Evaluation Learnings Search

Learning Description

The use of inputs from grassroots work to feed advocacy and policy influence. The evaluation team gathered testimonies that reflect this itinerary: Lessoned learned and reflections emerging from the grassroots level served to expand upon inputs for communication and advocacy campaigns. This project together with other similar projects conducted by Capital Humano y Social Alternativo (CHS) have been able to generate proposals and ideas to improve the regulatory framework that emerges from the daily practice of the justice operators. Political actors, such as National Congress members, have expressed positive views about the possibility of establishing these linkages between the two levels: direct action and political action.

Learning Description

Geographical scope needs to be appropriate to available human resources. The broad geographical scope of the project in the Philippines is ambitious compared with the field staffing available, especially the number of municipalities and cities covered combined with the complexity of the issues to be addressed. It would have been more effective to reduce the number of localities at municipal/city level and to focus on developing strong implementation models in commercial fishing hot spots.

Learning Description

A multi-stakeholder baseline Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) survey would have been valuable as a basis for developing the communications strategy. The communications strategy for raising awareness among different target groups was not based on specific information about the level of knowledge and patterns of media use per target audience: private sector, government, or community. Nevertheless, under Plan Internation United States National Office (USNO) direction, and with international consultancy support, a Communications for Development strategy is being developed in November 2020 to sharpen the methods and messages for the communications strategy.

Learning Description

Time needed for regulatory and policy change to occur was underestimated in the design. The project design anticipated that significant policies could be created and disseminated within the lifetime of the project. However, experience in the Philippines suggests that such changes may only be achieved after the project ends.

Learning Description

Challenge of gathering evidence of change in awareness of labor rights among fishers. The current measure of surveying approximately 100 fishers per country is not a robust method to gauge change in knowledge and attitudes following project awareness campaigns. In the Philippines, across five implementation municipalities, the sampling represents 10 respondents per local area (barangay). The method risks biased findings in one direction or the other, and it has also been challenging to collect even this modest sample size due to fishers’ absence at sea. In the absence of resources for a large scale representative survey, and toward a more sensitive means of assessing change in understanding of forced labor (FL) / trafficking in persons (TIP) among fish workers and fishing communities, a case study focused on key informants including fishers and fishers’ wives who have taken part in project events would be useful to supplement the next iteration of the survey.

Learning Description

Influencing private sector practices, which is critical to reducing and eliminating forced labor (FL) / trafficking in persons (TIP) requires multiple lines of intervention depending on the structure of the commercial fishing sector, including supply chain approaches. The project design assumed that the private sector would see the “win-win” benefits of adopting improved contracting and payment practices, but private sector agreement with protective policies remains low, for example in the Philippines tuna industry.

Learning Description

Establishment of fishers centers in Indonesia. The fishers centers established in Bitung in North Sulawesi and Tegal in Central Java serve previously unmet needs to report cases of exploitation and are known and considered approachable in the fisher communities. The centers act as a reporting and referral channel, using standard intake forms and referral directory resources, and also serve as channels to raise awareness of fishers’ rights. The national government report-receiving agencies such as MOFA appreciate the concise and complete reports received on the cases, which assists in proceeding cases. A number of cases have been satisfactorily resolved following reporting through the centers. The centers have inspired formation of a fishers’ labor union in North Sulawesi. Replication of the centers is possible, and likely, in Indonesia. Potential exists for replication in other countries, with adaptation.

Learning Description

Effective communications strategies adapted to the COVID-19 situation. In Indonesia, and increasingly in the Philippines, SAFE Seas has organized a series of webinars among diverse stakeholders. In Indonesia, SAFE Seas initiated WhatsApp groups to discuss, educate, and raise awareness of fishers’ protection issues and also coordinate activities. The project is continuing to refine its messaging and communications channels.

Learning Description

Effective grassroots networking and advocacy in the Philippines and Indonesia. Grassroots networks in the Philippines, such as the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquadic Resources Management Councils (BFARMCs), have proven effective in disseminating information and mobilizing the participation of fishers. The barangay Fisheries and Aquadic Resources Management Councils (FARMCs) conduct house-to-house information drives to inform members of the community. In Indonesia, village officers perform a similar role.

Learning Description

Enabling national ownership as a key to sustainability. The Safe Fishing Alliance (SFA) strategy has worked most effectively in Indonesia where the government already had ambitions for regulatory reform and better coordination, and the project has supported this with policy drafting and funding. This strategy has also enabled champions of fishing worker rights to have a louder voice in national platforms.