In order to deliver effective advocacy on family planning (FP) and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), a well-crafted organisational strategy – as well as an in-depth understanding of the surrounding advocacy ecosystem – is required. In addition, it is vital that an organisation has the right skills to deliver on the approach. This often requires additional resources and capacity development.

Unfortunately, many grassroots and youth-led organisations in Africa struggle the most with this, with added pressure coming from the need to increase and advance their advocacy outreach and skills. To aid these organisations in preventing an ineffective investment of resources, and avoid advocacy strategies failing to hit their targets and goals, DSW, with support from the Hewlett Foundation, developed the ‘Strengthening Local Advocacy Leadership in East Africa (SLALE) Foundational Training Materials’. These materials are aimed at providing youth-focused CSO’s with an opportunity to strengthen their organisational knowledge and capacity to conduct effective advocacy towards FP and SRHR.

The Facilitation Guide is a key resource on how to use the associated training materials (presenta­tions, handouts, etc.), to conduct effective foundational training within the SLALE project. It should be noted that the topics and content of these training resources have been chosen based on precise capacity assessments of the par­ticipating organisations. The guide also explores specific sessions that can be used to develop and deepen an organisations capacity. For instance:

  • “What is the best approach to conduct successful advocacy?”
  • “What should be considered in order to mobilise more resources?”
  • “How can project management techniques help coordinate different activities?
  • “How can you measure achievements with the right Monitoring and Evaluation tools?”

DSW will continue to add to these resources, and be a point of contact for organisations in aiding them in reaching their goals. We also welcome other organisations to download and use the materials for your development – feel free to reach out to us in case of any questions.

The guide and corresponding resources can be accessed and downloaded here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/f78p0p8bvcd7gws/AADCiMiL3ovNdYY6LwH9JAhCa?dl=0

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ABOUT SLALEStrengthening Local Advocacy Leadership in East Africa (SLALE) is a project that aims at enabling youth focused CSOs in Kenya and Tanzania to implement effective and coordinated family planning and reproductive health (FPRH) advocacy. Funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the project not only provides financial support and training but also assists the organisation in their strategy implementation through mentoring.