Appendix B: Participant handouts.

• Author: Nyamweya, Pauline
• Position: ADVOCACY TRAINING MANUAL: SEXUAL REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RIGHTS

PARTICIPANT HANDOUT 1

Introduction

What Is advocacy?

Advocacy is geared towards change: change in personal behaviour and attitude, change in the political and public debate, institutional change and legal change. Advocacy is the effort to change public perceptions and influence policy decisions and funding priorities. Advocacy involves making a case in favor of a particular issue, using skillful persuasion and strategic action. Advocates educate about an issue and suggest a specific solution.

Advocacy is about influencing those who make decisions. Advocacy is not restricted to those policy makers who work for the government. There are policy makers who work for the private sector, and who wield enormous influence over poor communities. It is important to keep in mind that policy makers are all human beings, not institutions. Advocacy is used to influence the choices and actions of those who make laws and regulations, and those who distribute resources and make other decisions that affect the well-being of many people.

Advocacy is both a science and an art. From a scientific perspective, there is no universal formula for effective advocacy. Nevertheless, experience shows that an advocacy campaign is most effective when it is planned systematically. Advocacy networks frame their issue, set an advocacy goal and measurable objectives, identify sources of support and opposition, research the policy audience, develop compelling messages, and mobilize necessary funds, and, at each step of the way, collect data and monitor their plan of action. Each of these steps requires distinct knowledge and skills to ensure effective and efficient implementation.

Advocacy is also an art. Successful advocates are able to articulate issues in ways that inspire others and motivate them to take action. They have a keen sense of timing and are able to recognize and act as opportunities present themselves. Successful advocates are skilled negotiators and consensus builders who look for opportunities to win modest but strategic policy gains while creating still other opportunities for larger victories. Artful advocates incorporate creativity, style, and even humor in their advocacy events in order to draw public and media attention to their cause. The art of advocacy cannot be taught through a training workshop; rather, advocacy training provides the tools.

Many people start with a preconception that advocacy is about "being confrontational" and "shouting at the government." Advocacy does not have to be confrontational. There is a wide range of advocacy approaches to choose from, e.g. a public vs. a private approach, engagement vs. confrontation, and working alone or in coalition with others. There is also a misconception that to take up 'advocacy' requires an entire shift of focus to lobbying and campaigning activities, away from other valuable work in which we may be engaged on a daily basis. Advocacy can be effectively combined with other types of service provision and analytical work, and the strategic significance of incorporating advocacy into our daily work and struggles should not be overlooked if we want to bring about meaningful change.

This advocacy kit is designed to help advocates develop the skills to advocate for reproductive and sexual health services and rights. It describes some of the steps in organizing campaigns and provides information on developing, implementing, and evaluating a successful rights-based advocacy strategy.

Navigating Advocacy Spaces and Places

Advocacy can take place within your organization, school, or local community, at the national government level, at a regional intergovernmental body, or in international venues. When initiating an advocacy activity, it is important to make strategic choices about where to direct your energies and to look for strategic entry points. In some cases, it is beneficial to participate in established agendas of institutions or decision-makers such as government-sponsored policy consultations, stakeholder meetings with financial institutions, and local council meetings. Effective advocacy in these "invited spaces" requires clear demands for change by skilled advocates. Advocacy activities in "created spaces", that is, in spaces opened up by advocates themselves with different and independent agendas, may require more resources but often offers stronger negotiating positions.

Given resource constraints and the urgency of our goals, we should develop criteria for engagement that help us determine where we will have the greatest impact in promoting reproductive and sexual health and rights and where our efforts can have the desired effects. Important criteria include:

* Our strength in terms of capacity and resource levels to effect changes in policy.

* The institutions at which the relevant decisions are made

* The risks associated with engaging in particular spaces

* How we can ensure that our agendas are being promoted at the national, regional and international levels.

Advocacy as a Process

Advocacy is a deliberate process, involving intentional actions. Therefore, before implementing advocacy strategies it must be clear who you are trying to influence and what policy you wish to change. A successful rights-based advocacy campaign is based upon the following components that will be elaborated on in later sessions:

* Strategy

* Mobilisation

Without a strategy, people easily get disappointed because it is hard to measure progress if there is no formulated goal and a plan to achieve that goal. Without participation of stakeholders an advocacy campaign can easily be isolated and ignored. Without mobilization and the resulting public debate, the public and policy makers might put aside the advocacy agenda as being irrelevant.

PARTICIPANT HANDOUT 2

Key SRHR Concepts and Definitions

Reproductive Health

According to a definition agreed on at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), held in Cairo, Egypt, in 1994: "Reproductive health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, in all matters relating to the reproductive system and to its functions and processes." Reproductive health therefore implies that people are able to have a satisfying and safe sex life and that they have the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when, and how often to do so. Implicit in this last condition are the right of men and women to be informed of and to have access to safe, effective, affordable, and acceptable methods of family planning of their choice and the right of access to appropriate health care services that will enable women to go safely through pregnancy and childbirth and provide couples with the best chance of having a healthy infant. In line with the above definition of reproductive health, reproductive health care is defined as the constellation of methods, techniques, and services that contribute to reproductive health and well-being through preventing and solving reproductive health problems.

Sex

Sex can mean the biological characteristics (anatomical, physiological, and genetic) that make us male or female. Sex can also mean sexual activity, including sexual intercourse.

Sexuality

Sexuality is the way in which an individual experiences being male or female. This includes physical and biological aspects of one's life, such as menstruating, having wet dreams, being pregnant, or having sexual intercourse; as well as emotional aspects, such as being attracted to another person, including sexual orientation; and social aspects such as behaving in ways that are expected by one's community, based on whether one is male or female; including gender roles.

Sexuality

* involves the mind and the body;

* is shaped by our values, attitudes, physical appearance, beliefs, emotions, personality, likes and dislikes, and ways in which we have been socialized;

* is influenced by social norms, culture, and religion;

* involves giving and receiving sexual pleasure, as well as enabling reproduction;

* spans our lifetimes.

Sexual Orientation

Heterosexuality is an erotic or romantic attraction towards people of the opposite sex, while homosexuality is an erotic or romantic attraction towards people of the same sex. Bisexuality is an erotic or romantic attraction towards people of both sexes.

Sexual Health

The term sexual health includes aspects of sexuality not necessarily related to reproduction. It recognizes the fact that people may have sex for the purposes of pleasure, not just reproduction, and that people have health needs related to such sexual activity.

According to the International Women's Health Coalition (IWHC): "Sexual health means having a responsible, satisfying, and safe sex life". Achieving sexual health requires a positive approach to human sexuality and mutual respect between partners. By recognizing sexual health, and sexual rights, health and education systems can help prevent and treat the consequences of sexual violence, coercion, and discrimination, and ensure that healthy human sexuality is enjoyed by all people and accepted as part of their overall well-being.

The IWHC describes the basic elements of sexual health as:

* a sexual life free from disease, injury, violence, disability, unnecessary pain, or risk of death;

* a sexual life free from fear, shame, guilt, and false beliefs about sexuality;

* the capacity to enjoy and control one's own sexuality and reproduction.

Sexual and Reproductive Health

Definitions of sexual health and reproductive health overlap. To avoid confusion and to ensure that all areas are covered, many providers, planners, and policymakers now use the term sexual and reproductive health, which includes everything encompassed in both sexual health and reproductive health. The term sexual and reproductive health can refer to a state of health and well-being, types of services, or an "approach" to service delivery, as follows:

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