ICGAnnual Report1995-96


ICG Advocacy


  • Approach

    ICG Advocacy"ICG recognises that all the insight, analysis and policy prescriptions in the world will not stop crises developing unless they are accompanied by firm, resolute and effective action."

    Senator George J Mitchell
    For ICG, analyses are a means to an end. They provide the ICG board and the wider international community with accurate, up-to-date information on which to base decisions. They also set out practical action plans designed to stem crises at source. But no analysis of this type, however trenchant, will be worth the effort unless its findings can be brought to the notice of those in positions of power. Nor, even when this is achieved, is there any guarantee that the strategies and actions proposed by ICG will be put into effect to prevent a crisis escalating.

    Much of ICG's work is therefore directed at persuading, pressuring and influencing governments, international organisations and other bodies to act upon ICG's proposals for preventive action. ICG board members play a key part in this process, approaching senior officials in national governments, the UN, the EU, the World Bank, the business sector and other relevant organisations and seeking their support for ICG's policy prescriptions. This strategy is reinforced on occasion by the media. Journalists play an important role in convincing decision-takers of the need for action by raising public awareness, pushing for effective policy responses and creating a momentum in favour of action.



  • Outcomes

    ICG achieved the following outcomes as a result of its advocacy efforts during 1996:

    • Funding towards the 1996 national elections in Sierra Leone

    • Funding for humanitarian aid programs in Sierra Leone

    • International support for peace negotiations between the Sierra Leone government and rebel forces

    • International media coverage of the crises in Sierra Leone and Burundi

    • Funding for the commission on Displaced Persons and Refugees in Bosnia

    • An Agreed response to a number of unresolved issues relating to the northern Bosnian town of Brcko

    • Comprehensive, critical and investigative media coverage of international policy in Bosnia

    • A decision to delay municipal elections in Bosnia pending an improvement in conditions

    • International recognition of the shortcomings in the process and outcomes of the Bosnian general election (September 1996)

    • Agreement of key western countries to play a greater role in efforts to head off genocide in Burundi

    • Renewed interest on the part of western and central African governments in a proposal to send a multinational peacekeeping force to Burundi to prevent a genocide occurring there.


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