What is advocacy?

1. What is advocacy?

2. Session objectives • Distinguish advocacy from other activities • Work with participants to recognise opportunities for advocacy in our work • Define advocacy targets • Discuss different forms of advocacy and how to work out which form/s are appropriate in which situations • Develop action plans

3. What is advocacy? Advocacy • Looks like a lot of things we do such as awareness raising, education, policy development • Has a specific target: to influence a person/people in authority to bring about a desired change Exercise • Take a moment to introduce yourself the person next to you and discuss an instance in your work where advocacy has occurred – or needs to occur. • What does it change? Who does it target? What are indicators of its success? Is its main target people who have influence over others

4. Advocacy targets • Advocacy works when our advocacy efforts reach the people who can make the changes we want. Those people are known as the advocacy “targets.” There are two general types: Institutions and civil society. • We advocate to people within institutions and civil society. • Choose your target –s/he has to be able to affect the change you need.

5. Aims, objectives and activities of advocacy • Aim: the long-term result that we are seeking • Objective: a short-term target that contributes towards achieving the long-term aim; objectives reflect the desired outcome, or end result, of activities. • Activities: the individual activities that will accomplish the objectives • Clear aims allow us to make our work objectives well-defined, specifically targeted, measurable and easy to evaluate when completed.

6. Objectives should be ‘SMART’ • Specific: Be precise about what you are going to do. • Measurable: Quantify your objectives in a way that can be evaluated and monitored. • Achievable: So you don’t try to do what you cannot realistically accomplish. • Realistic: Do you have the resources to do it all? • Timed: When will you achieve the objective?

7. Forms of advocacy • Work from within the system – sitting at decision-makers’ table • Lobbying (government, other officials) • Writing position papers and briefing notes • Preparing and giving public presentations Writing letters, emails, making phone calls • Working with the media • The Internet (website or blog)

8. Planning an implementing activism • Step 1 – Select an issue or problem you want to address • Step 2 – Analyse and gather information on the issue or problem • Step 3 – Develop an aim and objectives for your advocacy work • Step 4 – Identify your targets • Step 5 – Identify your allies • Step 6 – Create an action plan • Step 7 – Identify your resources • Step 8 – Implement, monitor and evaluate