Making Allies

bharris — Fri, 25 May 2007 20:08:07 -0500

Making Allies: Engaging Government Officials to Advance Human Rights

By Boris Pustyntsev

Download full notebok in English, Spanish, Urdu, Bangla and French, and a brief summary in Cantonese below.

In this notebook, we read about a collaboration tactic used by a local Russian nongovernmental organization, Citizens’ Watch, to engage governmental officials, who in many cases are seen as the adversary and not considered as collaborative partners. Citizens’ Watch recognized the potential for engaging bureaucrats who illustrated a level of interest and the potential in significantly advancing human rights. In this notebook, you will read about the unique uses of this tactic, highlighting examples of cross-sectoral cooperation between a nongovernmental organization and the Russian government to advance human rights. As with all tactics, it is not an approach that will work for everyone: well-connected individuals and organizations with highly-developed diplomatic skills will have the most success. But we all can learn, and perhaps get new ideas, from Citizens’ Watch use of collaboration with key government officials to strengthen these officials ability to further human rights from inside government. This notebook will describe how Citizens’ Watch, a Russian NGO based in St. Petersburg, has effectively built collaborative relationships with influential bureaucrats within the Russian administration. These relationships encourage the development of a democratic and participatory connection between the state and its citizens, one in which human rights are respected and the government functions to serve the people, rather than to rule over it. The legacy of Soviet rule and totalitarianism left extremely unpromising conditions for the development of democracy in Russia, in which bureaucrats had neither the experience nor the motivation to be responsive to the public as a transition to democracy demands. Thus, Citizens Watch was swimming against the tide, facing massive inertia and resistance. The development of a positive and collaborative relationship with government insiders in each case required a tailored and respectful approach.

Some of the key techniques Citizens’ Watch used to implement this arduous task included:

a.) An individualized and diplomatic approach – carefully selecting promising and influential players in the administration and approaching them in a respectful and supportive manner.

b.) The effective use of the "carrots" of invitations to domestic and international seminars, trips and meetings. Potential collaborators inside the administration were invited to interesting and useful gatherings outside of Russia, where they would meet international colleagues in their profession who would encourage their personal political transition. Meanwhile, educational events and conferences inside Russia would bring them together with academics and other experts in their field to help them see alternatives to the way the government currently functions.

c.) The provision of helpful resources and information to the bureaucrats, such as translations of documents and training materials from other countries, etc.

d.) Finally, in some cases, the creation of a collaborative relationship allowing for the development of joint strategies to address shared problems. This notebook will use several examples to illuminate the lessons learned from a decade of careful, diplomatic work. The final section will discuss some of the general questions an organization should ask when considering the use of this tactic in its own situation.

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Bengali (Bangla), Citizens' Watch

Making Allies

Making Allies: Engaging Government Officials to Advance Human Rights