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A Voice For the Voiceless

MISSION

The Advocacy Project seeks to help community-based advocates produce, disseminate and use information, and so become more effective advocates for human rights and social justice

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Monitoring and Evaluation

AP is aware of the need to produce and demonstrate results as well as communicate these results to donors, partners and the large constituency of people interested in human rights and social justice.

Read the 2007 Annual Report.

In an effort to asses its progress AP published a report in October 2007 titled, Measuring the Impact the Work of the Advocacy Project with Civil Society 1998 to  2007. This document looks at 35 organizations which have developed partnerships with AP.

We seek to measure AP’s three programmatic goals for outputs (deliverables) and outcomes, as explained below. We also expect that our work will produce several important indirect outcomes. Finally, we look for evidence that partners will, through their advocacy, promote social change and social justice.

Goal 1: Helping partners to produce information and achieve information self-sufficiency

Producing information about partners: The objective is to help partners describe their work in a compelling manner through information products and outputs (blogs, news bulletins, promotional brochures, video clips etc). This can be done by AP consultants and Peace Fellows, as well as the partner organization.

Help partners produce information: Second, AP seeks to help the partner develop information tools (websites, newsletters) and therefore produce information without being dependent on outsiders. This is measured by the following outputs and outcomes:

• The regular publication of information products by the partner
• An investment in information production by the partner (as indicated by the hiring of an information officer, creation of a budget line-item, etc.)
• Integration of information tools into the partner’s advocacy (for example if the partner uses information tools to advance a campaign or tackle a human rights abuse).

Goal 2: Helping partners to use ICT and disseminate information

Using ICT - Building an ICT Foundation: This will be achieved when a partner has:

• A clear sense of ICT needs and assets in the form of a tech assessment
• A designated member who is knowledgeable about ICT
• An “eco-network” of ICT specialists in the area who can be drawn on to assist
• Connectivity (Internet café or in-house)
• Key members, particularly the ED, that can use the technology
• At least one computer and shared printer
• Key members are using the Internet and email in their daily work (in house, at home or through Internet cafes)
• Is using the partner page on the AP website

Using ICT - Integrating ICT into work and advocacy: This will be achieved when a partner:

• Has an assessment of ICT needs and assets
• Has an ICT strategy
• In-house webmaster and ICT budget line-item
• Can regularly update the organization’s website
• Is using social networking (Change.org, listserv, etc.)
• Can mount an online petition
• Is using online fundraising
• Is blogging

Disseminating information through AP: The objective is to help partners reach an international constituency by posting information on the AP website and send out their news through AP’s online news service (AdvocacyNet). This is measured by:

• The posting of new partner pages on the AP website, with content provided by partners
• Regular use of the AP partner pages by the partner
• The re-issue of AP news bulletins by other online news services, thus indicating that the bulletins are of high quality and are reaching a wider audience
• The use of AP news bulletins in the partner’s advocacy
• Support and funds for a partner’s advocacy in response to an AP news bulletin
• Inquiries to AP about partnership

Goal 3. Help community-based partners use their information by networking and outreach

Networking: The objective is to attract supporters who will support the advocacy of AP’s partners, at home and abroad. This is done by partners or by AP. It is measured by:

• The creation of databases for use by partners and AP and a corresponding increase in foreign contacts
• An increase in communications from abroad, indicating growing interest
• Donations
• Invitations to meetings, nominations for prizes, etc.
• Signatures for partner petitions and support for lobbying

Outreach: The objective is to help partners act on their information, in the form of a campaign or some other form of collective action. This can be done by partners or by AP on their behalf. It is measured by:

• The launching of a campaign
• The holding of an event or conference, which results in an agenda or advocacy outcome
• The short-term success of the campaign

Indirect outcomes

AP expects that our interventions will produce the following important, but indirect, outcomes:

1. Empowerment of Peace Fellows: AP has two main objectives for the Fellowship program, and both of these are measured carefully. First, as noted above, AP fellows are expected to serve as information “catalysts” and help their hosts produce, disseminate and use information.

Second, this program is intended to benefit those who are selected. With this in mind, AP does whatever possible to enrich their fellowship and build their confidence by working intensively with them through the summer, putting them in touch with home-town newspapers, alumni associations, and helping them to make presentations at their universities on their return. This produces three types of benefits:

• Academic benefit: Students will draw on their experience in the field to enrich and inform their academic studies. This is shown by whether they use their Fellowship for school projects, papers, theses, internships, etc.
• Personal benefit: This is subjective and a long-term process, but can be seen in the evaluations which are produced by all Fellows on completion of their Fellowship.
• Professional benefit: Fellowships are intended to help careers. There are several indicators of this – for example, if a Fellow changes their career as a result of their Fellowship. A Fellowship is also considered successful if a Fellow returns to the host at their own expense or decides to defer school and remain in country.

Outcome - global citizens: Our hope is that by being exposed to the challenges of this work, Fellows will make an important contribution to society and build respect for human rights. Fellows for Peace fosters responsible global citizenship and builds cultural bridges.

Evaluations: Fellows are expected to produce a written work plan, an interim evaluation and a final evaluation setting out outputs and outcomes. These help the Fellow produce their own report for sponsors. They are also critically important in helping AP build on what it has done and ensure sustainable outcomes.

2. Institution-building:  Experience suggests that producing information regularly can help CBOs to become more sustainable, more effective, more transparent – and so better able to achieve their goals. AP also seeks to raise funds for partners.

3. Inter-cultural connections: AP’s model brings Americans into contact with other cultures and societies in a mutually constructive manner.

4. Expand the horizons of service learning: AP hopes that by working with our Fellowship program, universities will understand more about the richness of community-based civil society, and human rights through their own students. We measure their interest by whether they link to the blogs of their students, help Fellows organize events on their return, and promote our program.

5. Strengthen AP and build a global program: As noted above, AP’s strength is that of a catalyst and networker. Peace Fellows allow us to work around the world with a small core staff, learn from partners and constantly regenerate our organization with new ideas.

Social change

We hope that our intervention will eventually make some inroads into the root causes of discrimination and thus effect social change. This is not a formal goal for AP because if it happens we are unlikely to be able to show a cause and effect between our intervention and the outcome. But we will do whatever we can to support partners and track positive developments.

Feedback

In assessing whether these results are achieved we rely first and foremost on feedback from partners.

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