Outlawing metal mining in El Salvador - Policy Brief 18
This Policy Brief from TTP Associate Clare Cummings describes how a community-led campaign for ‘water over gold’ succeeded in banning metal mining in El Salvador.
In 2017, El Salvador passed a law that banned metal mining. In other countries in the region, mining continues to damage livelihoods and pollute water sources; in El Salvador, a community-led campaign for ‘water over gold’ succeeded.
This case study demonstrates how coalitions can bridge identity groups, how a problem can be framed to fit with popular political movements and how cultural identities can help mobilise people around environmental protection.
The following lessons from the anti-mining campaign’s success can inform politically aware programmes:
- Analyse the interests of the political elite, business leaders, rural communities and religious leaders. Understand their cultural identity, ideas and moral values.
- Build coalitions. Broaden support for your campaign to increase political pressure.
- Leverage international support.
- Frame your campaign within popular narratives and cultural values. Can key stakeholders be persuaded to see environmental protection differently?
- Lock it into law. Legislative change can send a strong message.
Two decades of Thinking and Working Politically in Nigeria
This blog sets out how our team of Nigeria experts helps development partners navigate Nigeria's political economy, from shaping programme design to providing just-in-time analysis during implementation. Read about our work across governance, education, climate, agriculture and conflict, and why our grounded, advisory approach matters more than ever as development budgets tighten.
New guidance on stakeholder analysis and network mapping
In collaboration with the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and the Thinking and Working Politically Community of Practice, TPP Director Laure-Hélène Piron and TPP Principal Wilfred Mwamba have prepared a guidance note on how to undertake a dynamic stakeholder analysis and political network mapping, both of which can be used to support international cooperation and development partnerships.
Why energy security starts in the kitchen
With global energy markets reeling from geopolitical chaos, Indonesia’s USD 4.7 billion liquid petroleum gas subsidy is no longer just a fiscal burden but a severe economic vulnerability. In this blog (which was published as an Op-Ed for Jakarta Post), TPP Director Neil McCulloch argues that the government must finally grasp the nettle of subsidy reform.