Make Poverty History Campaign Evaluation

Make Poverty History was undertaken by an alliance of over 400 United Kingdom (UK)-based non-government organisations (NGOs), charities, trade unions, campaigning groups, faith communities, and celebrities; these groups mobilised around key opportunities in 2005 to drive forward the struggle against poverty and injustice. Their aim was to involve UK citizens in the effort to take the lead in pressuring world leaders to live up to their promise to halve world poverty by 2015, as part of Millennium Goal #1. Key elements of the action campaign - which drew on the internet, mass, media, and community-based events - were timed to reach leaders as they prepared to gather at the G8 Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland in July 2005. This evaluation assesses the impact of the campaign and shares data to indicate how successful it was in meeting its objectives.

Excerpts from the Executive Summary follow:

Overview

...The public mobilisation was felt to be the greatest achievement of the campaign. Make Poverty History not only managed to make almost everyone in the country aware of the campaign, it inspired a significant proportion to participate - many for the first time. Church and faith groups provided an important bridge between traditional activists and first-time campaigners.

As a political and parliamentary lobby, the campaign dominated the year. There was massive support for the campaign from politicians of all parties.

In terms of policy change, it was felt that the campaign could point to real achievements on aid and debt. On trade, there was felt to have been little practical success, although the very fact that trade and development were linked together was felt to be an important step in building an international consensus. The changes in rhetoric within the EU (especially within DG Trade) were felt to be evidence of this, though there was institutionally little change.

The effectiveness of the coalition was thought to be the combination of:

• The fact that coalition members committed to work together
• The popular communications. This included the brand, the portfolio of tools used,
  media coverage, celebrity support, Live8 and the Edinburgh rally
• The policy research and lobbying that supported the communications

Many of the things that made a difference were popular, mass-market campaigning approaches. Where these things were less in evidence, external interviews suggested that there was less of an impact.

In light of these successes, four areas were identified where the coalition had faced challenges...:

1. The impact of the leadership model. Whilst this was felt to be vital to holding the coalition together, it led to slow and reactive decision-making
2. The challenge of co-ordinating responses in a broad coalition. This was difficult because of the lack of a central spokesperson, but also because of differences within the coalition on how to communicate progress and engage with government
3. The extent to which public momentum could be sustained and the work needed to maintain these levels of interest
4. The extent to which the coalition was seen as a British campaign, rather than an international campaign. In the run-up to the G8 Summit at Gleneagles, Live8 is felt to have had significant influence with other G8 governments

...The campaign was deliberately established with a highly decentralised and consensual management structure. Regardless of any perceived imperfections, the general consensus was that the ways of working delivered results.

Internally, the ways of working were thought to have been effective at promoting coalition unity, mobilising supporters and harnessing the energy of the members. By allowing the campaign to run a broad portfolio of complementary activities, they contributed to the coalition's objectives.

The ways of working were less effective at resolving tension and taking strategic decisions.

The ad-hoc structure placed heavy demands on those involved centrally. As a result, although members recognise the importance of coalition working, many are reluctant to commit to future coalitions without conditions attached....

The campaign brought the issues of international development into the mainstream of UK politics. The challenge for coalition members is to consolidate the achievements of 2005, both in the UK and internationally, as a platform for a global campaign.

Lessons learned:

...Future coalitions will be more successful if they develop a view about these issues at an early stage:

• Leadership - Coalitions need to understand the trade-offs between leadership and consensus
• Planning - Planning strategically - for the long term - is different from tactically responding to external conditions. Coalitions need to do both
• Working with different types of organisation - ...As coalitions grow, they need to accommodate diversity
• Agreeing public and political positioning - Campaigns need to base their strategy on overall public and political positioning at the outset, or at least agree how to manage differences between members
• Using popular communications tools - Mass-market popular communications, backed up by solid lobbying and traditional activism, have significant political impact
• Building relationships with supporters - Campaigns need to plan to take new supporters on a journey from interest to activism

Next Steps:

...Recommendations for next steps came under two headings:

Consolidate the achievements of 2005:

• Retain the coherence of the coalition. In terms of lobbying [members of parliament, or] MPs, motivating the public and galvanising local campaigners, the co-ordinated communications and coalition working made a significant difference. The coalition members should retain as much coherence as they can and commit to retain elements of co-ordination, strategic planning and communications.
• Keep pressure on the UK government. The promises of Gleneagles need to be held to account...
• Keep communicating with the public, especially the newly engaged. The public mobilisation had a significant impact on both the UK and international governments and demonstrated a clear public enthusiasm for these issues. The campaign needs to build a lasting relationship with the public, communicating to them the impact of their involvement and the benefits of continued involvement. Coalition members need to embrace continued use of popular communications tools and build those skills into their organisations.

Use 2005 as a platform:

• Take forward the debate on trade....The campaign needs to push for a consensus on trade issues, with a clear programme of action and a co-ordinated campaign of international lobbying.
• Put pressure on G8 and EU countries. Sustaining pressure on the UK without also pressuring other governments will not yield many further dividends. Coalition members need to work out how to best influence international governments and institutions and work towards an international consensus for reform.
• Help support Southern civil society. Building ownership of these issues in the South will have two impacts. It will increase pressure on Southern governments (particularly in Africa) to commit to development and it will increase the legitimacy of the arguments if they are owned and supported by the South. [Global Campaign against Poverty, or] GCAP is understood to be building towards this...