Young people on the global stage:

their education and influence

Advocacy and influencing

support materials for young leaders

This material supports young leaders taking part in influencing and advocacy skills development workshops. It is designed to support participants planning a campaign to achieve the demands in the communiqué based on the Sustainable Development Goals, developed by young people in the UK, Spain, Kenya and The Gambia.

Copies of the communiqué and a facilitator’s session plan for working with this material can be downloaded at:

· www.tidegloballearning.net [English];

· www.ecmadrid.org/es/programas/proyecto-global-cities [Spanish].

We also offer action sheets linked to each of the eight Sustainable Development Goals highlighted in the communiqué.

The material is divided into ten sections:

· Persuade me

· Influencing others

· Tactics

· Know your strengths

· Thinking and acting

· What is the problem?

· Planning your campaign

· Useful links

· Top 10 campaigning tips

· (Be the change you wish to see in the world!Mahatma Gandhi)Advocacy definitions

Persuade me

This activity will help to develop negotiation and persuasion skills that can be used in many different situations.

Complete the sentence ‘My favourite flavour of crisp is …’

In pairs, agree on a favourite flavour of crisp that you are both happy with, and complete the sentence ‘Our favourite flavour of crisps is …’

Repeat this in fours and eights, each time making a note of the favourite flavour agreed on.

Review

· Did you change your mind?

· If you did, what persuaded you? How did it feel to be persuaded?

· If you didn’t, how did you persuade others? How did it feel to persuade others?

· Your favourite flavour of crisps is not usually a matter of principle.

· Are there things you wouldn’t compromise over?

(I wondered why someone didn’t do something.Then I realised, I am somebody.)

Influencing others

When you are running a campaign, you need to identify the decision-makers who can bring about the change you want to make. This person or group is the ‘target audience’. You need to have a clear message for this target. You might need help from one group to influence another, and you might have different demands for different targets.

For example, a campaign about recycling might look like this:

Target

Message

General public

We want more people to recycle

School

We want the school to increase recycling

Local council

We want the council to improve recycling facilities

Local factory

We want this company to produce less waste and recycle more

National Government

We want the government to legislate to make companies waste less and recycle more

Who could you target in these places?

· School

· Local community

· Religious leaders

· Town/city

· Company

· Local government/council

· National Government

· European Union or other regional body

· International organisations

· Others

Now ask yourself:

· Who are your allies – people who are on your side?

· Who are your opponents – people who disagree with you?

· Who could you persuade?

· Who has the power?

Tactics

Here are some different methods you could use to reach decision makers.

· What are the pros and cons of different approaches?

· Which of these methods would be most effective for your target audience?

Face-to-face meetings

· Lobbying visits

· One on one

· Group or community meeting

· Assembly, seminars, workshops and conferences

· Public hearings

· Protests and public demonstrations

Public engagement

· Petition

· Public rallies

· Public debate

· Street theatre

· Songs, music and poems

· Dance flash mob

· Protests and public demonstrations

Media campaign

· Newspapers & Magazines

· Press release and/or press conference

· Social media

· Journals, Bulletins, Newsletters, & Updates

· Posters, Leaflets, Fliers, Action Alerts, Bumper Stickers

· Reports, Studies

· Letters to Decision Makers

Know your strengths

Use these definitions from UFA of leadership skills and characteristics to help you describe the qualities of individuals in your group. You can add to the list if you think something is missing.

(Young people on the global stage: their education and influence)

13

Advocacy and influencing support materials for young leaders

Now ask yourself: What are your group strengths? Are there any key characteristics which your group doesn’t have? How will that affect your chance of success? Is there any action you can take to address this?

Be a hero for a better world

Thinking and acting

Read this story about different approaches to a disaster.

The Story of the Hummingbird.

We are constantly being bombarded by problems that we face and sometimes we can get completely overwhelmed.

The story of the hummingbird is about this huge forest being consumed by a fire. All the animals in the forest come out and they are transfixed as they watch the forest burning and they feel very overwhelmed, very powerless, except this little hummingbird. It says, ‘I’m going to do something about the fire!’

So it flies to the nearest stream and takes a drop of water. It puts it on the fire, and goes up and down, up and down, up and down, as fast as it can.

In the meantime all the other animals, much bigger animals like the elephant with a big trunk that could bring much more water, they are standing there helpless. And they are saying to the hummingbird, ‘What do you think you can do? You are too little. This fire is too big. Your wings are too little and your beak is so small that you can only bring a small drop of water at a time.’

But as they continue to discourage it, it turns to them without wasting any time and it tells them, ‘I am doing the best I can.’

And that to me is what all of us should do. We should always be like a hummingbird. I may be insignificant, but I certainly don’t want to be like the animals watching the planet goes down the drain. I will be a hummingbird; I will do the best I can.

Source: http://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/wangari-maathai-i-will-be-a-hummingbird

Now ask yourself these questions:

· Do you think the hummingbird made any impact ?

· Why do you think the elephant did nothing? What would be different if it had acted?

· What does this story tell us about different attitudes and behaviours?

· What approach would you take?

People react differently to situations. There are ...

... those who will see a problem and decide to take action immediately.

… those who are selective on the issues to act.

… those who are willing but they take time before action because they want to fully understand the issue first.

… those who only take action to address a problem after being subjected to pressure.

… those who take action based on previous experience; they don’t take risk.

· Which statement best describes you?

· What are the implications of this for your campaign?

(Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.Dr Seuss)

What is the problem?

You are now ready to identify the broad outline for your campaign.

Referring to the communiqué, and thinking about the work you have done so far, discuss these points with members of your group:

· The issue you want to campaign on

· The objective – what is the change you want to make?

· What is your campaign message?

· Who is the decision maker you want to target? Are they likely to be an ally or on opponent?

· What tactics are you going to use?

(If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in bed with a mosquitoBetty Reese)

Planning your campaign

You are now ready to do the detailed action planning.

These questions are a helpful guide to the activities you need to carry out:

· What needs to be done?

· How?

· Who will do it?

· By when?

· How will you make sure things are on track? What will you do if things don’t go the way you want?

· How will the group communicate, and with who?

A table like this might help you.

 

What?

 

How?

Who?

By when?

Notes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?’ Actually, who are you NOT to be?

Nelson Mandela

Useful links

There is a lot of advice and inspiration about campaigning available online. These links will get you started.

For inspiration from other young people see:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fA-X4DZVTQY Ryan McLaughlin, a young Scottish health campaigner

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9zxfzVHTVM RAD council in Salt Lake City

http://www.whizz-kidz.org.uk/get-our-help/young-people/young-peoples-campaigns/your-success-stories Young disabled campaigners in the UK

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-29565738 Malala Yousafzai blog on education and the Taliban

For ideas on campaigning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gML1qNuyRO0 How to have a successful petition

https://freechild.org/youth-led-activism/ Inspiration and ideas from around the world

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On6OJLRvm5g&feature=youtube Information on UK select committees

www.parliament.uk/get-involved/education-programmes/ Find out more about how the UK parliament works

For other organisations who support young leaders:

http://ufa.org.uk/

http://www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk/

You might want to add your own …

TOP TEN CAMPAIGNING TIPS

Adapted from the Shelia McKechnie Foundation http://www.smk.org.uk/

1. KNOW YOUR STUFF - Make sure you research the issue thoroughly. Every argument must be supported by strong evidence if it is to be convincing.

2. BUILD A TEAM - A great campaigner can inspire and motivate others. Build a team of people who have the right mix of skills you will need to achieve your goal.

3. MAKE A PLAN - A campaigner should always know what they want and be able to say so clearly.

4. IDENTIFY THE KEY INFLUENCERS - You will need a campaign target: a person or organisation who directly has the power to make the change you are campaigning for.

5. MAP YOUR ISSUE - It is helpful to map the forces that will influence your campaign target [eg who are your supporters and opponents and what are they doing?]

6. BUILD ALLIANCES - Check out whether other organisations want the same thing as you. Working with others can strengthen your message and help you reach more people.

7. USE THE RIGHT TACTICS FOR YOU - Think carefully about which tactics to use. Tactics that worked for one campaign might not be right for another - there is no one recipe for success.

8. TIMING IS EVERYTHING - Timing your tactics to coincide with activities taking place by either supporters or opponents can increase your impact. Always be aware of what else is going on.

9. SWOT - Analyse your Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats to strengthen your campaign and identify gaps.

10. EVALUATION - Set clear targets at the beginning of your campaign, including time scales, and review them regularly to make sure you are on the right track.

Advocacy definitions

Advocacy is a deliberate planned process of bringing about change.

It means working with those who make decisions to influence what is decided and how those decisions are put into practice.

It requires passion, commitment and energy!

Self-advocacy: This means “speaking up for yourself”. Self-advocacy is about expressing your own needs and concerns and giving your own views.

Peer advocacy: Peer advocacy is when one person talks for another who has experienced or is experiencing similar difficulties or has similar life experiences [eg service users in a residential facility].

Professional advocacy: This is when people are paid to provide an advocacy service. It is issue-led, focusing on particular issues.

Legal advocacy: This is when a solicitor works on your behalf.

These materials have been put together by

Cathryn Gathercole, Tide~ global learning and Jan Polack, UFA.

Thanks to Ben Ballin, Tide~ global learning, Gillian Raven, Hesborn Otianya and Mcrae Muthomi, A Rocha Kenya f or additional material.