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Advocacy toolkit - Introduction
   Last updated: 31.07.02
1. What is this toolkit?
This toolkit aims to support non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and communitybased organisations (CBOs) in developing countries to plan and implement effective advocacy work around HIV/AIDS.

What is this toolkit about?

This toolkit aims to help NGOs/CBOs to have a clear understanding of what advocacy is and how it might support the work of NGOs and CBOs, and to provide practical assistance in how to actually undertake advocacy work.

The toolkit is about advocacy and HIV/AIDS – influencing people and organisations in power to create an environment which protects the rights, health and welfare of everyone, both HIV positive and negative.

For NGOs/CBOs involved in HIV/AIDS, this means understanding the role of advocacy in relation to other responses to HIV/AIDS, such as information, education and communication (IEC), community mobilisation and service provision.

It addresses the advantages of planning advocacy work systematically and how this can be achieved. It also helps organisations consider how advocacy could help them to achieve their mission, and to recognise the potential impact of advocacy work on their organisation.

The toolkit also aims to introduce NGOs/CBOs to advocacy methods that have worked in the past to address HIV/AIDS, and to understand when their use is appropriate.

Advocacy in Action – A Toolkit to Support NGOs and CBOs Responding to HIV/AIDS is one in a series of toolkits and handbooks that are based on the practical technical support experience of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance (the Alliance), their partners and other organisations. The Alliance is an international non-governmental organisation that supports communities in developing countries to make a significant contribution to HIV prevention, AIDS care and support to children affected by the epidemic. Since its establishment in 1993, the Alliance has provided financial and technical support to NGOs and CBOs from more than 40 countries. In addition, the Alliance promotes good practice in community responses to HIV/AIDS more broadly through evaluation, operations research, the development of training materials and tools, as well as policy and advocacy activities.

By distributing these resources widely, the Alliance aims to:
  • Build practical skills among NGOs/CBOs by using participatory activities and sharing experiences.

  • Provide a training resource for NGO support programmes, training organisations and individual trainers.

  • Continue learning about how NGOs/CBOs can be successful in their advocacy work.


2. Why and how was this toolkit developed?
The Alliance had an established relationship with the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO) to jointly provide technical support on advocacy. It was agreed that the time was right to combine all the previous experience of its linking organisations and international technical support provision into one good practice participatory training manual (toolkit).

The development of Advocacy in Action – A Toolkit to Support NGOs and CBOs Responding to HIV/AIDS has therefore been inspired by the experiences and ideas of many organisations in many countries. In particular, this includes the groups that worked with us to develop and field test the toolkit. During the development of the advocacy toolkit, the Alliance drew heavily on the previous experience of advocacy training provided by the Philippines HIV/AIDS NGO Support Program (PHANSuP) for its partners and other sectors in the Philippines, and on workshops and training provided in Burkina Faso and Senegal by ICASO and the Alliance. An initial field test workshop was held in Mexico with Alliance partners Colectivo Sol from Mexico, Pela Vidda Niteroi and Grupo de Incentivo a Vida from Brazil and Kimirina from Ecuador. It was then field tested in Zimbabwe with Family AIDS Caring Trust (FACT), in India with Vasavya Mahila Mandali (VMM) and India HIV/AIDS Alliance, and in Mongolia with National AIDS Foundation (NAF).

The Alliance would like to thank ICASO, Alliance partners, consultants and staff who contributed their experience, imagination and ideas to develop the toolkit.

The Alliance would also like to thank the following donors who have supported its advocacy technical support work and toolkit development: the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the United Kingdom Government’s Department for International Development (DFID), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

3. Who is this toolkit for?
This toolkit is for people and organisations that support NGOs and CBOs responding to HIV/AIDS in developing countries.. These include NGO support programmes, training institutions and individual trainers. The toolkit can also be used by NGOs and CBOs themselves to build skills within their own organisations and implement advocacy work.

It is important that people using this toolkit already have some basic facilitation skills, for example in guiding large group discussions and small group activities. It is also helpful if they have some previous experience of advocacy work around HIV/AIDS, although this is not essential.

The following additional resources can be found in the front pocket of the toolkit:
  • A Facilitators’ Guide to Participatory Workshops with NGOs/CBOs Responding to HIV/AIDS, which provides some ideas that will be useful for facilitating the type of workshop described in this toolkit. These ideas include how to prepare for a participatory workshop and how to prepare and facilitate participatory activities.

  • 100 Ways to Energise Groups: Games to Use in Workshops, Meetings and the Community, which documents 100 energisers for use during participatory technical support activities.



4. How can this toolkit be used
This toolkit is designed to be flexible so that facilitators can tailor the work schedule to meet the needs of different NGOs/CBOs. For example, some groups may want to do most of the activities during one training workshop, while others may want to use a selection of activities over a period of time, or to focus on one or two activities to meet a specific, urgent need. To provide this choice, Sections 1, 3 and 4 of the kit are designed for ‘pick and mix’ – meaning that the activities can be used in any order or combination. However, it should be noted that Section 2 – which takes participants through a planning framework for advocacy work – is a series of linked activities that needs to be followed in order and as a whole.

For most of the toolkit, facilitators can use the activities with either one individual NGO/CBO or a group of NGOs/CBOs.

For Section 3, it may be more valuable for participants to work with colleagues from their own organisation. This is because this section addresses the relationship between HIV/AIDS-related advocacy work and the organisation carrying out the work.

This toolkit can be used with NGOs/CBOs with different levels of experience in advocacy. However, in the Alliance’s experience, NGOs and CBOs have found it beneficial to use the Alliance’s toolkit on building partnerships – Pathways to Partnerships – before moving on to this toolkit. Many of the skills from the Pathways to Partnerships toolkit are also useful for advocacy, particularly at the local level. A second Alliance toolkit, Documenting and Communicating HIV/AIDS Work, is also mentioned throughout this toolkit and has useful, complementary activities and information to support advocacy work. Both toolkits and other Alliance resources can be requested from the Alliance free of charge – for contact details, see the Contents section of this publication.

5. What is in the sections of this toolkit?
Following this Introduction to the toolkit, the remainder of the kit is divided into the following sections:
Section 1: Introducing advocacy
Section 2: Planning and implementing advocacy work
Section 3: Including advocacy in an organisation’s work
Section 4: ‘Advocacy in Action’ Cards for developing practical advocacy skills

Section 1
Aims to develop a shared understanding of what advocacy is. This is achieved by focusing on previous experiences of advocacy, either from participants or from others, to help the development of a working definition for advocacy.

Section 2
Aims to practise using a planning framework for advocacy work. The advocacy framework that is used in this section is an adaptation of a framework developed by ICASO. The planning framework is a series of steps, as follows:
Step 1 Select an issue or problem you want to address
Step 2 Analyse and research the issue/problem
Step 3 Develop specific objectives for your advocacy work
Step 4 Identify your targets
Step 5 Identify your resources
Step 6 Identify your allies
Step 7 Create an action plan
Step 8 Implement, monitor and evaluate

Section 3
Aims to analyse the relationships between organisations and advocacy work. This section focuses on three issues: a) how HIV-related advocacy can contribute to an organisation’s mission, b) how HIV-related advocacy might affect an organisation, and c) how to ensure that advocacy is an integrated part of an organisation’s work.

The contents of each part of Sections 1-3 follow the format below:
Objective – stating what the activity is designed to achieve.
Introduction – explaining the subject of the activity and the key issues involved.
Instructions – outlining the steps to take to complete the activity, and the key questions to consider.
Facilitators’ notes – sharing ‘useful ideas’ about how to successfully guide participants through the activity.
Example – showing how an NGO/CBO has put the activity into practice.

Facilitators can read through the Objective and Introduction for each point and use them as the basis for an initial group discussion. They can then work through the Instructions for the activity, using the Facilitators’ notes for guidance and advice. Finally, they can use the Example to clarify any points that are unclear. It is important to note that although the ideas and activities in this toolkit have been tried and tested, they do not try to provide ‘perfect’ examples of how things should be done. Therefore, the Instructions should not be followed ‘word for word’ and should, instead, be adapted to participants’ specific needs, skills and interests. Also, the Examples should be seen as just one of the ways in which the activity could be put into action – as opposed to the ‘perfect way’.

Handout sheets can be found at the back of Sections 1, 2 and 3. These aim to provide additional technical information and case studies for some of the activities. Facilitators can use them in a number of different ways. For example, they can read them beforehand to prepare for the activities or use them during group feedback sessions. They can also share them with participants – for example, by copying them on to overhead transparencies or by making photocopies for people to take away with them.

Section 4
Aims to provide activities and information in the form of ‘Advocacy in Action’ Cards for developing practical advocacy skills.
The cards include:
Card 1: Analysing and influencing legislation or policies
Card 2: Preparing a briefing note or position paper
Card 3: Working from inside the system
Card 4: Lobbying or face-to-face meetings
Card 5: Writing and delivering a presentation
Card 6: Persuading through drama
Card 7: Writing and using a press release
Card 8: Carrying out a media interview
Card 9: Preparing a press conference

Each ‘Advocacy in Action’ Card is four pages long:
  • An introduction with advantages and disadvantages of the advocacy method outlined in the Card

  • A skills-building activity that can be carried out to develop the skill

  • An activity example or case study, and some advice on carrying out the advocacy method

  • A ‘How to...’ handout.


This Section helps participants to explore the advantages and disadvantages of using different methodologies as much as to develop the skills themselves. The cards in this section provide suggested activities to practise these advocacy skills. The cards aim to provide enough information for facilitators to think creatively about how to approach skills building. They can also be used by NGOs and CBOs to facilitate their own skills building.

During the development of the toolkit, these cards were often used during the afternoons of workshops to balance the more conceptual and planning-orientated activities in Section 2. On other occasions, the cards were used by the participants at the end of the workshop to facilitate their own skills-building sessions, or the cards were introduced to the participants who were encouraged to practise the activities with their colleagues back in their NGOs/CBOs.

6. How long does the toolkit take to use?
Instructions for each activity in this toolkit include an estimated time for how long it will take to complete. These are based on the Alliance’s experiences of using the toolkit in workshops with 20-30 participants. However, in practice, facilitators can make the activities shorter or longer, depending on the time available and the level of skills and interest of the participants.

Most of the main Sections of this toolkit can be covered in a five-day workshop. This provides enough time to introduce advocacy work, practise using the planning framework, consider how advocacy relates to their organisation and develop key advocacy skills using the cards.

7. What materials are needed to use this toolkit?
All of the activities in this toolkit can be used with a small number of simple resources. These are:
  • Large sheets of blank paper (flip-chart, Manila paper or newsprint)

  • Small pieces of blank paper

  • Thick pens

  • Sticky tape, Blu-Tack or Sticky Stuff.


Most of all, both facilitators and participants will need enthusiasm, energy and creativity!

"As a direct result of the skills gained during this advocacy skills-building workshop, FACT’s next staff development meeting will analyse the national policy on wilful transmission of HIV. As AIDS Service Organisations, it is vital for us to address policies which impact on HIV."
Comment made by Lovemore Magwere, Director, Family AIDS Caring Trust (FACT), during the advocacy skills-building workshop held in Mutare, Zimbabwe, July 2001.

Example Workshop Schedule
ADVOCACY SKILLS-BUILDING WORKSHOP FOR HIV/AIDS WORK – Family AIDS Caring Trust (FACT) and International HIV/AIDS Alliance 2-6 July 2001, in Mutare, Zimbabwe

Day 1
08:00-08:30 Prayer and recap
08:30-10:00 Workshop welcome and Introduction to the workshop, expectations, ground rules
Tea Break
10:30-13:00 What is advocacy?
Lunch
14:00-15:30 Why do we advocate?
15:30-17:00 How do we advocate?

Day 2
08:00-08:30 Prayer and recap
08:30-10:00
Introduction to the advocacy framework
Step 1: Select the issue or problem
Tea Break
10:30-13:00
Step 2: Analyse and gather information on the issue or problem
Review Steps 1 & 2
Lunch
14:00-15:30 Skills-building: Handling an interview
15:30-17:00 Skills-building: Analysing and influencing legislation or policy

Day 3
08:00-08:30 Prayer and recap
08:30-10:00 Step 3: Develop aims and objectives
Tea Break
10:30-13:00
Step 4: Identify your targets
Step 5: Identify your allies
Review Steps 3, 4 & 5
Lunch
14:00-15:30 Skills-building: Writing a briefing note or position paper
15:30-17:00 Skills-building: Communicating through drama

Day 4
08:00-08:30 Prayer and recap
08:30-10:00 Step 6: Identify your resources
Tea Break
10:30-13:00
Step 7: Create an action plan
Step 8: (Implement), monitor and evaluate
Review Steps 6, 7 & 8
Review planning framework
Lunch
14:00-15:30 Skills-building: Writing and distributing a press release
15:30-17:00 Skills-building: Organising a press conference

Day 5
08:00-08:30 Prayer and recap
08:30-10:00
Advocacy and your organisation:
How does advocacy contribute to an organisation’s mission?
How to ensure that advocacy is an integral part of an organisation’s work?
Tea Break
10:30-13:00
How does advocacy around HIV/AIDS affect an organisation?
Follow-up to Workshop
Workshop Evaluation Certificates
Lunch

Source: Advocacy in Action
This is an extract from Advocacy in Action: a toolkit to support NGOs and CBOs responding to HIV/AIDS, developed in collaboration with the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO) and published by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance in June 2002.

To view the whole report follow this link.

To download this section, complete with graphics, in pdf format (which requires Adobe Acrobat software to read it) follow this link (file size 174 Kbytes)