Given Hapunda

247 process based on demonstrated evidence, to directly and indirectly influence decision makers, stakeholders and relevant audiences to support and implement actions that contribute to the fulfilment of issues and problems at hand. Therefore, advocacy involves delivering evidence based on recommendations to decision makers, stakeholders and/or those who influence them. Performing advocacy requires organising and organisations. The former entails that advocacy must be done within the human rights framework. The human rights-based approach is a conceptual framework for the process of human development that is normatively based on international human rights standards and operationally directed to promoting and protecting human rights (Jonsson, 2003). It seeks to analyse inequalities which lie at the heart of development problems and redress discriminatory practices and unjust distributions of power that impede development progress. A well thought-out plan of a sustainable advocacy strategy can contribute to the development of effective and efficient planning and implementation of programmes that improve our well-being. WHO (2008), argues that without a proper advocacy plan , there is a risk that desired changes may never happen or may occur in a fragmented manner and the benefits of the population that should flow from comprehensive policies and programmes may not be realised. Therefore, it important to carefully think about the idea of developing an advocacy plan that can be actualised. Creating an advocacy plan does not only help understand the situation, it also helps to understand stakeholders and their powers and how change happens. As such, a good advocacy plan has at least 9 steps described below, namely: defining situation; setting goals and objectives; identifying the target audience; mobilising support; developing persuasive messages, selecting methods of advocacy; putting in place necessary conditions and capacities; developing and implementing the advocacy plan and putting in place a monitoring and evaluation system. WHO (2008) and UNICEF (2010) have developed toolkits to guide the development of advocacy plans. What follows is a description of the development of an advocacy plan. Step 1: Defining Situation - Defining the current state of a problem or issue challenging optimal human development is the first step in developing and understanding the need for advocacy. UNICEF (2010) states that every advocacy must begin here: what do we want the advocacy to achieve? To answer this, organisations need to understand the problem, issues and their solutions. Knowing what an organisation wants involves conducting a situational analysis, generating evidence and carefully choosing priorities that the advocacy must focus on to bring about the desired change. The situational analysis Focus Box 2: Refusing “Business as Usual” to bring Change Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr