Social Mobilization Strategies

Social Mobilization Strategies

Chapter 9

What is Social Mobilization?

Social Mobilization

It gives exclusive attention to “building national consensus and carrying out a broad educational process through all possible channels…”

(McKee 1992)

Social Mobilization It involves all relevant segments of society,

from policy and decision makers to religious associations, professional groups, opinion leaders, communities, and individuals.

It is a decentralized process that seeks to facilitate developmental change through a wide range of players engaged in interrelated and complementary efforts (Ling and Wilstein 1998).

Social Mobilization

It calls for a coalition among various partners in order to effectively transform development goals into societal action.

Stakeholders in Social Mobilization Effort

NATIONAL POLICY MAKERS

Those who can make policy and program decisions, as well as allocate needed resources for services.


MEDIA

Those which can help create and sustain public support for a social product and can also encourage public vigilance.


TRADITIONAL LEADERS AND RELIGIOUS LEADERS

Those who can set up information exchange systems within the community and can also play important roles in ensuring cooperation among members of the community.


LOCAL LEADER

Those who can push the concerns of social development through allocation of local funding in support of the programs and can also come up with policy and program decisions in favor of socmob objective.


SERVICE PROVIDERS

Those who have direct access to the intended beneficiaries and are often credible sources of information on the programs.


PROGRAM ADMINISTRATORS

Those who can chart the course of action of the program and can put in more resources such as additional funding and increased manpower.


PROGRAM PLANNERS

Those who can influence program directions and can integrate various services in existing programs, which explains their being key actors in the process.


PARENTS/FAMILY MEMBERS

The critical participants in the program since they are the ultimate users/buyers of the social product.


Five Main Approaches of SocMob

Five Main Approaches of SocMob

As enumerated by McKee (1992):

Political Mobilization Government Mobilization Community Mobilization Corporate Mobilization Beneficiary Mobilization

Five Main Approaches in SocMob

POLITICAL MOBILIZATION

An approach which aims at “winning political and policy commitment for major goal and the necessary resource allocations to realize that goal.”


GOVERNMENT MOBILIZATION

Aims at eliciting the cooperation of service providers and other government organizations which can provide direct or indirect support to the program.


COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION

Aims at gaining the commitment of local political, religious, social, and traditional leaders, as well as local government agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), women’s groups and cooperatives.


CORPORATE MOBILIZATION

Aims at securing the support of national or international companies in promoting development goals, either by contributing needed resources or carrying out the advertising function.


BENEFICIARY MOBILIZATION

Involves informing and motivating the program beneficiaries through trainings, establishment of community groups, and communication through traditional and mass media.

Component Strategies in SocMob

Component Strategies in SocMob

Advocacy Information,

Education, and Communication (IEC)

Community Organizing (CO)

Training/Capability Building

Networking and Alliance Building

Monitoring and Evaluation

Advocacy

Advocacy

Is an important component of social mobilization which involves “convincing, persuading, and motivating individuals and entities” that there is a problem and that there are appropriate policies and strategies which could be adopted for solving such a problem. (Valdecanas, et al., 1996).

Advocacy

Targets the different actors capable of creating a positive environment for the program, such as political leaders, legislators, planners, administrators in various sectors, media organizations, and NGOs (Heffner 1998).

Advocacy

Two words constantly associated with advocacy efforts:

(1) Policy support; and(2) Resource generation.

Information, Education and Communication (IEC)


Its activities main purpose is the generation of information or release of ready-made information and distribution through all available communication methods (Heffner 1998).

Should not be regarded as a “mere information campaign or communication project but a long-term program built into the sectoral programs of a community” (Stuart 1995).


Examples of IEC strategies are the design, packaging, and production of appropriate radio/TV programs, news, spots, shows, documentary films, newspaper articles, posters, books, newsletters, leaflets, pamphlets, stickers, or even messages on particular items like T-shirts, caps, plastic bags, etc.


Entertainment - has also been used for educational purposes.

Songs, radio and TV shows/plugs, serial dramas or soap operas, and the like were proven to be helpful in making developmental messages more appealing to the general public (Piotrow, et al. 1997).

Enter-Educate Approach - Involves activities that entertain and educate simultaneously.


The Nine

Ps of Enter-Educate

(Piotrow, et al. 1997)


P PERVASIVE:

Entertainment is everywhere, from village fairs to cable television, from songs and dances to drama and talk radio.


P POPULAR:

People voluntarily seek entertainment. They like it and eagerly pay attention to it.


P PERSONAL:

Entertainment can bring the audience right into a character’s intimate thoughts and actions. Audiences identify with characters as if they were real.


P PARTICIPATORY:

People participate in entertainment themselves through songs, dances, and sports and also by following the lives of characters, writing fan mail, and discussing messages from entertainment with friends and family.


P PASSIONATE:

Entertainment stirs emotions. When emotions are aroused, people remember, talk to others, and sometimes change their behavior.


P PERSUASIVE:

In entertainment, people can see the consequences of wise and foolish behavior. They identify with role models and may imitate them.


P PRACTICAL:

Entertainment infrastructures and performers already exist and are looking for dramatic themes such as health, love, sex, and reproduction.


P PROFITABLE:

Entertainment can pay its own way, generating sponsorship, support for collateral materials, and financial returns to producers and performers.


P PROVEN

EFFECTIVE:

People acquire knowledge, change attitudes, and act differently as a result of messages in entertainment.


The Nine Ps are reflected in simple slogan:

“Sing and the world sing with you. Lecture and you lecture alone.”



Aims to “empower local leaders, parents, families, groups, and the whole community.” (Stuart 1995)

Basic element in mobilization at the grassroots level.


“The bottom line in social mobilization is that individuals and community groups are able to get a sense of what they can do themselves to improve their situation” (Vldecanas, et al. 1996).

An essential element in encouraging community participation.


Helps develop people’s “capability for problem-solving, decision making, and collective action thus, developing and strengthening their networks” (Stuart 1995).

Through its activities, people are enabled to perceive the problem, recognize what they can do, and eventually work their way out of it.



Can be directed both towards the program implementers themselves and towards the beneficiaries/intended audience.

Use to enhance “people’s knowledge, appreciation of, and skills in advocacy, mobilization, and community organizing of people empowerment” (Stuart 1995).


Develop people’s “competencies in dealing with their networks, in resource sharing, problem-solving, decision-making, and most importantly, collective action” (The Sixth Training 1996).

Enhances continuous expansion of the network of advocates and mobilizers, thus contributing to the sustainability of the whole socmob process.



The “common thread” that runs through all the other socmob elements (Valdecanas, et al. 1996).

Adds to the success of any mobilization activity by identifying those who can “actually and potentially act on the problem” and establishing close collaboration with them (Stuart 1995).


“They have the first hand understanding of the local issues thus, can respond quickly to educate, motivate, and mobilize for action at the community level” (The Sixth Training 1996).

They might be also helpful in securing the support and commitment of government officials, be it at the local or national level.



It is a socmob component strategy which measures the “efficiency of program implementation and the effectiveness of the strategies taken in achieving defined goals” (Stuart 1995).

The meter stick used for periodic checks on the progress of the program as it moves towards its ultimate goals.


Focus in Monitoring (The Sixth Training 1996)

These things serve as indicators in determining whether or not there is

discrepancy between where you are and where you should be.


Level - looks at the stage of the project where you are against where you

should already be.

Timing - says how long you have already been working on this activity vis-à-vis

the allotted time.

Effectiveness - looks into what has been accomplished so far.


EVALUATION

Was described by Piotrow, et al. (1997) as a process which determines whether the program objectives were met – that is, whether the intended audience changed their knowledge, attitudes, or behavior.


“An assessment of whether or not the program or project strategies actually worked out” (The Sixth Training 1996).

It involves activities such as information gathering and analysis and discussion with program staff, sponsors, and decision-makers which as a process can be done before, during, and after the program implementation.


Timing depends on factors such as (The Sixth Training 1996):

Decision-making need Pre-identified purposes of evaluation Work cycle of those involved in the

activity


Three Types of Evaluation (The Sixth Training 1996)

Formative Evaluation On-going Evaluation Summative Evaluation


Formative Evaluation

is the gathering of information relevant to decision-making during the planning or implementation stages of a program. It sometimes known as context evaluation, needs assessment, situational analysis, or diagnostic research.


On-going Evaluation

is done during the project implementation phase. It involves analysis of the program in terms of continuing relevance, outputs, effectiveness, and impact.


Summative Evaluation

is apparently carried out at the latter part of a program or after its completion. It aims to sum up the accomplishments, impacts, and lessons learned.

Interrelatedness of Socmob Elements

“Advocacy ensures the continuation of support. IEC sustains the awareness of the problems and solutions. CO allows the community to unify and seek solutions to problems. Training maintains the commitment and cooperation of program implementers as it integrates new techniques and approaches in the solution. Alliance building identifies relevant individuals and groups who can contribute to the achievement of the goals of the program. Monitoring and evaluation shows us how to improve our techniques. It gives us the feedback we need --- are we solving the problem or not.”

Interrelatedness of Socmob Elements

End of Reporting: Any Questions?