WAN has been focussing on strategic advocacy for 20 years, and has carried out extensive research on best practice in advocacy from across social change movements. We have used this work to produce our Strategic Advocacy Course, which is currently available free on our website and will shortly be turned into an online course for the AP movement. We believe that this course will meet the need expressed by Greg Bose (ACE’s Advocacy Research Program Officer) in the blog “Charities We'd like to See” – where Greg mentions the possibility of a new or existing charity helping advocacy groups with evaluation policies and practices and providing relevant training.
Our course includes all aspects of strategic advocacy, including Social Change and Strategy as well as the four major aspects of advocacy: research and analysis; campaigning; lobbying; and networking and alliances.
There is also a Module dedicated to Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), and a full set of advocacy tools in the Advocacy Toolkit, including tools covering M&E, which is an often neglected aspect of advocacy.
Effective strategy must be based on thorough research, analysis and heart-searching. The movement definitely needs a more strategic approach to its advocacy work to bring about lasting social change. With the right approach and tools, every organisation can be successful in charting a pathway to its own desired change for animals, and create lasting and significant improvements to the lives of animals. With this in mind, we are proud to announce our new Backgrounder on Effective Advocacy, which highlights the importance of a strategic approach to advocacy and includes some of our favourite messages and tips.
