Influence: The process where right- sholders and their representatives will use a range of lobby and advocacy tools to influence individuals, families, communities, private business, religious leaders, (social) media, and other de- cision-makers’ policies, practices, and behaviours. Grantee partners and rightsholders continued to adapt and refine their influencing approaches in line with the current COVID-19 context. Online training and knowl- edge sharing activities for leaders and activists as well as social media and radio campaigns were some of the ways in which influencing took place. This approach also had its limitations as activities around influencing decision-makers were often challenging, especially due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, some grantee partners were still able to conduct in-person meetings and taking an online approach worked well in other cases. Age is just a number In Cambodia, HelpAge Cambodia (HAC) coordinated and supported representatives of Older People Associations (OPAs) from 5 capital-provinces in devel- oping a new advocacy platform for elderly people, the Cambodian Ageing Network (CAN). Today, CAN rep- resents more than 25,000 people from 5 capital-prov- inces and is an influential platform that enables elderly people and other marginalised groups to amplify their voices and echo their needs to policy makers and key decision makers at national levels. As part of the success of HAC’s Influencing grant, two elder representatives of CAN were selected as the members of the technical working group of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veteran and Youth rehabil- itation (MoSVY) and fully involved themselves in the review and development of an action plan for the National Ageing Policy 2017-2030. One of them is Ms. Vanda, who is also CAN’s president. She has put a lot of her efforts in collaboration with all members in ad- vocacy work and engaging with multi-stakeholder and key governments through various dialogue and con- sultation to mainstream aging issues as well as to seek their support in addressing the needs of the elderly.
Mrs. Chan Roeung shows how she communicates with elderly per- sons. She is the Auditor of Older People’s Associations (OPA’s).
at a glance
654 rightsholders groups, CSOs and networks report a benefit by using a diverse set of lobby, advocacy and campaigning tools
“I felt very empowered and motivated of being a member in this technical working group with the ministry. I could say, it is my first time ever to join with national government to work on policy level”.
Through their different campaigns and by involving lawmakers in the activities under its Sudden Opportunity grant, NRF saw an increase in the application of legal documents with at least 500 Nubian individuals acquiring their birth certificates, passports, and identification cards. As these individual experiences show, our grantee partners’ proj- ects allowed for influencing to happen on multiple levels across society, from the community level to the national stage. At the same time, individual actions are interconnected with actions at other levels, reinforcing each other. Champions and role-models such as Vanna and Metta inspire others like them, while NRF managed to motivate whole communities to speak up. Overall, the Influencing pathway of change its principle “Nothing About Us Without Us” illuminate ongoing processes of months and years, across which the influencing strategies of rightsholders unfold and are likely to encounter both unexpected challenges and unex- pected successes as they are being implemented.
MS. VANNA, PRESIDENT OF CAN
UP FROM 334 LAST YEAR
“I identify as...” In Kenya, the Nubian Rights Forum (NRF) came up with inno- vative ideas to continue their advocacy efforts since COVID- 19 started, using both digital and traditional media spaces to create more awareness on the importance and need of having identity documents. One of the most significant impacts was based on community-led advocacy. Building upwards from community forums, radio/media, and community skills training, NRF has seen members of their target communities plan and implement their own advocacy actions related to identification. These actions have targeted local, regional, and national policy makers from registrars to members of parliament, demanding change towards equali- ty in the system. In April 2021, for example, the organisation ran a #MYIDMYRIGHT web series with an aim of sharing success and challenging stories on obtaining legal documents. While these stories do not speak on the severity of the discrimina- tion and risk of statelessness issues in Kenya for marginal- ised and minority communities, they highlight the challeng- es the community faces due to lack of documentation.
301 Voice grantees have defined a change plan to strengthen their capacity to influence decision makers.
UP FROM 183 LAST YEAR
375 experts and 219 platforms have been deployed with the support of Voice grants to strengthen grantees’ and their implementing partners’ social innovation and influencing capacities.
UP FROM 131 EXPERTS AND 79 PLATFORMS LAST YEAR
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