What is advocacy?
Advocacy is taking action by speaking out against injustice and the abuse of rights, with and on behalf of the poor and the oppressed. It aims to influence decision makers and to challenge policies that cause inequality and suffering.
Why advocacy?
Since the early 1950s, World Vision has been active in responding to the needs of children suffering from poverty and other forms of injustice. Today our vision statement includes striving for “life in all its fullness” for every child.
To reach this goal, it is crucial that the systemic causes of poverty and injustice be addressed. We need to remove the barriers that keep children and their families in poverty despite their best efforts.
How is advocacy put into action?
Advocacy happens at many levels. It starts with our program work in the field, where we listen to children and families. World Vision staff sit on dirt floors, around cooking fires or by sickbeds, learning what local people need to improve their situation.
These experiences form the foundation of our advocacy work, which deal mainly with addressing the difficult that people face today. Research and analysis complement this work so that we can speak knowledgeably to government leaders about what needs to be done to address the situations.
In today’s global world, research and analysis often point to global systems that create or perpetuate underdevelopment. For example, the policies of rich northern countries regarding debt, trade and aid hold tremendous influence over the opportunities facing people in poorer countries.
Advocacy in Canada
In Canada, our Advocacy and Education team works to address causes of poverty and injustice as they relate to our country. We have policy specialists in the areas of health and HIV and AIDS, peace and conflict, child rights, and economic development. They work with government leaders to come up with concrete, workable solutions.
Our specialists also work in education and other campaigns, providing educational resources on global issues for schools and helping teachers to develop global citizenship values among students. At critical times, they promote public campaigns on global issues to inform leaders on what Canadians want. We often work in coalition with other groups like Make Poverty History.
Together, we are making inroads and helping children. Public pressure was key to such major advances as the international ban on land mines and the debt cancellation provided to very poor countries in 2005. In the latter, debt cancellation enabled poor countries to invest their scarce resources in education and healthcare rather than in interest payments on historical debts. More recently in Canada, public pressure helped ensure the passage of the Better Aid Bill, a legislation that will ensure Canada’s aid program effectively address poverty issues.
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