NGO policy advocates practical information sharing, here we come!

What is the policy advocacy of NGO?

How to set goals

And how to make a strategy.

Interested in NGO policy advocacy

Or you who are in the job.

Do you often have the above doubts?

At 19:00 on the evening of June 8, 2020, Mr. Wang Xinyi, a policy analyst at Friends of Nature, brought you a lecture on "NGO Policy Advocacy goals and Strategy formulation". The lecture was full of practical information based on her long work experience.

We are still thinking about this wonderful lecture. Friends who want to review do not have to worry. Here, let the editor and everyone review the key points of this lecture.

What is policy advocacy?

Compared with public advocacy, policy advocacy has two major characteristics: first, the core advocacy object is policy makers (legislators, etc.); second, the advocacy goal is mainly to promote the decision-making work of policy makers. Although policy advocacy can be made at any time, there are advantages and disadvantages of timing. Generally speaking, the policy window is a good time, and we need to seize it.

One of the secrets of grasping the policy window is to fully understand the legislative plan and regularly pay attention to the relevant website information. for example, the relevant plans or policy information issued by the National people's Congress, provincial and municipal people's congresses, and relevant departments (the field of ecological and environmental protection mainly focuses on the Ministry of Ecological Environment and the Ministry of Natural Resources). For example, if we pay attention to the legislative plan of the standing Committee of each National people's Congress, we can understand the legislative plan of the current five years. We can also pay attention to the relevant plans for each year. Generally speaking, legislative plans are not released at the beginning of the year, and it is more efficient to search for information in the second quarter (April, May, June).

What is the general process advocated by the policy?

Policy advocacy is a means, not an end. Therefore, the goal setting and strategy formulation of policy advocacy are based on problem analysis. The process is shown in the following figure:

Obviously, analyzing the problem is the premise of solving the problem, and a successful policy initiative is largely related to the accuracy of the problem analysis.

There are three common means of analysis, namely, policy status analysis, relevant stakeholder analysis and self-analysis. In self-analysis, you might as well ask yourself whether I understand the whole picture of things in depth, constantly reflect, in order to achieve the transformation from shallow problems to substantive problems.

How to analyze the relevant stakeholders

Approaching and lobbying stakeholders is a key step in policy advocacy. The first thing to do is to locate the core stakeholders and understand their attitude. There are many channels to connect the core stakeholders, and the three direct ways are: writing to relevant government departments, through hearings, symposiums, or public opinion collection in the legislative / legislative / judicial process. In addition, with the help of the institutional advantages of the two sessions, we can also convey public opinions through the representative members of the two sessions.

What should we pay attention to in policy advocacy?

Policy advocacy is a fine discipline that requires advocates to maintain a high degree of sensitivity, carefulness and patience. In addition to the above points, we should also pay attention to the following points:

Policy advocacy requires reasonable evidence and scientific objectivity. When proposing amendments to the provisions of the decree, the main justifications should also be attached for legislators' reference.

In addition to opinions, suggestions are also very important alternatives! Opinions are often views on the shortcomings of existing solutions, while suggestions are more positive feedback, that is, solutions.

3 to ensure the effectiveness of the channel. The joint names of social networking sites and the results of the questionnaire presented separately do not have legal effect, but they can be combed in the report for legislators' reference.

(4) set phased goals. Before achieving the final goal, short-term goals should be set and achieved step by step. For example, if the ultimate goal is to amend the Beijing Parks regulations and add relevant provisions on biodiversity conservation, then the short-term goal can be set to arouse the relevant departments' attention to urban park management and start the process of revising the Beijing Parks regulations.

(5) to find the key people who have related interest demands in the government. In the face of a larger game of interests, more neutral scholars and experts are more able to stand on the United front with NGO to participate in advocacy.

(6) follow up some problems for a long time. After the issue is raised, it should be followed up for a long time to promote the continuous optimization of the policy.

Question and answer session

After the training, many participants put forward their own thoughts on the content of the training. The editor selected two representative questions and answers:

Q: how do you view the difficulties faced by policy advocacy

A: the difficulties faced by policy advocacy are indeed multiple. Taking the limitations of the organization as an example, there are limitations in the legal knowledge, social observation and empirical knowledge of social organizations, and it is often difficult to achieve the set goals. In addition, the barrier formed with the public is also a big obstacle that social organizations need to overcome. To put it simply, when communicating with the public, we should speak "human language", speak colloquially, and be a qualified bridge of communication. The limitations at the government level come from the game of interests and balance, which are difficult for social organizations to intervene.

Q: how should social organizations find external forces to overcome their limitations?

A: putting aside the problem itself, social organizations should always keep in mind that policy advocacy requires energy and long-term investment. On the other hand, social organizations can disperse the pressure and build policy networks through non-institutionalized cooperation among organizations. In cooperation, different social organizations can give full play to their different advantages and promote the completion of policy advocacy.