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CONSTITUENCY BUILDING AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR CARE Throughout its history as an organization, CARE’s understanding of poverty has changed and grown. In recent years, that evolution has led CARE to take a more holistic approach to poverty and its causes. DEFINITIONS Efforts to impact the systemic causes of poverty can, at least and in broad terms, be grouped into two broad categories: those aimed at influencing public policies and those focused on changing social and cultural beliefs and practices. For the purposes of this paper, we will use the phrase “policy advocacy” to refer to the strategy of influencing government policies, laws and statutes in order to reduce poverty and promote social justice. We will use the term “social advocacy” (or “social transformation”) to refer to the strategy of changing socio-economic and cultural systems and structures to achieve the same ends. There are a variety of techniques that can be used to pursue social and/or policy change. They can be grouped into two broad categories: private (working directly with key opinion leaders to persuade them to promote a specific social or policy change) and public (such as social marketing and public education campaigns). The phrase “constituency building” refers to such public approaches. Accordingly, “constituency building” will be defined as efforts to influence public opinion and motivate people to take collective action in order to achieve a desired social or policy change. In keeping with these definitions, “constituency building” is not primarily about building support for CARE. The intent of constituency building is to grow support for the larger cause of fighting poverty and social injustice and to equip and support people in their efforts to create a more just and equitable world. In some cases, they may act through CARE. In others, they may not. PROGRAMMING Because systemic and structural constraints are encountered and reinforced at the micro, meso and macro levels, policy advocacy and social advocacy can and should be undertaken at all levels, if lasting change is to be achieved. Exactly what issues we choose to address at each level and what role we play in those efforts must be determined on a case-by-case basis. In cases where it has the legitimacy to do so, CARE may act on its own to educate and mobilize people. In such cases it is critical to ensure that CARE’s efforts are complementary to and mutually supportive of the efforts of other organizations. CARE USA CONSTITUENCY BUILDING PROGRAMS CARE USA is developing a coordinated social action program in the United States, supporting the social action and constituency building efforts of CARE country offices, and helping to ensure that there are appropriate linkages between them. CARE USA’s constituency building group currently consists of 6-1/2 professional and support staff people. All but one of the staff is funded through grants supporting the CARE Action Network (see below), leaving the equivalent of one staff person to explore, initiate and 1 partner with others in the organization on other social advocacy efforts. The group is part of the Policy & Advocacy Unit which is in turn part of the Program Department. The CARE Action Network (CAN) forms the hub or foundation for all of our domestic constituency building programs. Through CAN, CARE is educating people in the United States about how U.S. government policies affect the efforts of poor people in developing countries to improve their lives and equipping them to call on their policymakers to make appropriate changes. 2