The role of faith based organisations in policy advocacy

This case study examines the advocacy role of Civil Society with a focus on Faith based organisations. Faith based organisations generally deliver services for the public good. The Pietermaritzburg Agency for Community Social Action (PACSA) was used as a case for study because it is well known for focusing on religion and advocacy. As such PACSA published information about incidents of apartheid violence hidden by the apartheid state, and many victims of violence came to PACSA for medical care, counseling and support (PACSA, 2012). The study analysed its findings by using a theoretical framework for policy advocacy, the Combined Logic Model which synthesizes the professional literature on advocacy with the academic literature in policy studies to formulate an empirically testable model for policy advocacy by Gen and Wright (2012). This qualitative methodology shaped the research design and data which were analysed using thematic analysis. The key finding from this research is that, Faith based organisations can be involved in several projects as long as their main concern remains that of 'human dignity'.