Mike's Ideas for Medsin

I meant to write up some brief notes on my impressions on last weekend's campaigns meeting. Here they are:

Positives

  • Strong network exists

  • Valuable awareness raising being done

  • Lots of energy and time commitment being made in campaigning activities

  • Very good organisational capacity

  • Sound management and financing structure

  • Dynamic and committed campaign leaders

Challenges

  • In what sense are these activities campaigns rather than awareness raising?

  • Aims of campaigns are rather broad brush and untargeted - messages are unclear sometimes

  • Too many campaigns/awareness raising activities?

  • How to centralise campaigning in a decentralised network?

Possibilities

You have 3-400 people coming to your national conferences and lots of people giving up time to help. They are obviously not just enthused by projects or the prospect of foreign travel, but want to be involved in campaigning aimed at policy change. The numbers you are engaging represent a high level of input from the student body. They are the same numbers of students (from the whole university sector) who were engaging with Third World First/People and Planet at their meetings 15 years ago. That organisation used this level of energy over the next decade to double its size and achieve specific campaigning outcomes. Why can't Medsin do the same?

I think Medsin does a great job of awareness raising and leading people to reflect on their position in the world, their role as a health professional etc. It should continue to do this. But if you really want to campaign and achieve results you will have to professionalise. This means boosting organisational capacity (especially financial and human resource capacity) and/or diverting some resources and energy from building projects and organising large meetings towards campaigning.

This really is much easier said than done. You have a lot on your plate managing the existing level of activity. All I'm suggesting is that you might be able to take another step. In a sense it is a bit of a waste not to, as there is energy there which can be converted into targeted action. I think the current cadre of Medsin leaders is particularly able to push things further, but you are the judge of whether the organisation will be strong and stable enough in the future to develop things further.

One first step you could make is to apply for grants to develop organisational capacity – just to give you that chance to see how far you could take things. It might be that you want to do this anyway to help you manage your existing activities better; it might also have positive knock-on effects on your confidence about taking on a fuller campaigning role. A small staff and office space are probably things you are already thinking about – I think it is a pre-requisite for proper campaigning.

And, if you wish to campaign seriously, I think you have two strategies in front of you. One strategy would support (and gain energy and profile from) existing campaigns of the development/environment/peace etc. sector. The other strategy would look for campaign(s) that target the health sector/medical students/medical/para-medical schools specifically and aim for campaigning goal(s) which you strive to achieve as the leading organisation.

This is not meant to undermine what you are doing at the moment in the field of campaigns. You are learning extremely valuable skills and already passing them onto many others. That should not be undervalued in any sense. You have also had the energy (and guts) to do things that other organisations are failing to do (like the WHO campaign). However, if you wish to be taken seriously on these issues – and achieve your campaigning goals - you will have to solidify the organisational base.

Good luck!

m

What next?

What do you think?...discuss this on Medsin's discussion mailing list: Medsin Discuss

Also see a summary by two discussion groups at the campaigns day. Download from the attachment box top right of this page.

First group: being more effective

They discussed the more practical ways Medsin could become more effective at campaigning. In particular they thought that more nationally coordinated campaigns would need a higher level of communitarian with branches, better planning and more meaningful evaluation. They suggest ways this could be done.

Second group: thinking about two vital questions in campaigns

This group present some of the negatives as well as the positives of evaluation. They also answer a the tricky question for campaigners: should there be a time limit on campaigns?

(See attachments box top right)

Last updated on Sunday 06 April 2008 at 18:13.