PUBLIC POLICY ADVOCACY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS

The interaction of the elements of ADVOCACY, LOBBYING and CAMPAIGNING when combined produce a total effect that is greater than the sum of the individual elements. Public Policy Advocacy focuses on providing a comprehensive integrated system bringing the components of ADVOCACY, LOBBYING and CAMPAIGNING into one system and ensuring that they function together as a system.

ADVOCACY

"Advocacy means to give a voice to people. It is a system of actions aimed at changing attitudes, policies and practices."

"Advocacy seeks to affect some aspects of society, promote, protect and preserve an organization or cause. Advocacy covers a broad range of actions which may or not be considered lobbying. As a citizen advocate, individuals become responsible for general education on issues and support for organizations without necessarily needing to affect a particular policy or peice of legislation."

"Advocacy consists of purposive efforts to change specifically existing and/or purposed policies or practices on behalf of or with a specific client or group of clients. Advocates are individuals who argue in favor of a change in belief or behavior."

"Advocacy is the act of publicly representing an individual, organization or idea with the object of persuading targeted audiences to look favourably on or to accept the point of viwe of the individual, the organization or the idea."

"Advocacy is the organized effort of like-minded groups or individuals for systematic change to government policy. More broadly, advocacy can apply to opinions and positions as well as legislature, and targets civil society, communities and businesses, as well as government."

"Advocacy is the process of stakeholders making their voices heard on issues that affect their lives and the lives of others at the local, state, national, European and international level. It also means helping policymakers find specific solutions to persistent problems."

"Advocacy can be defined as the practical use of knowledge for purposes of social change. These changes can be directed at government policies, laws, procedures. Advocacy is an act of supporting an issue.

Advocacy Activities include:

• Awareneness campaigns engaging the public;
• Information workshops targeting civil society organizations;
• Engaging the media through editorial pieces, letters, phone ins;
• Drawing attention to an important issue and direct decision-makers to a solution;
• Influencing the decision-making process at all levels;
• Representation to seak in one's name or somebody else's name in public;
• Mobilization to encourage others to speak in public;
• Empowerment to let others know that they have the right to speak in public and the right to be heard.

LOBBYING

"Lobbying is a form of advocacy BUT not all advocacy involves lobbying."

"Lobbying is a form of advocacy with the goal of influencing a governing body in order to ensure that an individual's or organization's point of view is represented and the legislation is drafted and implemented accordingly."

"Lobbying is the attempted or successful influence of legislative-administrative decisions by public authorities through interest representatives. The influence is intended, implies the use of communication and is targeted on legislative and executive bodies."

"Lobbying refers to the direct support or opposition of a particular piece of introduced legislation at any levelb of government."

"Lobbyists are professionals who receive payment for their services."

Lobbying Activities include:

• Disseminating information needed for crafting legislation to legislators and their staff;
• Aggregating public opinion around major issues affecting clients;
• Helping set the political agenda by creating coalitions to support or oppose specific bills (proposals);
• Submitting brief position papers or memoranda to parliamentary portfolio committees and government officials explaining the key points and evidence underlying the position being lobbied;
• Making oral presentations to parliamentary portfolio committee hearings;
• Conducting research and collecting data to back up the proposals made in the position papers/submission;
• Monitoring parliamentary debates and committee hearings;
• Writing letters to individual politicians to sollicit their support;
• Signing petitions that are delivered to a political figure;
• Delivering a memoarndum to a political figure.

CAMPAIGNING

"Campaigning is the sum of actions and activities that an organization plans or executes in order to influence policy and to raise awareness on specific issues. The aim is not only to influence policies, but to raise public support".

Campaigning Activities include:

• Public and political debates
• Public meetings, speeches, presentations
• TV, newspaper, radio, other media