Bridging the gap: human rights NGOs, informational strategies, and MEP access on Iran

Abstract

Abstract

Abstract This article examines how EU-based human rights NGOs gain access to MEPs when advocating on the low-salience and diplomatically constrained issue of human rights in Iran. Building on resource-exchange theory, we conceptualise access as a relational and continuous outcome, measured by the frequency of sustained contact with MEPs or their staff, while treating information provision and strategy use as analytically distinct predictors. Using original survey data from 83 NGOs and 13 qualitative interviews, the analysis shows that timely and tailored information are the strongest predictors of access, whereas legal information does not exhibit a statistically significant independent effect. Among lobbying strategies, face-to-face engagement remains the most effective direct channel, while media and social media outreach are positively associated with access by increasing issue visibility and reinforcing organisational credibility. By contrast, mobilisation efforts such as petitions or demonstrations show no independent association with access. The findings refine resource-exchange theory by demonstrating that access depends not only on what NGOs provide, but on how, when, and through which channels information is communicated. In normative and information-scarce contexts such as EU external human rights policy, informational value is constructed through timeliness, targeting, and the combination of inside and outside strategies, rather than through material resources or formal expertise alone.