From Clicktivist to Advocate

Today marks 500 days until the target date to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. As the momentum speeds up, what can we do to assist? Nicole So decided to get more involved and effective in doing her bit to help meet these important goals. Here she tells of her journey from 'clicktivist' to advocate. 

by Nicole So, Citizen Advocate

Less than a year ago, I knew nothing about advocacy.

This time last year, I was nothing more than a clicktivist. A person that cared enough to share a heart-breaking picture of a child living in poverty via my Twitter account, but didn’t quite know what else she could do.

I found RESULTS through a job advertisement for Global Health Campaign Manager. A position that I did not have the experience or qualifications for which to apply, but something about this word, advocacy, grabbed my attention.

Defined by Dictionary.com as ‘the act of pleading for, supporting, or recommending; active espousal.’

OK, that didn’t clear anything up...

Upon further research I realised:

• Words with Friends point value for advocacy is 21 points!
• Google images relates advocacy to people holding hands and/or megaphones.
• Advocacy in Portuguese is advocacy.

None of these amazing fun facts actually helped me understand advocacy better. When I finally clicked through to the RESULTS website I had a lot of questions. The biggest one was who can I contact to ask more questions, the website had so many words, flashing images, and tabs. It was overwhelming to know where to start. So, I retreated to my safe place - Facebook.

Thankfully, RESULTS has a Facebook page or my journey in advocacy could have ended right there. This is the first post that I saw:

I am not sure what intrigued or terrified me more, the idea of speaking with my local member of parliament, who happens to be the Hon. Joe Hockey, or travelling to Canberra with strangers. I stared at my screen, stupefied, for five minutes before I sent this short email to Gina the Grassroots Engagement Manager:

Hello,

My name is Nicole. I am interested to help speak to MPs in Canberra about poverty.

Please let me know more information.

Thank you.

Regards, Nicole

When my mum said, ‘don’t get into a car with strangers’, I think she meant to say, ‘except if the driver is the CEO of a non-profit organisation who is driving you to Canberra to talk to MPs about poverty’. If not, sorry mum.

That was in September 2013, fast forward to June, 2014: I am in the foyer of the Doubletree Hotel in Arlington, Virginia at the RESULTS 2014 International Conference. It is 9:00am, but my body thinks it is 11:00pm, so I rely on unrelenting enthusiasm to keep me vertical.

Plus caffeine.

The first workshop was titled ‘Who Do You Want to Be in the World?: Leadership Tips for Everyone’. I sat sheepishly at the end of a row, towards the back. Close enough so that I can see the screen without my glasses, but far back enough to melt into a sea of faces. I wasn’t sure that I had anything important to contribute, but I was wrong. Turns out, as a Citizen Advocate, I am the most important part.

Sam Daley-Harris, the founder of RESULTS opened the day with a powerful speech, reminding all of us that ordinary citizens can do extraordinary things. A part of our potential and privilege as citizens of a democratic nation is the freedom to engage and connect with our government. This is something that not enough of us are taking advantage of. The power to change the world for the better, was hidden in the idea of advocacy the whole time.

Next, Rev. Lisa Marchal captivated me with the story of her journey to working with RESULTS (US). It began with a humble recollection of her first encounter with a Person Living with HIV and the stigma she witnessed amongst her friends and family. She emphasised the necessity for a good personal story to not only teach someone how to act - but to inspire them to act. A good story can communicate morals and values through emotions and can bring global issues to a personal level. I wanted one of those, a story to bewitch, and to embolden change.

I have been to conferences before, ones where people talk at you, where you’re expected to write notes quietly, and not interact. This was not one of those. The minutes went by and I felt the community atmosphere grow. Each session was peppered with audience participation, and we were encouraged to give feedback and ask questions. I felt like I was a part of something bigger, like a cog in a well-oiled advocacy machine.

After each speaker, I was sure that my glass was too full of inspiration, I could not possibly have room for more. But the conference just kept handing me a bigger glass.

Perhaps, it was between:

• former Prime Minister and Board Chair of GPE, Julia Gillard passionately advocating for universal quality education;
• or the dizzying scrimmage to get this photo with President of the World Bank, Dr. Jim Kim after he spoke fondly of his experiences with RESULTS;

That I stopped to ask myself, How did I get here?
 
Well, the ingenuity of aeronautical engineering had a hand, but it was advocacy. Advocacy got me from Sydney, Australia to Washington DC, USA.

It empowered me as much as I use it to empower politicians to act on alleviating poverty.

Less than a year ago, I knew nothing about advocacy.

Now, I am a Citizen Advocate, and I know what it means. It means that I am one of many big-hearted people around the world in the RESULTS family, who care enough to speak loudly about the global issues that matter, for the betterment of those who are voiceless.

And Google images was right, advocacy was about holding hands and a megaphone.

So, thank you to my friends at RESULTS (Australia) who held my hand and helped me find my voice, but especially to Gina who gave me a megaphone.

First steps

The launch of the Sydney City group

By Gina Olivieri, RESULTS Grassroots Engagement Manager

Recently I had two experiences that showed me just how long, but rewarding, the journey is to become an advocate and build champions.

The first was in Canberra, meeting with an MP. We were hoping our meeting would result in him taking some sort of action, and were confident as he has a reputation for being ‘on board’ with various social justice issues. But we were pretty shocked when he said he could make a ten minute speech. That afternoon! Luckily we were prepared and could provide information and answer questions to help the speech get prepared in time.

The second was launching our new Sydney City group. A crowd of people gathered to hear how they could make a difference by building relationships with their MPs and talking to them about issues that matter to them. At one point, we asked “who knows the name of their MP?” About half of the room did. For the other half, learning the name of their MP represented the first step on the journey to being an advocate.

It’s that same first step we have all taken - leading to writing letters, meeting MPs, helping hone parliamentary speeches, or even appearing in the media to talk about an issue. An MP giving a ten minute speech on an issue that’s important to us – that wasn’t pure luck. Somewhere along the line, an advocate took the first step of finding out his name.

What step will you take today to become an advocate?

Sam, Alan Griffin MP and Gina

RESULTS Australia: World TB Day 2013

Andrew Wilke MP with RESULTS in Canberra 2013

Each year, March 24th marks World TB Day. It’s a timely moment to renew our commitment to getting to zero TB deaths within our lifetime. While we have the knowledge about what is needed to defeat this disease, it will require a huge effort to get there. We need to reach vulnerable populations, who are often most at risk of contracting TB and missing out on much needed diagnosis and treatment. We also need increased investment into much needed new TB drugs, diagnostics and a vaccine. This infectious and deadly disease, while thought by many to be a thing of the past, still claims around 1.5 million lives a year. In 2011, 8.7 million new cases of TB were detected.

RESULTS  has been busy with activities for World TB Day! We were in Canberra meeting with MPs and Senators the week before World TB Day, where we spoke with a number of parliamentarians about TB, and asked them to hang posters in their parliament house office windows. RESULTS Australia designed and printed four posters to increase awareness of the importance of the Global Fund to defeat HIV, TB and Malaria in the Asia Pacific, particularly given the $11 million shortfall to Australia’s commitment to the Global Fund this year. It is also a replenishment year for the Global Fund, so awareness of the critical role the Global Fund plays in our region is very important. Did you know that in 2012, 100% of TB program funding in Laos, 92% in Indonesia and 89% in Papua New Guinea came from the Global Fund?

Dr Mark Dybul, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria holding one of RESULTS' posters

We worked with Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon to table a motion in the Senate, emphasising the need for increased financing for Research and Development for TB, and support for the Global Fund in addressing Tuberculosis around the world and in our region.

It was also encouraging to see Teresa Gambaro make a speech in the House to mark World TB Day that supported our asks around TB in the region, calling for strong support for the Global Fund and zero TB deaths in our region.

Plenty of media was also generated by RESULTS to mark this day. Maree Nutt, our national manager, was interviewed by four radio stations: 2GB, 2SM, 2UE and ABC radio news, where she provided comments on TB and the importance of the Global Fund to defeating TB.

We also had an Op Ed in Online Opinion. Maree Nutt highlighted that the Asia Pacific is home to 60% of world TB cases, and that tragic deaths such as Catherina Abraham’s from multi-drug resistant TB are avoidable if TB is given adequate attention and resources. Again, the imperative role of the Global Fund in tackling this disease was noted.