It is my pleasure to share “Lessons From a Communications Campaign For South Africa’s Rural Poor,” the second in our Atlantic Reports series. We hope this new publication, which focuses on using communications to advance human rights, will be useful for advocates, nonprofit organisations and funders interested in effectively elevating important human rights issues on the policy agendas of democratic societies.

The transition from apartheid to the new South Africa is rightfully viewed as one of history’s major advances toward equality and democracy. Still, the unlawful evictions of nearly one million farm dwellers from 1994 to 2004 is a prime example of the injustices that persist. Amazingly, these evictions were almost invisible, until 16 NGOs in South Africa banded together with Atlantic’s support to tell the story of evicted farm dwellers.

This publication shares lessons from an awareness-raising campaign to inform government officials, media and the general public about the plight of farm dwellers. The campaign developed a groundbreaking quantitative survey that exposed the scale of the evictions, and a photography book and exhibit put a “face” on the issue. The publication describes the planning and execution of communications and advocacy efforts from 2004 to 2006, some successful and some not, and how campaign partners are applying the lessons in their ongoing work.

Finally, this publication explains the continuing challenges of responding to rural poverty in South Africa, a timely topic given the improving policy environment for rural issues in the post-Mbeki era. It also explores potential solutions, as well as how funders and NGOs can influence systemic change, like raising the voices of the rural poor around the world to participate in policy discussions that affect their lives and livelihood.

Thank you for your interest in Atlantic Reports. Please let us know what you think of this one by dropping me a line at gara@atlanticphilanthropies.org. If you have questions about your free subscription, email atlanticreports@atlanticphilanthropies.org.

Gara LaMarche

President and CEO
The Atlantic Philanthropies