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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
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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.
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