Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre

1

• Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre
• - Institutional partnership with competent
  authorities -

2
Partnership negotiation

• Negotiation premises
• corruption is a priority problem
• both partners stand to win
• both partners are of good faith, bona fide
• each partner has a strength of its own
• the partnership's beneficiaries are the citizens
• common goal/objective is fighting corruption
  common element in the institutional mission
• the differences between the two partners
  complement each other

3
Cooperation protocol

• The technical modalities of the cooperation
  protocol (MoU) must satisfy and ensure
• the need for prompt communication of the cases
• successful operation of assistance activities
• successful operation of advocacy activities,
  should the case arise
• honouring confidentiality agreements signed with
  the assisted beneficiaries
• avoiding image misuse situations
• creating mechanisms for monitoring the way in
  which the partner public authorities handle
  cases
• understanding the meaning of director principles
  set by partners in the protocol.

4
Crisis management

• In order to avoid crisis, NGO sector
  should
• Promote NCs in a more effective way (political
  will)
• Educate and inform authorities of plans, via MoUs
  and related documents
• Aim as high as possible in contacts, although not
  at the expense of establishing relationships at
  all levels
• Convince authorities that cooperation will be
  assistance to them (sharing workload and
  contribute to their public image and improve the
  way they are operating)

5
Cases management

• The cases are sent by ALAC to the partner
  authority, according to the partnership protocole
  and to the co-operation rules jointly agreed upon
  by the parts
• The cases are always assumed by the clients and
  are accompanied by a forwarding note and the
  Centers report, representing an impartial
  opinion
• The cases should not be sent to the partners if
  you are not sure they are well-documented and
  substantiated and will be sucessfully solved

6
Partnership assessment

• The assessment is based on the set of common
  objectives
• The assessment should have a qualitative and a
  quantitative component
• Discuss the assessment before introducing it into
  the quarterly report to be published (even if you
  are not obliged to introduce the partners points
  of view)
• The partnership assessment should refer to the
  three pillar of the ALAC project (legal advice,
  education, advocacy)
• The assessment should take into account the
  agreed calendar, and should point aut the delays
• The assessment should be regarded as a feedback
  source, rather than a pressure tool.

7
Strategies to avoid risc politisation,
organisational culture, image distorsion

• Governmental organizations are often not very
  willing to co-operate with NGOs
• NGOs should be minimum as transparent and
  accountable as expected from the government
  authorities
• The National Chapters need to remain
  non-partisan, contact both government and the
  opposition in order to involve both
• Media are often hired guns
• Sometimes NGOs get different responses from
  people within the same party.