Description

Advocacy concepts, and development of advocacy strategies

In February 2017 SCIAF commissioned an advocacy mapping with 24 partners from three regions and eleven countries, to better understand the advocacy capacity, needs, experience and priorities of those partners which already engage in – and/or have the potential to engage in – further advocacy work. The mapping had three main aims:

(i) To better understand partner needs and priorities for their advocacy work, (ii) To identify potential opportunities for linking to networks, sister agencies or other Caritas agencies which partners may benefit from and, (iii) To identify and recommend partners which could benefit from additional advocacy support.

The main requests for support from partners consulted in the mapping are clustered in three areas: (i) Advocacy training (to increase skills and advocacy capacity within the organisations), (ii) Development of advocacy strategies (to define clear objectives and a road map on how to achieve them) and (iii) Financial resources (mainly to implement advocacy plans and support advocacy activities). The advocacy manual aims at supporting partners with increased knowledge and understanding of key advocacy concepts as well as familiarity with the steps needed to develop advocacy strategies. Using the manual, organisations will be able to develop specific, focused and clear advocacy strategies.