In 2002, Poder Ciudadano (Citizen Power) collected signatures for a petition. Under a constitutional provision, the Argentine congress had to to consider it. The constitutional provision requires Congress to review any proposed legislation brought by community members or organizations. But, only if the legislation has the signatures of 1.5 percent of Argentine citizens from at least six of the 24 districts.

Key Issues Addressed

In 1989 by a group of citizens concerned about the defense of civil rights in Ar­gentina created Poder Ciudadano. It began using petitions in the several years since the country’s economic collapse. The petitions have focused on important issues like hunger and excessive retirement benefits for government officials. The petition related to hunger proposed to feed all impoverished pregnant women and Argentine children under the age of five. Over half of the Argentine population have been living below the poverty line since the economic collapse. Children represent the largest population in poverty. Yet, there are very few social programs to address hunger among children. The goal of the petition was not only to compel congress to address this problem, but also to propose solutions.

Volunteer Recruitment and Training

Poder Ciudadano wrote the petition and recruited 250 volunteers around the country. They trained the volunteers with crucial instruction sheets that explained who was eligible to sign, where to send the completed petitions and what necessary information to get from signatories. Most volunteers were recruited through the organization’s web site and the project coordinator. The volunteers met at public locations in their communities to collect the signatures. Places like mar­kets, bookstores, pharmacies, newsstands and phone booths. Poder Ciudadano partnered with several organiza­tions and the media. They even worked with a prominent radio personality who gave the locations of signature collection tables on air. As well as collaborating with a major newspaper updating readers on the number of signatures collected.

Congressional Response and Impact

The initiative was very well received by Argentine citizens. Poder Ciudadano presented it to the congress, which, by late 2002, passed the proposal with some modifications. The right-to-food initiative collected over one million signatures. And congress accepted it as a state obligation. The program to combat hunger is cur­rently in the early stages of implementation and the first food centers have recently opened.

For more information on this tactic, read our in-depth case study.