Advocacy capacity building

This toolkit is designed to support the advocacy capacity building element of the People’s Peacemaking Perspectives project, a joint initiative implemented by Conciliation Resources and Saferworld and financed under the European Commission's Instrument for Stability. The project provides European Union institutions with analysis and recommendations based on the opinions and experiences of local people in a range of countries and regions affected by fragility and violent conflict.

The toolkit is targeted primarily at staff involved in advocacy capacity building work, and can also be used as a reference and resource book for workshop participants on an ongoing basis. We hope to encourage a more strategic approach to advocacy. Advocacy work may be unfamiliar to staff and partners; or where advocacy work is done, a more informal approach may be being adopted that risks missing opportunities or squandering limited resources. A more strategic approach focusing on analysis, planning and allocation of resources according to priorities has, in the experience of Saferworld and Conciliation Resources, increased the chances of making an impact with our advocacy work.

The tools presented here are not an exhaustive list and staff or partners may find that the exercises contained within the handbook are not appropriate for their context. There are of course other potential tools which can be used in developing an advocacy strategy, and staff/partners should use their own experience to inform advocacy capacity building in their context.

Find out more about the People's Peacemaking Perspectives Project