INTERNATIONAL ADVOCACY NETWORKS

International networks are groups of autonomous organisations (and perhaps individuals) in two or more countries who share a purpose and voluntarily contribute knowledge, experience, staff time, finances and other resources to achieve common goals.

An international advocacy network typically performs a combination of two or more of these functions:

• Analyse global/EU problems from local, national and regional perspectives and knowledge.
• Filter, process and manage knowledge for the members.
• Promote dialogue, exchange and learning amongst members.
• Shape the agenda by amplifying little known or understood ideas for the public.
• Convene organisations or people.
• Facilitate action by members.
• Build community and often a movement by promoting and sustaining the values and standards of the group of individuals or organisations within it.
• Mobilise and rationalise the use of resources for members to carry out their activities.
• Strengthen international consciousness, commitment and solidarity.

 An advocacy network generally will have these objectives:

1.  Influence change in institutional policies, practices, programmes or behaviour.
2.  Develop the capacity of civil society organisations and individual citizens to exercise that pressure for change.
3.  Restructure society so that individuals and groups are involved in decisions made by other social actors but which affect them.

The advocacy network promotes and is nourished by the enthusiasm and energy characteristic of its voluntary nature. It benefits from the dynamism to the extent to which the advocacy network is able to balance the diverse contributions of members with joint, sustained collaboration.

An advocacy network is not the sum of its parts. It is the product of the parts' interaction. An advocacy network is loosely organised and non-hierarchical, with authority and responsibility flowing from and around autonomous members. Accountability is highly diffuse for what happens, what is achieved and by whom. Within an advocacy network, all but a few accountabilities constantly shift.

Advocacy networks operate more through facilitation and co-operation around the activities of its organisational components than by directing programmes and executing projects. Success depends on equity in the relations and exercise of power within the advocacy network.

The motivation of the principal actors-the members-in joining an advocacy network is wide ranging. Some may be more interested in receiving information or the tools it generates while others join for the political spaces and relationships an advocacy network offers.

Elements for Forming and Maintaining Networks

 A. Formation Stage

• Establish a clear purpose or mission.
• Involve individuals and organizations that share the mission.
• Build a commitment to participatory process and collaboration.

B. Maintenance/Growth Stage Organization

• Define clear, specialized roles.
• Establish a loose or fluid organizational structure. Vertical, hierarchical structures do not build strong networks.
• Compile a skills inventory, including the skills/expertise of individual members and institutional resources (Internet, meeting space, etc.).
• Prepare to fill expertise gaps by recruiting new members.
• Establish a communication system.
• Create a member database (name, address, organization mission, type and focus of organization, etc.).

 Leadership

• Share leadership functions (i.e., rotating coordinating committee).
• Set realistic goals and objectives.
• Divide into subgroups/task forces to take on specific tasks according to expertise.
• Spread responsibilities across all members to reduce workload and avoid burnout.
• Promote participatory planning and decision making.
• Foster trust and collaboration among members.
• Keep members motivated by acknowledging their contributions.

 Meetings/Documentation

• Meet only when necessary.
• Set specific agenda and circulate it ahead of time. Follow the agenda and keep meetings brief. Finish meeting on time. Rotate meeting facilitation role.
• Keep attendance list and record meeting minutes for dissemination after meeting.
• Use members’ facilitation skills to help the network reach consensus and resolve conflict.
• Discuss difficult issues openly during meetings.
• Maintain a network notebook to document network activities, decisions, etc.