ABSTRACT
Using a variety of terms (advocacy, lobbying, campaigning international non-governmental organizations have over the last 20 years devoted a rising proportion of their efforts to influencing the wider political and administrative system, rather than simply running long-term projects or responding to emergencies. The chapter discusses the evolving repertoire of tactics that constitute advocacy, and the kinds of targets at which it is directed. Systems thinking is invoked to highlight the importance of critical junctures in humanitarian advocacy. Finally, the chapter explores some of the dilemmas and tensions within humanitarian advocacy, including the trade-off between having a clear message for a Northern public, and doing justice to the complexity of situations on the ground. The ‘Kony 2012’ campaign is used to illustrate an example in which such trade-offs were poorly managed.
