Follow the Money Training Course for Southeast Asian Advocates

Inclusive Development International, in collaboration with the Coalition for Human Rights and Development’s Community Resource Exchange, is launching a Follow the Money training course for Southeast Asian organizations that are supporting communities to defend their rights in the face of harmful investment projects.

The course will train researchers, organizers and advocates from 10 Southeast Asian organizations on how to conduct Follow the Money investigations and design effective advocacy strategies using Inclusive Development International’s proven methods.

To apply, please follow the instructions outlined below. The application deadline has been extended to November 4, 2022.

Course Outline and Objectives

The course will entail the following virtual and in-person sessions:

Two introductory webinars to provide an overview of the Follow the Money theory of change and participant cases in early December 2022.

A four-day in-person workshop in Chiang Mai, Thailand, January 10-13, 2023, focusing on how to research corporate structures, investors, and lenders andhow to use this investment chain research to design effective multi-pronged advocacy strategies. The workshop will include hands-on group work researching cases that participants have brought from their own countries.
A four-day in-person workshop in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in mid-2023, focusing on how to research supply chains and target supply chain actors in advocacy, how to influence Chinese stakeholders, and how to use specific advocacy strategies such as filing complaints to independent accountability mechanisms (TBC). This session will also include hands-on group work on participant cases and opportunities for participants to share their expertise with each other.

A more detailed schedule is included below.

The objective of the course is to form a community of Follow the Money practitioners in the region. Inclusive Development International’s researchers and advocates will be available to support this practice group both during and after the training course, including by offering advice and access to specialized tools to track financial flows, and providing guidance for designing and implementing advocacy strategies.

Selection Criteria

Civil society organizations based in ASEAN countries that meet the following criteria are invited to apply to join this training course:

Your mission involves supporting communities to defend their rights in the face of harmful investment projects.
Your organization is interested in learning how to conduct Follow the Money research and advocacy and is committed to using the knowledge and skills acquired in the course to bolster your organization’s capacity to support communities in the country, sub-region and/or region in which you are based.
You can commit 1-2 full-time staff members to participate in the full training course (approximately four hours of online training sessions, seven days of in-person training spread over two separate workshop sessions, plus up to 20 hours of homework).
You have the resources for participating staff members to use Follow the Money research and advocacy techniques in their roles on an ongoing basis following the training.
The staff members you send will be with your organization for the foreseeable future in roles that allow them to use the skills they learn regularly.
Individual participants must be proficient in spoken and written English and have access to a computer and internet connection.
Participants need not have prior research experience but should possess an intellectual curiosity to learn more, along with the motivation, time and organizational resources to conduct detail-oriented desk-based research to support community struggles.

Application Process

If your organization is interested in applying to join this training program and meets the selection criteria outlined above, please send an expression of interest by October 31, to Dustin Roasa, Research Director at Inclusive Development International, at dustin@inclusivedevelopment.net.

Please include the following information in your application:

A brief description (1-2 paragraphs) of your organization’s work and mission supporting local communities, along with a link to your website. What types of harmful projects do you support communities on, e.g. mining, infrastructure, etc.? Do you have some experience with financial-sector advocacy, either in your country or internationally?
The names of the staff member(s) who will participate, their role in your organization, and why the organization is nominating them;
How you expect to use the knowledge and skills acquired in the course in your organization’s work;
The names of 2-3 harmful projects your organization is currently supporting communities to resist that you would like to research during the training course. (We will work with you to choose one.) Please include the project names, the names of the companies developing them (if you know), and one or two sentences on the social and environmental harms and risks. Describe the resources you have available to follow up on advocacy opportunities that will be uncovered during the training in relation to these projects.
How you heard about the training program.

Detailed Schedule

The proposed schedule for the training course includes the following virtual and in-person sessions.

Online Introductory Sessions

December 2022: Introduction to the training course and the Follow the Money theory of change (90 minutes)
December 2022: Participants present the harmful projects they are bringing to the training. What are the impacts on communities? What are your advocacy goals? What do you know about the project’s investment and supply chains? What do want to research further? (90 minutes)

In-Person Workshop 1 in Chiang Mai, Thailand (January 10-13, 2023)

Topics: Investment Chain Research and Advocacy

Day 1:

How large projects are developed and funded. This module covers how developers, investors, financial advisors/lead arrangers, banks, insurers, contractors, purchasers, suppliers, government bodies, etc., help to get projects off the ground. Participants will seek to arrange key actors into a sample investment chain through an interactive exercise.

Researching corporate structures. In this module, we will examine how parent companies own and control projects through chains of subsidiaries. We will show how to research a project’s corporate structure, including identifying the names and ownership stakes of subsidiaries and where they are registered. We will discuss how this is important for advocacy, including accessing independent accountability mechanisms. Participants will then break into groups and research the corporate structures of their projects, with assistance from Inclusive Development International staff, and present them to the wider group.

Day 2:

Researching shareholders. This module covers the different types of shareholders, such as asset managers, pension funds and private equity, and what their rights and obligations are. We will focus on how to uncover a company’s largest and most important shareholders. We will also discuss how to assess shareholders as pressure points. Participants will then break into groups and research the shareholders involved in their projects, with assistance from Inclusive Development International staff, and present them to the wider group.

Day 3:

Researching lenders. This module covers lenders and the different types of debt transactions. We will discuss how to uncover a project’s and company’s lenders – and how to deal with the lack of transparency in the banking sector. We will examine the differences between corporate, project and asset-based finance, in addition to the roles advisors and lead arrangers play, which is important in assessing them as pressure points. Participants will then break into groups and research the lenders involved in their projects, with assistance from Inclusive Development International staff, and present them to the wider group.

Day 4:

Introduction to advocacy. This module will discuss how, after completing investment chain research, you can use the findings to design effective, multi-pronged advocacy strategies. We will brainstorm how to target parent companies, investors and lenders and get them to use their leverage over the primary company you are seeking to influence; how to use the media; and how to use international accountability mechanisms strategically. Participants will then break into groups and begin to design advocacy strategies for their projects, with assistance from Inclusive Development International staff, and present them to the wider group.

In-Person Workshop 2 in Chiang Mai, Thailand (Mid-2023)

Topics: Supply Chain Research and Advocacy, Influencing Chinese Stakeholders, and Deeper Discussion of Advocacy Strategies

Day 1:

Researching supply chains. We will define supply chains and discuss how they move commodities from a project to market, through buyers, traders, processors, commodity exchanges and consumer brands. We will show how to research a project’s supply chain, both through traditional methods and through open-source intelligence (OSINT) techniques. We will discuss how to assess supply chain actors as pressure points, and how multistakeholder initiatives figure into these assessments. Participant will then break into groups and research the supply chains of their projects, with assistance from Inclusive Development International staff, and present them to the wider group.

Day 2:

Supply chain advocacy. This module will discuss how, after completing supply chain research, you can use the findings to design effective, multi-pronged advocacy strategies. We will discuss how to target pressure points in a supply chain, with a particular focus on consumer brands with reputations to protect. We will also look at how to get other supply chain actors, such as refiners, processors and multistakeholder initiatives, to use their leverage over the company that controls the project. Participant will then break into groups to design supply chain advocacy strategies that complement their investment chain strategies, with assistance from Inclusive Development International staff.
Influencing Chinese stakeholders. This module provides an introduction to the various actors involved in overseas Chinese projects, from developers to financiers to regulators. It will focus on busting some of the common myths and misunderstandings about Chinese overseas investment, and look at some of the common drivers behind Chinese projects, how they are regulated, and what strategies can potentially be used to influence Chinese projects and stakeholders. The interactive sessions will incorporate participants’ experiences and assumptions about engaging Chinese stakeholders.

Day 3:

Influencing Chinese stakeholders (continued).
Case studies involving Chinese stakeholders. Drawing on cases that Inclusive Development International and our partners have worked on, this module will examine several campaigns that have used a range of strategies in an attempt to prevent harmful projects from moving forward, to influence their implementation, or seek redress for impacted people. Participants will brainstorm throughout on which approaches are likeliest to see results.

Day 4:

Deeper dive into advocacy strategies. Following the first in-person workshop, participants will be asked which type of advocacy strategies they would like to explore more. This session will cover the most requested topics (e.g. using independent accountability mechanisms, engaging pressure points). The module will be tailored to participants’ cases. Participants will brainstorm the pros and cons of the different advocacy strategies and share experiences using the various approaches.
Participant learning circles. Participants will gather in learning circles organized around cross-cutting issues that they regularly face, such as security, communication/narrative strategies and fundraising.
Solidarity dinner and awarding of certificates of completion.