IWHC Advocacy in Practice: Developing New Leaders in International Policymaking Processes

Participants at IWHC's December  2007 Advocacy in Practice training

In 2007, the International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC) launched the unique Advocacy in Practice (AiP) series to help emerging leaders influence national, regional, and international policy. 

Since 2007, IWHC has held four AiP sessions, each of which coincided with an important conference or United Nations (UN) negotiation.  In February 2007, IWHC hosted the first AiP session to mobilize 15 knowledgeable and skilled leaders from 14 countries prior to the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) meeting at UN.  Since the pilot session, IWHC has trained 60 advocates from 35 countries in: 

• Understanding the core elements of advocacy, including goal-setting, media and communications strategies, and tailoring an advocacy agenda to meet its goals;
• Women's rights, human rights, sexual and reproductive rights and health, HIV/AIDS, and youth movements as a force for social change; and
• Practical application of this knowledge and these skills.

Following the workshops, IWHC continues to work with AiP alumni as colleagues, allies, and trainers for future AiPs.

Click on the links below for more information on IWHC's past AiP trainings:

>>February-March 2008 Advocacy in Practice: 52nd Commission on the Status of Women (New York, USA)

>>December 2007 Advocacy in Practice: Convention on the Rights of the Child (New York, USA)

>>October 2007 Advocacy in Practice: 4th Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights (APCRSH) (Hyderabad, India)

>>February-March 2007 Advocacy in Practice: 51st Commission on the Status of Women (New York, USA)

In the upcoming year, the Coalition will host three workshops to unite strong leaders and create strategic advocacy opportunities. We know that passionate, skilled leadership is critical to solve the urgent health and human rights challenges facing women and young people. Persuading the powerful global actors who create policies and control budgets to invest in girls and women requires skilled, evidence-based advocacy to generate political will for action. Our partners around the world, from Bangladesh to Peru, have proved that supporting new leaders catalyzes and sustains lasting and fundamental change. 

For more information on the Advocacy in Practice program and future trainings, please email aip@iwhc.org.

Do you share IWHC's vision for promoting and protecting the health and rights of women and girls worldwide? If you're a woman under the age of 30 working to turn these visions into reality, we'd like to hear your story! Click here to share your vision.

Join the Advocacy in Practice Group on Facebook. Log onto www.thefacebook.com and search the group "AIP 2007 International Women's Health Coalition." 


Page last updated 6/6/08