Jordanian Civic Activists Toolkit II

The Jordanian Civic Activist Toolkit II is designed to share with Jordan's civic activists and organizations a rich selection of Jordanian advocacy campaigns from a wide range of civil society organizations initiatives that took place between 2014 and 2018 with support from the USAID Civic Initiatives Support program (CIS) (2013 – 2018).

The toolkit includes a number of human rights-based advocacy case studies representing different themes addressing national and local issues. All cases reference the international obligations and commitments to international human rights conventions as the main frameworks governing the addressed issue. To capture the different elements of advocacy processes, the cases vary from providing in-depth reflection on two national and two regional level advocacy cases, brief reflections on two national and one regional level advocacy cases, as well as brief reflections on five local level advocacy cases.

The toolkit also includes an aggregate-level analysis of lessons learned from all cases presented here as well as others presented in previous tools.  

WHY THIS TOOLKIT?

Under the Jordan Civil Society Program (CSP), funded by USAID and implemented by FHI 360 from 2008 - 2013, a similar toolkit was produced capturing Jordanian advocacy interventions (insert link). Advocacy is an on-going, and long-term process therefore more needed to be done to support civil society in its efforts to continue to advance change.  Furthermore, due to the continued need for Arabic resources that highlight Jordanian rights-based advocacy campaigns and the impact that these efforts have had, this current Toolkit has been produced to provide an account of documented experiences from the Jordanian context, by illustrating Jordanian-led civic initiatives and advocacy-related actions.

The civic initiatives and advocacy-related actions covered in this current toolkit were part of USAID Civic Initiatives Support Program (2013-2018), where FHI 360 provided mechanisms for organizations to design and implement rights-based advocacy and reform initiatives that utilized Jordanian and international frameworks. A rights-based approach ensures the empowerment of rights-holders (those who do not experience full rights) to claim their rights and enabled duty-bearers (the institutions and decision makers obligated to fulfill the holders' rights) to meet their obligations.

What this Toolkit includes extends beyond the mere provision of advocacy training resources. The Toolkit provides local, real-time and creative solutions to challenging questions that activists and CSOs have been confronted with while carrying out advocacy campaigns.  It is both a capacity-building tool and a reference. It is intended to serve as an engaging and informative resource to enrich activists and CSOs thinking of contextual and structural advocacy-related questions. The Toolkit will assist activists and organizations to engage in more strategic, effective, coordinated and inclusive advocacy actions in their communities. Such community actions will contribute to Jordan’s development through advancing human rights, and advance efforts to building a strong and vibrant civil society in Jordan and beyond. 

WHO IS THE TOOLKIT FOR?

The Jordanian Civic Activist Toolkit II is made for civic activists - a term which is effectively inclusive of a large spectrum of leaders, representatives, members and affiliates of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), non-profits, community-based organizations (CBOs); as well as individuals that comprise formal or informal groups active in the broader area of social, political and economic inclusion.

This Toolkit can also be a reference for journalists, academics, researchers and think-tank analysts in formulating an informed opinion on the state of civil society in Jordan in the past four years through viewing the following:  

  • Knowledge about the issues covered /context
  • Methodology and process
  • Tactics
  • Evidence-based advocacy
  • Engagement of people affected by the issue

HOW TO USE THIS TOOLKIT

The Jordanian Civic Activist Toolkit II is designed to be navigated in interactive PDF documents in English and Arabic. The table of contents provides direct links within the PDF to each resource.  The Case Studies and Lessons Learned will assist you and your team to test theoretical knowledge and apply the tools and ideas with your own advocacy realities.

Additionally, each case study provides links to further resources for those wishing to learn more, as well as contacts of civic society organizations so that activists can network with them directly.

The Toolkit is provided in Arabic and English featuring:

  • Four standalone case studies – two national and two regional level advocacy cases presented and analyzed within the framework of the New Tactics in Human Rights Strategic Effectiveness Methodology
  • Three mini-cases – two national and one regional (governorate) level – presented and analyzed using the advocacy action areas
  • Five local level advocacy cases – presented and analyzed using the advocacy action areas
  • Lessons learned using the advocacy action areas for sharing insights for assessing and evaluating advocacy campaigns.