Why does WaterAid work in advocacy?

A Bangladeshi woman carrying a water pitcher.

Credit: WaterAid / Abir Abdullah

International governments have agreed targets to halve the proportion of people without access to safe water and sanitation by 2015. Taking population growth into account, this means that 280,000 people need to gain access to safe water and 384,000 need to gain access to adequate sanitation every day for the next nine years for these targets to be achieved.

WaterAid and its partners can only feasibly help a fraction of this number so in addition to direct implementation work WaterAid therefore aims to influence the policies and practice of the main decision-makers, donors and public, to gain their commitment to the provision of these basic services.

To achieve this target, immense political will is needed - from national governments, and international agencies - to prioritise water and sanitation activities and to enable the necessary to be committed to this task. This requires changes in both policy and practice.

Spreading the lessons from successful projects - good practice advocacy - forms a major plank of WaterAid's advocacy work to help other organisations develop sustainable projects. However, in response to the increasingly urgent need for a commitment to providing water and sanitation for all, WaterAid is developing a second plank: addressing the root causes of the lack of access to safe, affordable, accessible water supply, sanitation and hygiene services.

These root causes are found in the legal, economic, political, cultural and social inequalities throughout the world. Change is needed not only in water supply and sanitation policy but also in policies such as poverty eradication, trade and investment that impact on people's access to water and sanitation.

The need for policy change is found at many different levels and in different arenas. The UK Government, for example, plays a significant role in water and sanitation through the aid it gives to developing country governments, through its own trade and investment, and through the role it plays in international institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. These international institutions and others such as the Global Water Partnership and the Water and Sanitation Program have considerable influence on global water policy.

WaterAid therefore needs to seek policy change in these arenas as well as with local and national governments in the countries where it works. This requires a three-pronged approach - working at national, UK and international level - aimed at different audiences, working with different allies and using different messages, but with increasing co-ordination to achieve maximum impact.

WaterAid's advocacy aim and guiding principles:

The aim of WaterAid's advocacy activities is to extend the organisation's ability to influence national policies and practices in order that the poor gain access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion services.

WaterAid's future advocacy work will be guided by the following principles:

• WaterAid recognises that achieving policy change is a long-term process, requiring co-ordinated programme, advocacy, communications and fundraising work over many years
  
• WaterAid's advocacy work includes building capacity of staff, partners and community groups to undertake advocacy work and participate in changing policy themselves. This is what is known as 'rooted advocacy'
  
• Advocacy work will be based on clear evidence and knowledge, supported by thorough research and analysis
  
• Advocacy activities and audiences will be clearly defined; advocacy messages will be accurate and delivered through appropriate media
  
• WaterAid will engage in constructive dialogue with advocacy audiences on priority issues identified within the organisation
  
• WaterAid will work in collaboration with like-minded organisations to achieve its advocacy objectives, including networks and alliances in three key areas: the UK Water Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) Network; national networks of practitioners and advocacy organisations in the countries where WaterAid works; and the international coalition of NGOs working in the water sector on common advocacy issues
  
• WaterAid's advocacy work will contribute to building solidarity between UK supporters and partner communities, to raise awareness about key issues and to increase supporters' involvement in campaigning and other advocacy activities
  
• New mechanisms for greater co-ordination and integration between different departments of WaterAid and between different regions will be needed to increase the effectiveness of advocacy activities

Download the Advocacy issue sheet ( PDF 407Kb)

Download WaterAid's Advocacy sourcebook ( PDF 1Mb)

Download WaterAid's Advocacy sourcebook in French ( PDF 407Kb)

Download WaterAid's Advocacy sourcebook in Portuguese ( PDF 500Kb)