ADVOCACY

WHAT IS ADVOCACY? Organised effort to influence decision-making Action directed at changing approach of an individual/institution/group Process to persuade all influential individuals/groups/organisations through dialogue to adopt an effective approach to an issue

NEED FOR ADVOCACY IN IDU CONTEXT IDU are often looked upon as ‘criminals’, bad elements, negative influencers on the society: IDU remain hidden from mainstream of society IDU are often not able to access general health as well as tailored services freely as a result of stigma Often, NSEP & OST programmes for IDU are met with resistance from the general community and law enforcement agencies Society often forgets the needs of an IDU

BENEFITS OF ADVOCACY Advocacy benefits both implementers and IDU: 1.Implementers –Enables them to implement their programmes without any interference or hassles from the various stakeholders 2.IDU –Enables them to access needed services without fear of stigma/discrimination & ridicule

WHAT TO ADVOCATE FOR? That the following are freely allowed to be implemented for or provided to IDU: –HIV prevention including NSEP & OST programmes –Access to general health services –Treatment of HIV Positive IDU –Care and support for HIV positive IDU –Access to other needs, e.g. clothing, shelter, food, etc.

CHARACTERISTICS OF ADVOCACY Advocacy is successful if it is: –Based on the foundation that all people have equal human/fundamental rights –Focused on a particular issue/problem –Concerned with rights & benefits of IDU –Concerned with ensuring that institutions/organisations/individuals work the way they should

CONTD. Advocacy is successful if it is: –Relevant to the social, cultural & political context of the society –Planned and executed with active involvement of the IDU community ‘Advocacy ultimately raises issues and forces the community to change the way they think/behave with IDU’

STEPS IN ADVOCACY

1.Analysis 2.Strategy 3.Action (and Reaction) 4.Evaluation

STEP 1: ANALYSIS The need for advocacy may arise in different situations: –During the initial phase, services may not be adequately accessed by IDU –After initial successful uptake, there may be a sudden decline in the access of services by IDU –During routine service delivery, the programme staff may come across reports of discrimination/harassment of IDU

CONTD. In each of the above situations, the staff should conduct an analysis of the problems, e.g. why are IDU not accessing services; are the reports of harassment being noted by staff too; and so on The analysis can be done by the PM along with his staff, IDU, and key members from general community who are sympathetic to the cause

CONTD. Once it is agreed that there is a problem, the next step is to define the problem: –What are the barriers? –Who are creating the barriers? –Why are there barriers? –Nature of the barriers?

STEP 2: STRATEGY Once the problem is defined, the next step is to formulate a strategy: –Describe the situation –Define the objectives of advocacy –List out intended (target) audience –List out key activities to implement –Develop timeline for each activity –Develop indicators to evaluate the planned activities & the outcomes

STEP 3: ACTION Collect information on facts and figures related to the problem e.g. number estimation of IDU, prevalence of HIV among IDU, national and local HIV scenario, policies and programmes of the government, and so on Tailor the information according to the knowledge & understanding of target audience Present information in brief, dramatic and memorable fashion

CONTD. Incorporate human interest stories/ anecdotes Emphasise urgency and priority of recommended action Specify desired action clearly Respond rapidly to other views and be flexible Focus on policies, not individual behaviour Messages delivered should be consistent across various audience groups Remember that the desired outcome will not be immediate – so repetition is important

CONTD. Identify other partners with similar issues and form a coalition to advocate together Organise media coverage to publicise appropriate events Plan events & involve credible spokespeople Advocate at different levels to create maximum impact – address meetings with various authorities to get desired change Advocacy should be repeated if there is a change in authority/ies managing agencies

KEY TARGETS (AUDIENCE) Law enforcement agencies Religious leaders/FBO Community leaders General community in/near project area Media Health sector – (Govt and private): Health workers, organisations providing health care, and health administrative agencies

CONTD. Politicians Agencies providing social services Pharmacies NGOs working with drugs & HIV NGOs not working with drugs and HIV Families of Peers Diverse unofficial groups (i.e., drug dealers, peddlers, pushers)

STEP 4: EVALUATION Evaluation should be carried out at regular intervals to assess the outcome/output of the advocacy Evaluation should be based on the indicators defined in the strategy phase Evaluation should answer if: 1.The action plan and strategy is working and if not, is there a need to change the strategy and approach

CONTD. Evaluation should answer if (cont’d) 2.There are gaps in strategies adopted 3.New members/groups need to be brought in for effective advocacy 4.Advocacy at a large scale needs to be carried out and availability of resources for the same

CONTD. Evaluation should finally answer if the advocacy has: –changed perception of the target audience on issues related to IDU –enabled the IDU to access and utilise services freely The whole process should then be documented for dissemination to other agencies

CONCLUSION  Advocacy is key to enabling environment for IDU to access available HIV prevention and related services reduction in/revision of stereotyped view of IDU – ‘useless’, ‘thieves’ etc.  The success of advocating depends upon following critical steps outlined in this presentation