Focus combines three main methods in order to build critical analysis, awareness, and actions that lead to progressive change.
Monitoring, research and analysis: This includes field research, desk research, fact-finding missions, and writing and publication of reports, articles, newsletters, and booklets. This information/analysis will be translated into local languages where possible, and disseminated widely amongst our networks, in order to build critical understanding and awareness of issues and trends.
Popular education: This involves strengthening the critical thinking capacities of grassroots groups, social movements, CSOs, elected officials and young people through workshops, seminars, conferences and other events, where they can share their experiences, learn from others, and situate their local struggles within wider political, economic and social trends. Focus will also expand its public outreach by re-packaging its analysis to make them accessible in different formats and languages in order to reach new audiences.
Building common positions and collective actions: This will involve strategy meetings to strengthen advocacy, supporting/participating in local, national and international campaigns, and convening of spaces between different constituencies to build dialogue and alliances between groups and collective mobilisation for progressive change.
Cross-cutting issues
- Gender: Focus will adopt a systematic approach to analysing how systems, trends, policies, programmes and projects affect gender relations, equality and equity, and examining structures and practices of gender based oppression and discrimination. Focus will continue to promote opportunities for strengthening women leaders and activists, particularly from poor and marginalized sectors. Focus will seek to understand underlying causes of socio-political, legal, cultural and economic inequities and exclusions faced by women, and explore strategies and mechanisms to achieve positive change. This work will be informed by the voices, experiences and struggles of women marginalized by class, race, culture, occupation and other compounding factors.
- Climate and environmental justice: From challenging destructive development models, to promoting agroecology, and defending land and resource rights, climate and environmental justice are integrally connected to all aspects of Focus’ work. Focus will continue to give emphasis to climate and environmental justice from below: recognition that the most important fights for justice are being waged by frontline communities against large-scale development projects; that these communities also face the brunt of environmental disaster; and that they hold the real solutions to climate change. Equally important, climate and environmental justice are inextricably linked with other kinds of justice: social, cultural, economic, political and gender.
