Introduction to Policy Advocacy

Background 

In many instances, citizens working within or outside civil society organisations have always felt powerless or unable to change the course of a government program or policy. In this module, we seek to empower course participants to understand advocacy and how it can be used to shape the policy agenda.  

Why

Politics is about the processes of who gets what, when and how? It is an arena of contestation for scarce public resources. Many societies have to make choices and trade-offs. These choices are based on interests promoted by others. Choices made in any society range from shall we provide education and health services for free. What if we charged for these services who will be affected? They also include seemingly mundane issues to do with the language to be used to broadcast news.  In many instances, Policy Advocacy – is deployed as an instrument to ensure that certain interests are promoted or defended. However, there is no common understanding of what it is and how it can be done is important because the policy does not just belong to politicians. In every society, citizen intervention plays a vital role in ensuring a healthy political, economic, and social life. The more citizens are involved in the crafting, implementation and evaluation of development plans and policies, the more likely they are to work. 

What you can expect

Knowledge and Skills 

Through this module, you will be equipped with skills and knowledge to: 

be able to develop an advocacy strategy by following the 7 steps of creating a campaign. 
effectively create messages to inform your advocacy campaign and how to know what types of communication products and strategies can influence audiences 
to understand the complexity of the communication landscape and how to effectively engage and target audiences to achieve policy goals

Knowhow

Definitions and conceptualisation – What is Advocacy and what specifically policy advocacy entails.  
Knowing the different tools for advocacy 
Steps towards developing an advocacy campaign 
Information on the next steps you can undertake to embark on advocacy 
Further readings/reference materials

Tools: Podcasts, reading materials (pdf), article links. 

Material: Material is available below, and in the ‘Materials’ tab available at the top of the page

Quiz: Module Quiz is available at the bottom of the page. Take the quiz and pass with at least 80% to proceed in the course.