Advocacy Is… find a definition
Activity: there is more than one definition of advocacy. Participants will receive list of links to on-line sources, where they can learn about these definitions. This interactive group activity introduces the participants to the topic of advocacy. It aims at working together, finding definitions of advocacy and reflecting on negotiation skills, dialogue, and communication. Participants will also get direct consultancy and feedback from the trainer. When creating their own advocacy campaigns, they will be able to use their gained knowledge – and choose which concept of advocacy best fits their viewpoints.
Time: 20 minutes.
Materials: Papers, pens, markers, stickers, flip-chart.
Links for finding definitions of advocacy, presentation.
Advocacy definition links
https://mffh.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/AFJ_what-is-advocacy.pdf
https://www.unicef.org/evaluation/files/Advocacy_Toolkit.pdf
https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Connecting+young+adults+and+libraries+in+the+21st+century.-a0164421472 (youth advocacy)
http://unoy.org/wp-content/uploads/Youth-Advocacy-for-a-Culture-of-Peace.pdf
http://www.cmhsrp.uic.edu/download/SystemsAdvocacyPPT.pdf
http://advocacyguide.icpolicyadvocacy.org/21-defining-policy-advocacy
Presentation Defining Advocacy
Step 1
Description:
1. Explain the activity – its goals and the steps below;
2. Ask the participants, on their own, to think of four words related to advocacy and write them down on paper. Each word should be a possible end to the statement ‘advocacy is…’ It is very important that they do not use sentences or phrases, but only words. The time limit for this and each following part shall be 3 minutes;
3. After each participant writes down three words, split them into pairs and ask each pair to agree on just four words and write them down on paper;
Step 2
4. Ask them to form a group of four with another pair. Again they must agree on just four words between them and write them down on stickers (one word per sticker);
5. Now ask the groups to produce a definition of advocacy using those four words selected through the previous process;
6. Ask the participants to share their definitions by placing the stickers on the flip-chart;
7. At the end, the trainer should present some official definitions of advocacy and briefly discuss them with participants.
It is up to each of them to choose what advocacy means for them and which definition best fits their viewpoints.
Step 3
Debriefing: after the presentations stimulate an open discussion on:
– similarities and differences in views and highlight the different needs of participants;
– how the participants worked together: what was the communication like, was there dialogue or negotiation, did someone feel excluded?
– Ask each group which definition created by the other groups or presented by trainer was the most understandable for them.
Based on materials from An Advocacy Toolkit. The Education We Want: https://plan-international.org/publications/advocacy-toolkit.
