Paper details

Paper authors	Agnieszka Zogata Kusz
In panel on	Humanitarian advocacy
Paper presenter(s) will be presenting	In-Person / Online

Abstract

In recent years, aid agencies gradually get involved in humanitarian advocacy at various levels. Facing questions about their credibility and legitimacy, being asked to whom they are accountable and whose voice they speak with, they change strategies of beneficiaries’ contribution to the issue.
The goal of the paper is to present theoretical background together with the design of the research targeted at identification of changing roles that beneficiaries play within policy advocacy developed by aid agencies.
The paper aims attention at the questions of how, why and when humanitarian organisations include assisted communities into policy advocacy process. It focuses on peacebuilding and reconciliation context.
The paper combines international social work perspective with the political science one. In terms of social work – that inter alia emphasises social change and empowerment of people – policy advocacy is a part of so-called macro practice. This means the area of influencing unresponsive or unjust systems without which it is impossible to help individuals or communities effectively. In terms of political science, policy advocacy is a tool of citizens’ engagement in public affairs, of preserving or increasing democratic character of policymaking and policy enforcement at various levels.

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