Advocacy options

Guidelines Step 12

Toolkit Step 12

Making it Work (MIW) is about both research and advocacy. Advocacy, as defined within the MIW Initiative, is extremely broad.
The aim is to create change!

It is important that the reports you created do not sit on the shelf or are not used to create the changes you desire in your communities or countries.  Phase 2, therefore, allows you to put all the work you have done into action in your community and with civil society, policy makers, DPOs, mainstream NGOs, and other relevant actors. 

** Your MIW report and documentation are the food for the advocacy **

The documents in this toolkit will assist you with doing something with your final document or report. You have now spent much time creating recommendations and targets for those recommendations.  Now, you should begin thinking about how to use those recommendations to make a difference.  

Reformating your report: For Phase 2 activities, you may use and disseminate your report in full. However, you also may need to re-format the information in your report for various purposes. For example, this could be as:

• Training materials in a PowerPoint presentation (ie. training DPOs on how to use the report for thier advocacy/activities).
• Information for posters, leaflets and other promotional information
• Press release or article for newspapers, websites or other media outlets
• A speech for educating people with disabilities on the subject and inspire them to act.
• An abstract for future articles in magazines or academic publications

Look at your recommendations and think about your target audience. How do you need to package the information to have a maximum impact?

Core Documents:

Some general information on advocacy can be found in the following links:

• Introduction to advocacy
  
• Targets of Advocacy
• Good examples of advocacy (Tearfund Roots Resource)

Advocacy options could include the following:

• Exchanging of good practices with others who can use them to be inspired to create similar experiences.  As in Step 7, use the case studies you documented and share them at meetings, conferences, and with stakeholders in your community and in other parts of your country/region. Exchange them with good practices others have collected.
  
  
• Training stakeholders (including policy makers, people with disabilities and the media) on your MIW report and its findings.  If significant funding exists, you could think about training people to educate others on your findings and to expand the advocacy activities to other localities; however, note that this takes substantial time and money. Click here for additional information on Training Trainers.
  
  
• Formal lobbying campaigns and activities: Some activities may include direct advocacy work to government agencies, policy makers and to contribute to larger civil rights movements.  Additional resources for this section will help you think through what is lobbying and how to best sustain your advocacy efforts and make the best out of meetings with policy makers.
  
  
• Media outreach which could include a media launch, publication of materials such as creating a website, newsletters, e-blasts, case studies, etc.  There are many additional resources in this toolkit which can help you develop a full media strategy for getting the word out in your community, nationally and internationally.
  
  
• Share your MIW project. Expand the dissemination of your MIW report through a Public Launch to provide the public with information on your work. Or, hold meetings, roundtable discussions, question and answer sessions or presentations with policy makers, media, advocates, service providers, or other interested stakeholders. Click here for more information on ways to share your project.
  
  
• Establish networks and build coalitions – collaborate and share your work with other development organizations, NGOs of other vulnerable groups (ie. women, children, etc); academic institutions and research-based entities (both online and physical resources). It is important to establish positive working relationships in order to find common ground and innovative solutions to share problems.  Click here for additional information on how to build coalitions, develop relationships and carry out grassroots organizing.

Please note, though, that with regards to MIW, general awareness raising is not sufficient. Awareness raising on disability issues or the CRPD could be a component of a larger campaign for policy change or other activities but on its own is not the goal.