In Cebu City, more than 70% of the population is classified as urban poor. A group of Non-Government Organizations with programs and services for the urban poor organizations bonded together and worked with urban poor groups to create an alliance, Task Force Tawhanong Pagpuyo (TFT), to respond to the growing numbers of victims who experienced evictions and demolitions of their houses. TFT presented and advocated for alternatives to government development plans that involved wholesale demolition with no alternative relocation sites. TFT organized a conference of urban poor leaders to identify issues and alternative solutions and followed this with research and case studies. These materials were presented to the local government and housing agencies.  Simultaneously, training was conducted for judges who issue the demolition and eviction orders. The alliance succeeded in developing and getting representatives on to a local housing board and assisted in preparing a comprehensive shelter plan for the city.  As a result, guidelines for demolition and eviction were adopted and judges now coordinate with the local housing board to ensure compliance. The number of demolitions and evictions was substantially reduced and when they did occur, relocation sites were identified in advance.

Founded in 1995 by the Institute for Democratic Alternatives in South Africa (IDASA), the Budget Information Service evaluates federal budgets to determine whether government human rights obligations to particular groups of people are being met.  After first determining the government’s legal obligations to a constituency, then analyzing budget tables to see how the constituency’s economic and social rights are promoted and protected in budget allocations.  IDASA uses a human rights-based approach to draft budget recommendations, presenting them to government members, lobbying groups, and members of the media.

Through a drive that encouraged citizens of all political persuasions to sign a petition, the Basque peace group, Elkarri, gave citizens a way to collectively and effectively pressure the Spanish and Basque governments to initiate a peace dialogue.

For a detailed exploration of this tactic, please click on the following link to consult our tactical notebook, <b><a href="http://www.newtactics.org/en/SocietyasMediator">Society as Mediator for Conflict Resolution</a></b> by Tamara Muruetagoiena.

The Center for Victims of Torture (CVT) trains peer counselors to provide mental health services to refugees in Guinea and Sierra Leone.  With more than 300,000 refugees from Sierra Leone and more than 100,000 refugees from Liberia, staff and resources were far too limited to meet the needs of those who could benefit from mental health services in the refugee camps.  As a result, CVT began training of refugees themselves as peer counselors—or Psychosocial Agents (PSAs). Over 120 para-professionals have been trained through this approach.

For a detailed exploration of this tactic, please click on the following link to consult our tactical notebook, <b><a href="http://www.newtactics.org/en/RebuildingCommunities">Rebuilding Communities</a></b> by Binta Barry and Nancy L. Pearson.

The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice in Ghana solicited the support of respected community leaders—Chiefs and Queen Mothers—to address the problem of Trokosi, a system whereby women and young girls (vestal virgins) are taken to and kept in a fetish shrine without their consent to atone for sins or crimes allegedly committed by one of their relatives.  The community leaders were an integral part of the process of convincing the victims, perpetrators and the communities to voluntarily abandon the practice.  The Trokosi slaves are subjected to a life of servitude by being required to meet the material and sexual needs of the fetish priests in these shrines.  In partnering with community leaders, the Commission has secured the freedom of approximately 2,500 women and girls.

For a detailed exploration of this tactic, please click on the following link to consult our tactical notebook, <b><a href="http://www.newtactics.org/en/PowerfulPersuasion">Powerful Persuasion</a></b> by Emile Short.

FoodFirst Information and Action Network International (FIAN) uses a human rights based approach to confront investors with the negative impacts and human rights violations caused by companies with loans or equity investment by the investors. The tactic is especially used in a campaign on violations of the right to food by large surface gold mines. The goal of the tactic is either to prevent investments in new mines or to mitigate the impacts of existing mines.

For a detailed exploration of this tactic, please click on the following link to consult our tactical notebook, <b><a href="http://www.newtactics.org/en/LeveragingtheMoney">Leveraging the Money</a></b> by Ulrich Mueller.

Ruta Pacifica, a feminist, pacifist, anti-military organization, organizes caravans of thousands of women in Colombia to visit regions hardest-hit by the war. The caravans serve as a way for women from different areas to come together in support against the conflict, exchange ideas, and fight for an end to human rights abuses. When the women arrive in the war-torn areas, they will often instigate marches, rallies, or community discussions about the effects of the war. A caravan to the Putumayo region consisted of 100 buses carrying 3,000 women who marched with community members against the war. The group and the women thoroughly document and evaluate each action both for the media and for their own assessment. The organization includes the women in the training and planning for each caravan to ensure their knowledge, protection, and to emphasize their purpose and ideology.  Because many roads to the regions are blocked by armed groups and there are significant risks associated with traveling, the organization plans all stages of the action, considers all possible risks and creates an emergency plan to address the risks. Through the caravans, the members have a better understanding of what it means to be a pacifist and feminist, and have created a strong network of international connections.

For a detailed exploration of this tactic, please click on the following link to consult our tactical notebook, <b><a href="http://www.newtactics.org/en/WomenMakingPeace
">Women Making Peace: Mobilizing Ourselves Against the War</a></b> by Amanda Lucia Camilo Ibarra.

Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) organizes public hearings in India where acts of corruption, such as the embezzlement of funds dedicated to development projects, are exposed through a comparison of official records with what is actually on the ground and what is reported by the attending villagers.  MKSS activists conduct investigations into allegations of corruption in a particular village or district, often on the request of local residents who feel they have been cheated or abused. They submit a request, at the village council or at higher levels of government, for copies of the relevant official records. Once obtained, the accounts are cross-checked through site visits and interviews and discussions with villagers.  MKSS then holds public hearings that are attended by hundreds of villagers, as well as the press, government officials and those suspected of corruption.  This creates public pressure for investigations or compensation.