Our impacts

CAP!’s strength lies in the impact achieved by the organizations to which we have provided support. At CAP! we believe that human rights and environmental protection are the pillars of a more just and sustainable society. Each community must be given the capacity to enter into the political sphere and assert its rights. In order to achieve this, the collective efforts of stakeholders and networks are essential.

Climate change, REDD+

A national network of 400 organizations working on climate change is established in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

After two years of work throughout the country, and a series of consultations with local communities and civil society organizations, the Groupe de Travail Climat REDD+ Rénové (GTCRR) was created in 2015.  With the support of CAP!, as well as a group of national and international consultants, the network produced a communications strategy, an internal structuring model and an advocacy strategy. GTCRR was thus able to actively participate in the COP21 and make its voice heard.

The Ivory Coast’s national REDD+ strategy receives approval from the country’s government

The United Nations Development Program is working hard to develop its REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) activities in the Ivory Coast, in collaboration with the country’s Ministry of Environment. CAP! supported the final stages of the national REDD+ strategy: particular attention was paid to the overall coherence of this key document and to the drafting of a summary for decision-makers which convinced them to fully engage in the climate-change program.

Agriculture

The European Citizens’ initiative #StopGlyphosate collects more than one million signatures

After six months of work across the European continent, more than one million citizens have signed a European Citizens’ Initiative to ban glyphosate in the EU. This mobilization has made it possible to raise awareness among citizens regarding pesticide content in their food, and to keep them informed with respect to the European regulatory framework.

The National Patent Office hears the voices of European citizens opposed to the patenting of beer ingredients by industrial brewers

Through the drafting and delivering of campaign texts and e-mails, WeMove.EU managed to gather hundreds of thousands of signature for their online petition. The mobilization that emerged from this campaign brought to light secret negotiations between European beer giants and the European Patent Office (EPO) and made it possible to follow the granting of the licenses in question.

LGBTIQ, gender identity and sexual orientation rights

Alternatives-Cameroon is committed to achieving the decriminalization of homosexuality in Cameroon

Even today, lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals, intersex and queer people are discriminated against, persecuted and cannot live freely in Cameroon. After a week of collective work and training in advocacy tools and techniques, Alternatives-Cameroon drafted a strategic advocacy plan with a goal of decriminalizing homosexuality. The organization capitalized on its knowledge to find the tools and strategies necessary to bring about this change.

Vietnam recognizes transsexuality and legalizes change of civil status for transsexual persons

ICS, a Vietnamese LGBT organization, is fighting to ensure a better life for the entire community. Visibility and fighting stereotypes of transsexuals are key in this combat. CAP! collected the testimonies of transsexual people and their family members and produced video tools that were then distributed by ICS as part of its advocacy for the legalization of transsexuality. In 2016, two years after the distribution of these testimonies, Vietnam legalized sex reassignment surgery and introduced the right to legal gender recognition for transgender people who have undergone it.

Health: the fight against HIV

5 African organizations engaged in the fight against HIV are trained in advocacy practices

At the request of Sidaction and the Perspective program of the French Development Agency (AFD), CAP! contributed to the reinforcement and sustainability of the NGOs working to fight HIV/AIDS in French-speaking Africa. Training in advocacy tools and techniques specific to the needs and themes of these organizations was designed and conducted with 5 organizations in three different countries. As a result, these organizations are now able to advocate for the right to health.

Alternatives-Ivory Coast receives advocacy training in order to put the right to health at the center of the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review

Each member state of the United Nations undergoes a Universal Periodic Review (UN-UPR) every four years, which details the state’s compliance with international human rights conventions. A UN-UPR is a unique occasion for civil society organizations to raise awareness regarding human rights violations through the drafting of an “alternative report” and through the drafting of an ‘alternative report’ and having an advocate brought directly to Geneva prior to their state’s review.  CAP! supported Alternatives-Ivory Coast in the preparation of its participation: media training and strategy, stakeholder cartography, strategic advocacy planning and negotiation preparation.

Indigenous peoples

The dissemination of strategic communications tools for community conservation and participatory approaches to nature protection

CAP! documented participatory consultation tools used on the ground by civil society organizations in order to allow the participation of indigenous Pygmy peoples in forest and land management processes in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The communication tools that were then developed by CAP! made it possible to disseminate these strategies in various international high-level events and for them to be adopted more widely in Central Africa and elsewhere.

The Pygmies of South Kivu define the boundaries of the Itombwe National Reserve and win the right to establish community patrols

After analyzing the reserve’s development and management plan, Africapacity, with the support of Rainforest Foundation Norway and CAP!, made it possible for indigenous Pygmy peoples to take the first steps towards the co-management of this protected area through the establishment of community patrols – a first in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Development aid

A network of civil society organizations obtains a $2 million grant to support its advocacy work over three years

Together with the United Nations Development Program, CAP! developed a program to support civil society participation and advocacy. After CAP! wrote a programme proposal and budget which was submitted to major international donors, funding of $2 million over three years was secured. A large network of civil society organizations has hence been able to benefit from UNDP’s guidance and from a solid capacity-building programme in order to better monitor and participate in climate governance.

The cumulative impact of World Bank investments in indigenous peoples in Mai-Ndombe is analyzed and recommendations are made

With Rights and Resources Initiative, CAP! conducted an initiative analysis of the impact of REDD+ on local communities and indigenous peoples in Mai-Ndombe. The results of this study, published in a highly publicized report, led to in-depth discussions and a series of recommendations to improve planned initiatives in the area.