....................................................................84
6.6 How? - Communications Channels...............................................87
6.7 When? – Activity Planning ..........................................................89
6.8 Monitoring and Evaluating Communications...................................90
6.9 Lessons learned in communicating and packaging advocacy messages
..............................................................................................92
6.10 Further useful references............................................................94
Chapter 7 Policy Analysis........................................................96
7.1 Overview and Bardach’s Eight Steps ............................................96
7.2 Step One: Define the Problem.....................................................97
7.3 Step Two: Assemble some evidence...........................................101
7.4 Step Three: Construct Alternative Options ..................................105
7.5 Step Four: Select the success criteria.........................................106
7.6 Step Five: Projecting outcomes / impacts ...................................110
7.7 Step Six: analyse trade-offs......................................................115
7.8 Step Seven: decide what to recommend.....................................116
7.9 Step Eight: tell your story! .......................................................116
7.10 Detailed report guide for an 8-step analysis................................116
7.11 Case study – LEMU’s policy analysis and advocacy on customary land
tenure systems.......................................................................118
7.12 Conclusions in relation to policy analysis.....................................120
7.13 Further useful references..........................................................120
Chapter 8 Poverty and Policy Monitoring...............................122
8.1 Principles of poverty and policy monitoring..................................122
8.2 Practical tools in developing indicators and targets.......................125
8.3 Monitoring systems .................................................................127
8.4 Influencing poverty policies and their implementation...................129
8.5 Achieving Policy Change within the PEAP Framework....................139
8.6 Conclusions in relation to policy and poverty monitoring ...............139
8.7 Further useful references..........................................................140
Chapter 9 Policy Engagement and Lobbying in a Multi-Party
Dispensation.........................................................141
9.1 The Political Context................................................................141
9.2 Using tools to analyse the political context..................................143
9.3 Understanding Structures, Processes and Entry Points..................147
9.4 Legislative Processes and Entry Points........................................148
9.5 Executive Processes and Entry Points.........................................150
9.6 The Fundamentals of Lobbying and Influencing............................154
9.7 Case Study – Action Aid Advocacy on improving UPE enrolment.....161

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9.8 Conclusions in relation to policy engagement...............................165
9.9 Further useful references..........................................................166
Chapter 10 Building Strategic Alliances...................................167
10.1 What are strategic alliances?.....................................................167
10.2 Why do organisations need strategic allies?.................................168
10.3 Defining relationships: what are strategic alliances?.....................170
10.4 Accentuating the positive and facing the challenges......................170
10.5 The soft and hard art of building a successful alliance: The
organisational dimensions of success .........................................172
10.6 Step One: Deciding whether to form an alliance – what is its purpose?
............................................................................................173
10.7 Step Two: Developing a strategy for policy influencing..................174
10.8 Step Three: Recruiting the right members, skills and diversity.......175
10.9 Step Four: Working with shared principles on the common strategy178
10.10 Step Five: Becoming an agile alliance.........................................180
10.11 Step Six: Mobilising resources and working within your means.......181
10.12 Step Seven: Continuing to work together – what are the best
structures systems and methods?..............................................182
10.13 Checklist for building successful alliances....................................186
10.14 Case Study: KRC and UFFCA.....................................................187
10.15 Conclusions in relation to building strategic alliances....................189
10.16 Further useful references..........................................................190
Chapter 11 Conflict Resolution When Advocating for Policy
Change..................................................................191
11.1 How conflict can affect policy development..................................191
11.2 Conflict in policy development...................................................191
11.3 Conflict Analysis in Policy Monitoring..........................................194
11.4 Tools to analyse conflict situations.............................................195
11.5 Case study – KAUFO................................................................201
11.6 Case study - KRC....................................................................202
11.7 Case Study – KAUFO work on conflict in Katakwi District...............202
11.8 Further useful references..........................................................204

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Foreword

DFID Uganda has provided support for the civil society voice and
accountability work under its Civil Society Umbrella Programme (CSUP)
since 2000. The emphasis has been on building the capacity of civil
society to constructively and effectively engage with government to
ensure that the voices of the poor are reflected in public policy discussions
and in monitoring government performance on its pro-poor commitments.

Since 2005, DFID has worked with Triple Line and Aclaim Africa to support
28 Ugandan Civil Society Organisations to share experiences and learn
lessons. This book is the result of this work over three years.

The CSUP funding is no longer open to new applicants because all the
available funds under the programme have been committed as grants to
the 28 civil society organisations. DFID is in the process of developing a
follow-up programme with similar objectives to the CSUP. I hope that this
document will be useful to civil society organisations in Uganda and
elsewhere to enhance their ability to effectively engage with government
in ways that will increase government effectiveness in service delivery,
responding to the needs and aspirations of its citizens, and allowing
spaces to be held accountable by its citizens. It will also help civil society
to monitor and assess the impact of effective advocacy in the long term.

I wish to thank Triple Line and Aclaim Africa for facilitating the
implementation of this component of the DFID programme and putting
together these experiences as reference material for the civil society
sector.

Charles Mbeeta Businge
Civil Society Adviser
DFID Uganda

Date: 5th February 2008

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Acknowledgements

The ideas in this book are derived from a variety of pioneers in the world
of advocacy, policy analysis, conflict transformation, organisational
assessment, communication, and monitoring and evaluation in
international development. The information presented here has been
drawn from a wide variety of international and Ugandan sources.

All of the sections are informed and enriched by the insights of the
presenters and participants at Civil Society Umbrella Programme (CSUP)
workshops. The workshops themselves were designed to take into
consideration the common needs of the civil society organisations
("grantees") who received grants from the CSUP. All of these
organisations have contributed helpful observations and posed questions
reflecting on their own experience and practice. This book is a tribute to
their work.

These organisations are:

Action Aid International Uganda; African Network for Prevention and
Protection Against Child Abuse and Neglect; Advocates Coalition for
Development and Environment; Centre for Domestic Violence Prevention;
Council for Economic Empowerment for Women of Africa – Uganda
Chapter; Community Empowerment For Rural Development; Care
International In Uganda; Environmental Alert; Federation of International
Women Lawyers – Uganda; Family Planning Association of Uganda;
Coalition for Health Promotion and Social Development, Uganda; Katakwi
Urafiki Foundation; Kabarole Research and Resource Centre; Land and
Equity Movement Uganda; Mifumi Human Rights Defenders Network;
Uganda National NGO Forum; National Union of Disabled Persons of
Uganda; Network of Uganda Researchers and Research Users; Platform
for Labour Action; Rwenzori Anti-Corruption Coalition; Save the Children
in Uganda; The Apac Anti-Corruption Coalition; Uganda Fisheries and Fish
Conservation Association; Uganda Debt Network; Uganda Land Alliance;
Uganda National Health Users'/Consumers' Organisation; Uganda
Women’s Efforts to Save Orphans; and Water Aid Uganda.

All original sources of information have been acknowledged. The following
people were the principle authors of the guidance notes which have been
adapted to form the chapters of this book: Adam Platt; Daniel Start; Ian
Chandler; Juliet Pierce; Sara Methven.

Workshop presenters should also be named and thanked in their
contribution to the ideas outlined here:
Margaret Kakande (Head of Poverty Monitoring and Analysis Unit, Ministry
of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Uganda); Rosetti
Nayenga Babumba, (Policy Analyst, Ministry of Finance, Planning and
Economic development, Uganda); Richard Ssewakiryanga, Poverty
Monitoring Unit, (Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic

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Development); Rose Othieno (Director, Centre for Conflict Resolution,
Uganda).

Our team of Ugandan consultants have facilitated workshops and provided
technical support and helped support grantees to build on the guidance
given in workshops:
Jannet Opio; Dan Opio; Frank Muhereza; Betsy Mboizi; Sam Aisu.

Principle editors of this text: Juliet Pierce; Lydia Richardson; Ceinwen
Giles; Jannet Opio.

Finally we would like to thank the UK Government’s Department for
International Development (DFID) for funding the Civil Society Umbrella
Programme in Uganda.

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Abbreviations and Acronyms

AAIU Action Aid International Uganda
ABC Abstinence, Be faithful, Use Condoms
ACFODE Action For Development
ACODE Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment
AIDA Attention / Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action
AIDS Acquired immune deficiency syndrome
ANPPCAN African Network for Prevention and Protection Against Child
Abuse and Neglect
BMU Beach Management Units
BTTB Background to the Budget
CB Capacity Building
CBO Community-Based Organisation
CDNA Capacity Development Needs Assessment
CDRA Community Development Resource Association
CEDOVIP Centre for Domestic Violence Prevention
CEEWA U Council for Economic Empowerment for Women of Africa –
Uganda Chapter
CEFORD Community Empowerment For Rural Development
CHOGM Common Wealth Heads of Government Meeting
CIU Care International In Uganda
CP Conservative Party
CS Civil Society
CSA Centre for Study of Adolescence
CSO Civil Society Organisation
CSPP Civil Society Partnership Programme
CSUP Civil Society Umbrella Programme
DAC Development Assistance Committee
DEA Department of Export Agriculture
DFID Department for International Development (UK
Government)
DI Danish Industry
DP Democratic Party
DRB Domestic Relations Bill
DVB Domestic Violence Bill
EA Environmental Alert
EU European Union
FDC Forum For Democratic Change
FFS Farmer Field Schools
FIDAU Federation of International Women Lawyers - Uganda
FPAU Family Planning Association of Uganda
GOU Government of Uganda
GPT Graduated Personal Tax
HEPS Coalition for Health Promotion and Social Development
HIV Human Immuno-Deficiency Virus
HMC Health Management Committee
HR Human Resources
IDP Internally Displaced Persons

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IDRC International Development Research Centre
IEC Information, Education and Communication
INTRAC International Training and Research Centre
IT Information Technology
KAUFO Katakwi Urafiki Foundation
KRC Kabarole Research and Resource Centre
LC Local Council
LEMU Land and Equity Movement Uganda
LG Local Government
LRA Lord’s Resistance Army
M&E Monitoring and Evaluation
MDG Millennium Development Goal
MFI Micro-Finance Institution
MFPED Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development
MHRDN Mifumi Human Rights Defenders Network
MOFPED Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development
MOH Ministry of Health
MOU Memorandum of Understanding
MP Member of Parliament
NAADS National Agricultural Advisory Services
NGO Non-Governmental Organisation
NGO Forum Uganda National NGO Forum
NMS National Medical Store
NRM Natural Resource Management
NRMO National Resistance Movement Organization
NUDIPU National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda
NURRU Network of Uganda Researchers and Research Users
OA Organisational Assessment
ODI Overseas Development Institute
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
PAC Public Accounts Committee
PARC Performance Assessment Resource Centre
PDC Parish Development Committee
PEAP Poverty Eradication Action Plan
PLA Platform for Labour Action
PLWA People Living With AIDS
PM Prime Minister
PMA Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture
PPA Participatory Poverty Assessment
PS Permanent Secretary
RA Rights Awareness
RAC Rwenzori Anti- Corruption Coalition
RBA Rights-Based Approaches
RTC Responding to Conflict
SCF Save the Children Fund (UK)
SCIU Save the Children in Uganda
SMART(-A) Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound
(and Alive)
SMC School Management Committee
SWOT Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

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TAAC The Apac Anti- Corruption Coalition
TOT Training of Trainers
UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights
UDN Uganda Debt Network
UFFCA Uganda Fisheries and Fish Conservation Association
UIA Uganda Investment Authority
UK United Kingdom
ULA Uganda Land Alliance
UNCRC United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
UNHCO Uganda National Health Users'/Consumers' Organisation
UNICEF United Nations Children’s Educational Fund
UPC Uganda Peoples’ Congress
UPE Universal Primary Education
URA Uganda Investment Authority
US United States
USAID United States Agency for International Development
UWESO Uganda Women’s Efforts to Save Orphans
VP Vice President
WAU Water Aid Uganda
WFP World Food Programme
WWF World Wildlife Fund for Nature

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