NGOs and Civil Society

NGO Advocacy Networks in Latin America: Lessons from Experience in Promoting Women's and Reproductive Rights
Bonnie L. Shepard
North South Center, University of Miami
Agenda Paper #61
February 2003

 

Abstract

This study analyzes the experiences during the 1990s of 13 Latin American regional and national networks of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that advocate for the often contentious issues of sexual and reproductive rights and women's rights. Research for this study addresses three interlocking questions:

  1. What tensions arise when NGO networks strive to become political actors in the national and regional arenas, and how does their internal governance affect their ability to handle such tensions constructively?

  2. What factors enable or pose obstacles to the political advocacy of these networks?

  3. Given the above factors, what strategies are the NGO advocacy networks best suited to pursue, and what other strategies are best left to other configurations of social actors?

Analysis of the problems faced by these NGO networks leads to some suggestions for other emerging advocacy networks.

Full Text (PDF format, 46 pages, 248 KB)