Established in 1991, the Caucus of Development NGO Networks (CODE-NGO) is the largest coalition of CSOs working for social development in the Philippines. Its members, 6 regional networks and 6 major national network represent 1,600 primary NGOs, cooperatives and peoples organizations operating all over the country.

CODE-NGO’s mission statement articulates that the network should ‘capacitate and synergize member networks and to be a national voice of civil society in the Philippines’. Inherently then, at the heart of the strategic plans of CODE-NGO is the need to strengthen its communications system.

It is in this light that the Advocacy Working Groups (AWGs) designed and conducted a series of communications planning workshops for their respective advocacy agenda. Each AWG held a two-day workshop where partakers were expected to (1) understand and define what effective organizational communication is; (2) determine their primary and secondary target audience in terms of internal and external audiences; (3) have an evaluation of the priority communication channels given their target audiences; (4) craft a communication plan both for their primary target audience and external to CODE/AWG; and (5) craft an evaluation tool that will measure effectiveness of priority communications.

These workshops were supported by Forus International, the European Union (EU) and Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) through a project entitled: Activating the CODE-NGO Advocacy Working Groups.

Participatory Local Governance (PLG)

The AWG on PLG convened their workshop on April 11-12, 2019 to clarify and develop a communication plan for the Participatory Local Governance to effectively communicate the key messages for its members, partners, and other stakeholders in reference to its advocacy plans and the new Strategic Plan for 2018-2022. Essentially, the communication planning was conducted to define what effective organizational communication is, in order for the AWG members to come up with an evaluation of the priority communication channels for their key priority issues and primary target audience both internal and external.

The two-day workshop focused on the discussions on effective ways of communicating, identifying primary and secondary target audiences, factors that affect communications, and the drafting of the PLG Communication Plan.

The AWG members identified three specific priority issues to focus on, such as (1) the promotion of LGU-CSO Partnership in Local Governance; (2) Cha-Cha and Federalism under the Duterte Administration; and the (3) Increase CSO Participation in Governance at the National and Local Levels.

At the end of the workshop, the group presented and critiqued the drafted communication plan based on the objective of the priority issues, primary targets, time frame and specific plans. They also agreed among themselves the need to recalibrate the drafted communication plan and strategize their effective approaches.

DRRM-CCA

Following the AWG on PLG communications planning workshop,  the second batch was held for the AWG on DRRM-CCA on April 26-27, 2019 at the Partnership Center, Quezon City. Similar to the PLG workshop, it aimed to define effective organizational communication, help frame a communication plan for AWG’s external and internal audiences, and craft an evaluation tool to measure its effectiveness.

During the two-day session, the AWG listed their target audiences and key messages that they should focus on, such as (1) Advocacy building; (2) building awareness; (3) rallying supporters; (4) fundraising; and (5) celebrating victories. The group endeavors to communicate its advocacies such as awareness building on the existence of the working group and CODE-NGO’s 10 DRR coordination hubs.

Accordingly, the AWG identified two priority issues to be implemented this year and drafted a communication plan for the respective concerns. First is ensuring that DRRM and CCA plans reflect sectoral concerns, interests, needs, as well as consideration of sectoral resources and competencies, and second, promoting community-led, locally-led and coordinated Humanitarian Response. CODE-NGO and the members of the AWG have their own roles to play to implement the plans effectively. Aside from the two issues identified, the AWG will continue to address other DRRM-related advocacy of the network.

Good Governance and Asset Reform

After the success of the communications planning workshops for the PLG and DRRM-CCA, the AWGs on Good Governance and Asset Reform also held their workshops on May 9-10, 2019 at the Bahay CODE-NGO, Quezon City.

During the sessions, each group discussed and agreed what priority issues they want to focus on as follows: A. CSO Good Governance – the advocacy on Social Welfare Agencies and Development (SWDA) bill and government regulations affecting CSOs After prioritization; B. Asset Reform – Promotion and Enforcement of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan and Asset Distribution. The issue prioritization helped each AWG to strategically identify their target audiences for developing appropriate key messages. Then, the two groups deliberated on the communication objectives and from there, each group crafted their comm plans with identified target audience, specific messages for each target audience, and the activities related to each message or objective.

At the end of the workshop, each AWG presented and critiqued the drafted comm plans on the basis of objectives set, identified target audience, and strategies to effectively communicate their message. The group also agreed that to get the involvement of other CODE-NGO members, the messages should pique their interests and should be aligned to the personality of the member. It may also be tweaked to cater to different medium. To send a good message to government and other stakeholders, CODE-NGO and the AWGs must show that they are practicing good governance as their partners for achieving development.