Advocacy in Action - A Toolkit to Support NGOs and CBOs Responding to HIV/AIDS

This toolkit, produced jointly by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance and the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO), shows non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and community-based organisations (CBOs) how they can use advocacy to influence people in power to create an environment that protects the rights, health, and welfare of everyone - whether HIV positive or negative. It sets out to build practical skills and provide a training resource for continued learning.

This is designed to be flexible so that facilitators can tailor the work schedule to meet the needs of different NGOs/CBOs. It can be used with NGOs/CBOs with different levels of experience in advocacy.

Section 1: Introducing AdvocacyThis section 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: Planning and Implementing Advocacy WorkSection 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.

Section 3: Including Advocacy in an Organisation's WorkSection 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.

Section 4: 'Advocacy in Action' Cards for Developing Practical Advocacy SkillsThe final section aims to provide activities and information in the form of 'Advocacy in Action' Cards for developing practical advocacy skills.