Knowledge Programme

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Introduction

STAR Kampuchea works on building up advocacy capacity for its own partners - Cooperating Organizations (COs), Provincial Advocacy Networks (PANs), and Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) - and supporting them to advocate the above three issues, land, fishery and forestry, which seriously affect the people's livelihood. Within this framework, study tours are one approach, which catalyze STAR Kampuchea 's overarch goal which is to strengthen democracy by strengthening civil society in Cambodia .

Both destinations, Indonesia and The Philippines, are well chosen: As well as the Cambodian the Philippine and Indonesian societies have to resolve natural resource conflicts to a great extend. At the same time in both countries a professional and powerful NGO community advocates for the people's rights, which accordingly has years of experience of advocacy in land, fishery and forestry issues. By exchanging experience and reflecting own strategies and practice the participants should increase the organization's capacities to deal successfully with land, fishing and forestry disputes.

Study Tour Goal

To improve STAR Kampuchea partners' capacity to be skillful and dynamic advocate, particularly on the areas of land, fishery and forestry.

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Objective

• To give opportunity to 30 staff members of STAR Kampuchea's partners and local government to explore and learn more about advocacy in the region, particularly on land, fishery and forestry, from experienced NGOs and People Based Organizations (CBOs) in the Philippines and Indonesia.

• To build relationship and to strengthen networking among NGOs, POs, other networks and local government in Cambodia , in Philippines and Indonesia to create a joint force for a specific advocacy.

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Strategy

With over five years of experience in advocacy, STAR Kampuchea realizes that grassroots democracy must be a cornerstone of any democratic country. Thus, in the effort to strengthen national democracy, it must be ensured that local people become aware of their own capacities and are empowered with the skills necessary for their self-reliance and advocacy. To this end, STAR Kampuchea has established a mission to encourage, strengthen, support and cooperate with civil society organizations to support the grassroots' advocacy movement.

To realize this strategy, STAR Kampuchea will cooperate with ANGOC where STAR Kampuchea is a member of, to identify strong and successful or unsuccessful advocacy NGOs and grassroots communities concerning land, fishery and forestry issues. Further Star Kampuchea will develop a questionnaire to identify the interests and capacity needs of the STAR Kampuchea 's partners. The results will be made available to the partners in the Philippines and Indonesia .

Questions may be asked by the participants

Advocacy

• What kinds of advocacy issues do you work with? For instance laws, human rights, squatters, environment, women issues, landlessness, fishery, forestry, etc.. Which are the most important issues?

• How do you effectively mobilize civil society groups to do advocacy?

• What is your strategy to convince the people to form groups?

• What are effective strategies to rally the people to do advocacy?

• What kinds of strategies do NGO representatives use to get access to the national congress?

• What are key strategies to lobby the government to work together with civil society groups?

• How could development organizations be involved in advocacy activities?

• How could the labor unions be encouraged to work on advocacy?

Problems

• What are the problems/obstacles/conflicts that hinder the NGOs from moving forward?

• Does your government oppress NGOs? If yes, in which way?

• Do you have solutions or ideas to address the above problems?

Networks

• What kind of networks exists? Should a new kind of network be formed?

• For which purpose would you like to form a network?

• What are the best strategies to establish a sustainable network?

• What do you use for information strategies and media?

• How do you effectively communicate (receiving and delivering information) among the partners of your network?

• Do you assemble the people only on the opportunity of special events or do you have permanent meetings and/or groups or networks in the regions/provinces?

• How do you mobilize the labor unions to work together to lobby the government and the industrial owners?

• How do you draw the government's attention to focus on the advocacy NGOs, networks, people's organizations and the commune council?

Training and Human Resources

• What advocacy training do you offer to the people/partners/networks?

• How do you find necessary human resources?

• What human resources are available in your organization?

• What is the length of the training courses?

• What kinds of the strategies/methodologies/materials do you use in the training courses?

Others

• What developing programs exist in the local communities?

• What kinds of skills do you provide to your partners/beneficiaries/networks?

• How can you draw the government's attention to focus on the NGO's community development?

• What are the most effective ways to establish sustainable community development programs and NGOs?

STAR Kampuchea will draft a tentative program for the study tours to develop a fitting program and appropriate presentations together with the host NGOs and communities. According to the interests of the participants the following topics could be discussed at the study tours:

• The national situation in Indonesia or rather the Philippines

• Overview on Advocacy in Indonesia or rather the Philippines

• Effective strategies to mobilize the civil society

• Communication and media strategies

• Effective strategies of cooperation and networking among NGOs, federation building among NGOs

• Grassroots advocacy in the governmental and international context

• Gender Strategies

• Capacity Building (e.g. program development, project proposal writing and organization and financial management)

Each topic should be introduced by an input of the host organization as well as by an input of a Cambodian participant to share and reflect own experience.

Each group will comprise of 15 people who will be selected from the COs , PANs, CBOs, provincial and district authorities and the Commune Councils (CCs). The participants have been chosen according to the following criteria. They should:

• live in an area, which is affected by a land conflict

• be highly committed to assist the land conflict victims and STAR Kampuchea partners at present and in the future

• have medium or high level of education (criteria for the members of the Provincial Advocacy Networks, Cooperating Organizations and government) and

• be able to read and to write Khmer language (criteria for members of Commune Councils and communities) and

• show ability to share lesson learned from the tour to their target groups

Below are the 30 total participants, who have been selected according to the above criteria and from different institutions and geographic areas.

The Philippines tour:

• Phnom Penh STAR Kampuchea (2 of the staff members of the Advocacy Capacity Building Program (ACP); 1 of the staff members of the Advocacy Action Program (AAP); 1 accountant)

• Sihanoukville Province (1 representative of Sihanoukville NGO Advocacy Network (SNAN); 1 representative of the Steng Hoa Fishery Community of SNAN)

• Kompong Cham Province (1 representative of the Kompong Cham NGO Advocacy Network (K-NAN); 1 representative of the Commune Council of the Sonlop Commune, Tbong Kmom District)

• Banteay Meanchey Province (1 representative of the Cambodian Association for Rural Development and Health (CARDH); 1 representative of the Cambodian Socio-Economic Development Association (CSDA); 1 representative of the Buntot Bost Community of Tean Kam Commune; 1 representative of the District Government)

• Battambang Province (1 representative of the District Government ; 1 representative of Cheng Mean Chey, Banon District)

• Kompong Chhnang Province (1 Representative of the Provincial Government)

Overall Participants for the Philippines Learning Travel are 15.

Indonesia tour:

Phnom Penh STAR Kampuchea (2 of the staff members of the Advocacy Capacity Building Program (ACP) ; 2 of the staff members of the Advocacy Action Program (AAP); 1 accountant)

• Pursat Province ( 1 representative of Pusat Civil Society Advocacy Coordinator Alliance (CACA); 1 representative of the Fishery Community of CACA; 1 representative of the provincial government )

• Svay Rieng Province ( 1 representative of NGO Advocacy Coordination Network of Svay Rieng Province (NACN) ; 1 representative of the Community of NACN; 1 representative of the Khmer Association for Development Organization (CADRA)

• Battambang Province (1 representative of the Buddhism and Development Organization (B&D); 1 representative of the Community of B&D in Andeuk Hap Commune, Ratanak Mundul District; 1 representative from Prasat Commune Council in Pranet Prah District; 1 representative of the Hope Association for Rural Development and Health - HAD)

Overall Participants for the Indonesia Learning Travel are 15.

Each group will be accompanied by the Director of STAR Kampuchea who will be responsible for facilitating the groups and translation.

Each participant is requested to set his/her own plan how to share gained knowledge to colleagues and members. The participants should come up with a scenario how to adapt the experience to their actual actions.

The study tours will be comprehensively evaluated and documented to make available the presentations and learned lessons.

Provided that Star Kampuchea and its partner organizations in the Philippine and Indonesia would plan to continue the exchange of experience on a long-term basis, a visit of Philippine's and Indonesian partners in Cambodia or a joint Conference would be an idea to be realized in the next years. Especially a joint Conference could help to share knowledge and experience and to bring advocacy to public attention in Cambodia.

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Proposed Activities

Preparation of the study tours start in June 6, 2005 . The first tour will be to the Philippines and the second tour will be to Indonesia . The tour to the Philippines will be from September 4 to September 14, 2005 . STAR Kampuchea has already identified some organization members that are qualified and are needed to improve their capacity. There will be also an organization and evaluation of the two 12 days long study tours, for together 30 participants, to learn advocacy experience from the NGOs and CBOs in the Philippines and Indonesia .

After the tours, STAR Kampuchea will share and discuss learned lessons from Philippines and Indonesia by conducting the following activities.

• A one-day workshop in Phnom Penh will be organized to reflect on and document learned lessons and experience. The audience will be the participants of the study tours. A report will be written in English and Khmer and distributed.

• A joint presentation of participants of both tours will be organized in Phnom Penh to present and compare learned lessons to STAR Kampuchea 's staff. Representatives from other NGOs and international organizations that work on land issues will be invited as well.

• All participants will present their experience to their Provincial networks, local NGO(s), Commune Councils and local government representatives, who are involved in solving the land conflicts.

• An article about the study tour will be published in the STAR Kampuchea Newsletter, which is distributed to local, national and international organizations, and will be published on STAR Kampuchea website.

This proposal is implemented by STAR Kampuchea in collaboration with the Asian NGO coalition for agrarian reform (ANGOC).

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Monitoring and Evaluation

During the study tours the participants will hold a wrap-up meeting at the end of each day to review the activities and to collect learned lessons.

At the end of the trip an evaluation meeting will take place to review the whole process. The participants should reflect what they have learned and how to implement the gained knowledge in their current activities.

An evaluation form to be answered by the participants from Cambodia as well as from Indonesia and the Philippines will be set up together with the host organization (ANGOC or SEACA). It will be translated into Khmer and English.