The Law on Non-Religious Endowments in Lebanon

ADOVOCAY PLAN OUTLINE

FOR

THE LAW ON NON-RELIGIOUS ENDOWMENTS IN LEBANON

SEPTEMBER 2013

Arab Human Rights Fund

Advocacy Plan Outline

Introduction

The following outline addresses 4 main questions needed to develop the advocacy campaign for the new law:

·  What do we want to achieve?

·  Who has the authority to make it happen? (Who is our target audience?)

·  What messages do these authorities need to hear to motivate them to act?

·  How can we get our target audiences to hear our messages?

The Outline

1. VISION OF CHANGE

The overall goal of the advocacy campaign is to enact the new draft Law on Non-Religious Endowments in Lebanon.

2. OBJECTIVES

Objectives are the ultimate aim of advocacy work. For planning purposes, they should be split down into specific steps. It is better to keep the focus on a relatively narrow, manageable group of issues and to split up the goals according to a defined timeframe (6-12 months). Objectives should be SMART +C: Specific, measurable, achievable, timed, and challenging.

Short term: More immediate benchmarks in the form of action steps.

Intermediate: Provide concrete building blocks towards the ultimate goal, help keep the group motivated, and provide benchmarks by which progress can be measured.

Long term: Spell out where you want to be by the end of the advocacy.

3. ADVOCACY GROUP

Define the group of people to assume responsibility for the advocacy initiative including the:

Lead: The person heading the initiative;

Core People: People working on planning and delivery; and

Satellites: Reference points / have occasional involvement.

4. RESOURCES AND ASSETS

Once the objectives have been defined, it is important to make an inventory of the resources this advocacy effort will need, in terms of organization, money, facilities, and allies and the assets that are already available. This inventory will determine the strategies that will be used to reach the campaign’s objectives and the subsequent actions that will be undertaken as part of the effort. The inventory will include:

·  Financial resources including in-kind contributions;

·  Available and committed people (staff and volunteers) and their skills;

·  Helpful information and ideas;

·  Written materials that already exist and those that need to be developed;

·  Contacts (such as with the media); and

·  Facilities.

5. LEGISLATIVE PROCESS ANALYSIS

To help enact the new law, a thorough analysis should be conducted of the legislative process in Lebanon including determining and understanding the timeframe for the legislative calendar; understanding the power dynamics of each phase and the opportunities and entry points for advocacy; reviewing the process for introducing the law; and identifying the key leaders with jurisdiction for the new draft law in addition to potential allies and opponents.

6. STAKEHOLDERS AND TARGET AUDIENCES

Stakeholders are those who may be affected by or have an effect on the advocacy effort. They may also include people who have a strong interest in the effort for academic, or political reasons, even though they are not directly affected by it. The reason for identifying and understanding stakeholders is that it allows you to recruit them as part of the effort.To start the mapping process, identify all the stakeholders involved in the issue – these can be classified by role:

Ø  Decision-makers: Stakeholders immediately positioned to make or affect legislative and policy changes: Legislators, lawyers and judges, and related ministries.

Ø  Beneficiaries: The people and organizations this advocacy effort represents: Existing NGOs, citizens willing to register a non-religious endowment, etc.

Ø  Opponents: Those who oppose the enactment of the law but who may or may not be directly responsible for decision-making: Politicians, legislators, parliamentary groups, etc.

Ø  Allies: Individuals and organizations who can help achieve the advocacy goal: Central Bank, Ministry of Finance, donor organizations, media, etc.

Below is an example of a diagrammatical approach to stakeholder analysis.

Stakeholder Analysis

Decision-Makers, Influencers & Opponents / Baseline Knowledge of the Issue / Position on the Issue / Power to Make Change (strong/medium/
weak) / Importance of the Issue to Them
(strong/medium/
weak) / What Action do We Want Them to Undertake
Legislators
Government
Officials
Business Leaders
NGOs
Religious Endowments
Academics
Experts
Opinion Leaders
7. STRATEGIES

Strategies are the methods we use to reach our objectives. After stakeholders are identified and profiled, strategies including the tactics to be used can be selected based on the particular local context and target audience. Strategies should use available resources and allies, are flexible and likely to bring about the desired effect and should appeal to current and potential supporters.

Below are examples of commonly used strategies and tactics:

Strategies / Tactics / Action Steps
Awareness raising and direct lobbying of legislators / One to one meetings, public speaking, petitions, roundtables, etc.
Media advocacy / Press conference, news stories, editorials, press releases, etc.
Coalition / alliance building / Coalition governance and coordination
Research for advocacy: Raise awareness of broader public through the development and dissemination of information about the new law and the need for its enactment. / Marketing material, position papers, and briefing notes.
8. ACTIVITIES

Activities or tactics are the action steps taken to implement a strategy, which brings the effort closer to achieving its objectives. For each target audience, and under each strategy, there will be a number of activities such as brochure development, PPT presentations, media relations (free media), marketing (paid media), online presence, etc. – designed to send the messages to specific audiences.

Activities should relate to specific objectives and a set of criteria should be developed to assess and select the most effective activities. Possible selection criteria for each activity include:

Ø  Level of influence;

Ø  Level of risk to the effort; and

Ø  Resources needed.

Below are examples of relevant advocacy activities.

Activities

Objective / Targets / Action / Indicators / Responsible / Timeline / Review
Legislative Activities*
Build a network of contacts with policy makers
Editors’ Briefing*
Position paper and briefing notes
Newspaper articles
Press conferences and press Releases*
NGO activities
Meetings and Seminars for government
Brochure*
Non-Religious Endowment Law Guide*
Lawyers Briefings
Religious Endowments briefings
Website

* Editors’ Briefing: Meet with the editors of the leading dailies in Lebanon and announce the campaign, its objectives and importance. Media can be offered partnership in the campaign.

* Press Conference: The campaign can be launched at a press conference hosted by a well-known and respected Lebanese personality. The media will be distributed brochures and press releases about the campaign. Media will be enlisted to assist in promoting the campaign by publishing excerpts from the brochures, editorials and articles and by programming.

* Press Release: To be distributed at the press conference and emailed to those media outlets who were not able to attend the conference.

* Legislative Activities: These activities relate to identifying and meeting with the individuals or groups of individuals in Lebanon who can influence the outcome of the advocacy effort such as legislators, parliamentary groups and legislative staff.

* Brochure: Effective communications channel especially in this case when the target audience is limited in size. One brochure can provide a list of 25-30 Most Frequently Asked Questions and answers about the new law, followed by the integral text of the law.

* Non-religious Endowments Guide (Arabic): An easy to read didactic publication answering the following questions:

·  The role of Non-Religious Endowments

·  The need for a new law

·  Why register a non-religious endowment as opposed to another NGO?

9. MESSAGES

The advocacy campaign should develop core messages that speak to all target audiences in Lebanon and include the fundamental arguments for enacting the new law. Tailored messages might also need to be designed to address the self-interest and special concerns of a particular target audience.

10. RISK ANALYSIS

Major risks (challenges or obstacles) to the success of the advocacy plan in Lebanon (e.g. dangers, political obstacles – both internal and external, etc.) should be analyzed. Decide what the likelihood of each negative situation taking place is and steps that might be taken to mitigate each risk. An example of risks associated with advocacy campaigns include:

Risk / Impact
(High/Medium/Low) / Likelihood
(High/Medium/Low) / Risk Management Strategy
Loss of credibility
Political opposition
Dismantling of coalition
11. MONITORING AND EVALUATION

Monitoring and evaluation is critical to take stock of the advocacy initiative’s progress, and to gauge political pressure and adjust strategy and tactics accordingly. To start:

1.  Describe what indicators signify “success”

2.  Describe how measures of success can be obtained (mini-survey, interviews…etc.)

3.  Describe how the initiative will make sense of the results: How data will be analyzed.

4.  Describe how the information obtained will be used to make adjustments

5.  Gather data

It is important to assess both the process and impact of the advocacy. Process monitoring will allow periodic review to judge whether:

·  The strategies and tactics are working;

·  Target audiences are being reached and the messages are accessible to them;

·  The most appropriate channels to convey the messages are being used; and

·  Collaboration is being carried out with the right allies and partners.

Impact monitoring instead is useful to know whether:

·  Objectives are likely to be achieved in the given timeframe;

·  What more needs to be done to sustain change in the longer-term;

·  What unintended impacts – positive or negative – may have occurred; and

·  Commitment to specific changes by targets have been followed through.

M&E Plan

Objectives / Indicators of Success / Method / Intervals / Responsible

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