How to advocate for change

How To Build Community

This episode explores:

• Community-led advocacy

Advocacy aims to influence the decisions of those in government, in particular the public policies and practices that shape economic and social development.

Community-led advocacy refers to activities that are carried out by citizens to influence local decision-makers and bring positive change to their communities.

• Social accountability

The podcast guests explain that great advocates demonstrate many important qualities: collaboration, high relational ability, persistence, commitment and conviction.

They also mention ‘social accountability’. This is when government officials and key decision-makers are held to account by the citizens they represent.

Governments have a responsibility to create a secure environment where their citizens can thrive. This includes providing safe and equitable access to services such as electricity, water, sanitation, waste management and healthcare. In a social accountability initiative, community members might collect household information about the quality of these services. They can then use this information to hold decision-makers to account if service provision is poor or unjust.

Local government leaders are often grateful when community members draw their attention to a problem. As it helps them to understand what they need to do to make the situation better.

• Rights and responsibilities

While claiming the right to good practices and provision in the community is an important part of advocacy, so is the recognition that we all have important responsibilities.

If we pay our taxes, look after our surroundings and interact well with other community members we show that we understand this. And it places us in a much stronger position when we decide to make requests of our local authorities.