Infographic presenting the results of the survey is available in English.
Theory and practice of advocacy are well studied in democratic countries, while in Belarus their systematic study is only at its initial stage. In this country advocacy exists predominantly in the form of individual cases rather than widespread practice and does not make it possible to identify its development trends.
Advocacy is in the making, so tracing and describing advocacy development trends is not an easy task. Advocacy, however, may yield positive results in the context of Belarus. There are at least three examples of successful national campaigns over the past five years: promotion of the mechanism of contracting NGO social services by the state, accession to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and a campaign for the conservation of peatlands. However, more often even the organizers of campaigns have difficulty in assessing the success of these campaigns.
The purpose of the survey was to study advocacy practices in Belarus, analyse key actors engaged in advocacy efforts, and identify specifics of their cooperation with state institutions from the point of view of obtained results, factors of success or failure of their actions, as well as the organizational capacity of advocacy actors as one of the prerequisites for effective advocacy in the context of Belarus. We explored the 2010-2015 period, but if the campaigns were particularly significant we also studied them even if they were launched before that time.
The full text of the analysis advocacy in Belarus is here.
