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Campaigning and winning support
Campaigning and gaining support are organized efforts led by an organization or a group of organizations representing citizens and getting through their voices to the decision making level in order to participate in making change in public policies affecting their lives.
The basic difference between "calling and gaining support" and other development techniques is that campaigns focus on influencing the decision makings processes. Calling activities work on the policies and decision making level in order to achieve change.
Why "campaiging and gaining support"?
The use of this technique has a number of advantages to local associations and to activists:
Some problems can not be resolved through common development techniques and strategies, such as consumer protection for example. This can only be done through activating the laws on consumer protection.
Problems that need a huge budget to resolve. For example, building a bridge to serve the inhabitants of a certain residential zone can take a few millions of EGP, which is impossible to realize solely through the efforts of a local association. Yet the same association at a far less cost can organize a campaign to promote this project at the decision making level.
Other problems such as polluting fumes from factories can only be resolved quickly and effectively through pressure campaigns on factory owners to install air filters. This solution is far quicker than starting awareness raising campaigns for mothers on the importance of avoiding to expose their children to harmful fumes and vapors.
Successful “campaigns” enable citizens to participate in running their local community affairs and truly mobilizes the population around one cause. The campaigning process itself enables the association that implements the campaign as well as the public that the association represents.
Elements of a campaiging process:
1- The cause: Has to be a public development cause such as unemployment or environmental degradation or the farmers' debts to the Agricultural Credit and development Bank. What is meant by the cause is the positions of the public represented by the association regarding the selected cause.
The popular base: is the group of citizens represented by the association which works on defending their rights through the different activities of the campaign. It is not a must to start a campaign while already having a large popular base, yet it is important that the association plans and works on expanding its popular base throughout the campaign.
3- Beneficiaries: The campaign's activities can only be realized through working with the concerned public institutions that have the capacities to achieve the campaign's objectives.
4- Alliances and partners: individuals and institutions supporting the association leading the campaign. They can also participate with the association through implementing part of the activities. Partnership and alliances are of particular importance in campaigns because of their direct impact on the success of the campaign's objectives.
5- Opponents: They can be individuals or institutions opposing the cause of the campaign or opposing only the association or those whose interests shall be negatively influenced by the campaign's success.
How to implement campaigns:
In the beginning you should define clearly the five elements mentioned earlier.
Then you should elaborate a message for the campaign which should be clear and short so that it can get through to the target institutions.
Choose the strategies that shall be used throughout the campaign such as media campaigning or building partnership with target institutions or preparing a petition to be presented to concerned institutions.
Having a clear vision of financial resources that will be used to make sure that you possess the needed funds to implement the campaign.
Start implementing the activities through clear and well defined initiatives.
Regular follow up and evaluation are essential throughout the campaign to make sure you are on the right track.
The LCHR calls upon the civil society organizations to work jointly and coordinate their efforts and their campaigns to achieve change to the better.