The STAND process is based on a belief that accountable governance at a local level will only develop in response to an organised and sustained demand. STAND serves as a platform on which informed and focused community-led advocacy establishes the conditions in which resource allocation becomes increasingly transparent and service delivery improves.

For community-led advocacy to be effective, communities have to be united around a clear set of priorities. Therefore, conflict transformation and needs assessment are important initial elements of the STAND process. Communities also need to be informed and able to deploy information persuasively. Facilitating access to information and sharing advocacy skills are core components of the STAND process.

Despite challenges, communities grow in confidence at their successes and in experience by creating advocacy campaigns. Networking communities is essential to the development of a robust demand-side transparency and accountability platform. STAND encourages communities to move beyond advocacy that demands particular 'products' of government towards advocacy focused on transforming the process of governance.

Process phases:

  1. Initial engagement
  2. Community training
  3. Identifying community priorities
  4. Sensitisation on rights
  5. Preparing for advocacy
  6. Community led advocacy
  7. Government response
  8. Lessons learnt and new strategies

Phase 1

Community entry and mutual understanding of core interests and positions in relation to peace and development

Activities:

  • Women and youth focus groups share experience and reflect on current challenges in community and the Niger Delta

Phase 2

Providing the tools for community-led peace building and advocacy

Activities:

  • Community-based trainings with women and youth groups on facilitation, mediation, negotiation and advocacy. This phase involves lectures, roundtable discussions and drama workshops
  • Town hall meeting about unity and non-violence led by youth and women who have undertaken training

Phase 3

Assessment of services and identification of community priorities

Activities:

  • Separate needs assessment with the women’s focus group and youth focus group. Both involve an active discussion about services and the role of the state and oil majors in the provision of core services
  • Participatory workshop achieves a ranking of core services and needs with transparent scoring and prioritising of five core needs
  • The entire community debates the priorities so consensus can be achieved
  • This process is supported by a baseline needs survey
  • Key change agents are identified

Phase 4

Sensitisation on rights, budget allocations and advocacy

Activities:

  • Popular awareness raising through rallies, concerts, posters, leaflets and workshops
  • Awareness-raising with youth and women groups on local budget allocations
  • Focus group discussions that explore the disparity between specific allocations and service delivery at community level
  • Community participation in mapping of local government allocation against the five needs prioritised by the community

Phases 5

Preparation for community led advocacy

Activities:

  • Creation of community advocacy committees to lobby and advocate for the five priority needs. Two members each are nominated by women, youths and elders.
  • NGO partner supports the committee through regular strategy meetings and campaign support
  • Key stakeholder mapping for each targeted need
  • Further advocacy training for committee – collective training on advocacy processes

Phase 6

Community led advocacy

Activities:

  • Letters
  • Lobbying visits (with and without NGO support)
  • Follow up phone calls and text messages
  • Community media production
  • Experience sharing on advocacy with other communities
  • Media awareness to support advocacy process
  • Progress report back to the relevant youth and women bodies
  • Ongoing strategising and discussion (collective and learning process)

Phase 7

Response from government agency

Activities:

  • Advocacy committee reports response from government agency at a town hall meeting
  • Service delivery contract monitored by advocacy committee
  • Media exposure to support the advocacy campaign

Phase 8

Lessons learnt and new strategies

Activities:

  • Focus group discussions on successes and challenges
  • Experience sharing
  • More advocacy using tools in phases 6, 7 and 8

Lessons learnt: More details