NEW TACTICS IN AFRICA: New Tactics resources provide practical application for rights based development workshops

Maria Immonenfrom the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Geneva, Switzerland contacted the New Tactics project to let us know that she used New Tactics materials and tools in a one week workshop on rights based approaches to development in Johannesburg, South Africa for LWF field programmes in the region. Maria is responsible for a number of field programmes in both the West and Horn of Africa. She also serves as the focal point for human rights and rights based approaches as it relates to all Lutheran World Federation–World Service programmes globally.

NT: How did you first become aware of the New Tactics in Human Rights project to incorporate New Tactics materials and tools in your workshop?

Maria: I was browsing the web to find practical application tools. There are very few practical tools available on rights based approaches to development and the New Tactics materials are some of the best I’ve found. There is a real lack of information for practitioners doing rights based work on a practical level. Although there is a great deal of discussion about these issues in the academic world, there is very little for the practitioners themselves. This is where we’ve found the New Tactics materials so useful.

NT: Who attended and what were the goals for your workshop?

Maria: Actually, the workshop in Johannesburg was the 5th in a series of Rights Based Approaches (RBA) practice workshops that we’ve done and this is the 3rd workshop where I’ve used specific tools from the New Tactics website. This time, however, we used even more of them.

We had 32 staff people from our field programmes in Zambia, and associate programmes in Zimbabwe, Swaziland, South Africa and Malawi from positions of country program management, middle and project management as well as some finance staff.

Currently, the LWF is implementing a policy position to incorporate rights based approaches in all our development work. These workshops are being conducted to provide our field staff with a clear understanding, competency, resources and abilities to implement the policy. The workshops are set up to provide an understanding of the following components: 1) legal understanding for rights based approaches; 2) links between international laws and systems with local laws and systems; and 3) understanding and practicing how to actually apply human rights and rights based approaches in LWF development efforts.

For example, during the workshop participants look at their own countries’ constitution, legal system and how international laws are translated into their system as well as the gaps that exist. Next, they look at ways to incorporate and apply this understanding of rights into rights based approaches in all LWF development programs. During the workshop, we take our own situations as the starting point. Each country comes with one project they want to look at throughout the week-long workshop.

NT: What New Tactics materials did you use during the week-long workshop?

Maria: For us, the usefulness of the New Tactics tools has been great. For example, we do a problem tree analysis. If we’re looking at water–there are always a lot of problems associated with this issue and often based in the area of politics. We take a look at the power relationships. The New Tactics tactical map is one of the tools we have used for problem analysis. We use the Developing creative strategy and tactics from the New Tactics in Human Rights: A Resource for Practitioners book. The Spectrum of Allies tool has been very helpful as there are many ways that you can use that tool as well as the 198 Methods of nonviolent action, among other resources from the website.

NT: Do the LWF field office participants’ plan to use any of the New Tactics materials and tools when they go back to their own programmes? Can you give an example of what they plan to do?

Maria: This movement within the LWF is a global policy so the participants must move toward rights based planning. They actually begin their action planning during the workshop by looking at one of the projects they are involved in and how to redesign it using rights based approaches. This helps them to develop a point by point plan.

The practical tools we give them, including the New Tactics tools, help them in that process. They incorporate these tools in planning their own staff trainings, review of projects and field level guidelines and their accountability towards stakeholders in the communities where we work. Some have redesigned their whole approach. For example, in Swaziland we are working on food security issues due to water contamination problems. A multinational company is polluting the water system to the point where the community cannot produce their own food. How can we dig new wells or think about other food security alternatives when this is one of the key roots of the problem? This analysis completely changed their approach. They are now moving to engage and mobilize the community in order to empower the community to demand their rights and hold this company responsible to the community and to hold the government as primary duty bearer accountable for upholding and enforcing environmental law.

We are continuing with these trainings on the global level and we have shared the New Tactics website and materials with all our staff in an effort to connect them with useful tools and resources.

NT: Do you have any recommendations to the New Tactics project or for others who might want to use our resources?

Maria: I would recommend that the New Tactics tools be placed more prominently on the website. I found this section most useful but it was difficult to find. Also, one of the biggest challenges we face is that human rights discourse has gone one way and the development discourse has gone another way. The New Tactics materials can be used very well for both. It would be helpful to have more examples focused on human rights in development and rights based approaches to development–the economic, social and cultural rights–such as rights to food, water, education, etc.