The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Objective: Increase our ability to lobby government effectively for strong tobacco control policies, and to recruit more members to our alliance, on a small budget.

Methods: Particularly but perhaps not only in a low-income country such as Bangladesh, our greatest resource is our people. We recruited people to engage in a range of colorful demonstrations and events, and to engage in the simplest form of advocacy: writing letters. We also worked closely with the media, educating journalists about the need for strong tobacco control law and policies, and directly with the government, building a strong NGO-GO relationship over the years. While the work would not have been possible without funding, the amounts were relatively small and most of our work was carried out at very low cost.

Results: Our advocacy campaign has been tremendously successful, with the government signing and ratifying the FCTC and passing a comprehensive tobacco control law. Significantly, the government has included NGOs at all steps of the process, making it possible for us to have extensive input in skill building on the FCTC, on law drafting, on law implementation plans, and on the creation of a three-year plan for tobacco control. Our experience indicates that low-budget campaigns can be successful if we make wise use of our resources: people.