Designing an Advocacy Campaign: Foreign Assistance and the Presidential Election

The presidential election is only a few months away, and more and more emphasis is being placed on the youth vote. Because of this, it is likely that the candidates will start to be increasingly responsive to the concerns of youth, and this gives the Youth Task Force a very exciting opportunity to mobilize young people and inspire real change.

The need for reform of the American foreign assistance system is becoming both increasingly evident, and increasingly well-recognized by academics, public policy officials, and the media. Without a large-scale revamping since 1961, it is now antiquated, and inefficient in helping the people that most need it. Change is long overdue, and the YTF has elected to make it a goal to engage youth in advocating for that change.

There is an excellent primer on foreign assistance available at: http://www.oxfamamerica.org/newsandpublications/publications/briefing_papers/foreign-aid-101. Here are a few questions that need to be considered as we think about what this campaign could look like:

• What are we advocating for? Merely for the general reform of foreign assistance to be a priority? Or are there specific aspects of foreign assistance, or the associated instruments/legislation that we would like to target?

• Who are we looking to engage? Young members of WFDA or YTF participant organizations? Young members of the public at large?

• How are we looking to engage youth? What do we want them to do (engage in direct advocacy, educate peers, etc)?

This is a very exciting time for the YTF, and for young Americans everywhere. If we work together, the opportunity for change is ours.