Field Exchange - Issue 15

Two of the field articles in this issue of Field Exchange address to varying degrees the subject of advocacy. The dictionary definition of the word is ‘recommendation’ or ‘active support of an idea’. In the humanitarian aid sector the term tends to have a specific connotation, i.e. advocacy takes place on behalf of some disadvantaged group or in order to right some wrong. What is often overlooked by ‘advocating agencies’ is that the key to successful advocacy is ‘process’. At field level there is frequently a fine line between successful advocacy and jeopardising working relations with those agencies being lobbied. In a sector where programme efficacy is highly dependent upon good relations and co-ordination between agencies and individuals, the process of advocacy is all important. Countless evaluations have highlighted that good inter-personal relations and process of advocacy adopted by agency staff is critical to the success of agency coordination. Conversely, where advocacy has been over-zealous and insensitive, agency relations and co-ordination have often broken down with significant adverse impact on programme efficacy.