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Description
The aim of the project is the systematic training of 30 civil society organizations (CSOs) on how to design, develop and implement advocacy activities on Human Rights issues. The training will be based on the methodology, expertise and experience of Amnesty International.
The main activities of the project include the production of digital, openly available material, the development of a digital platform, the organization of seminars, webinars with Amnesty’s staff, the development of pilot advocacy actions scripts, etc. At the end of the project, a skills hare workshop will be held to exchange experiences with beneficiaries & publishing research on advocacy in Greece. Through the proposed activities, the beneficiary organizations will develop skills and techniques and will acquire innovative tools concerning advocacy, will build networks and will transfer their experience to local communities.
The impact of the project and the logic of such an intervention is based on the deficit that exists in civil society in Greece, for knowledge and advocacy tools in order to increase its impact as well as achieve change. CSOs need to change their organizational culture and focus on advocacy activities as tools for achieving change and sustainable impact.
Beneficiaries will be 30 CSOs, who are or are willing to advocate for human rights. There will be a blending of NGOs & grassroots organizations to break the silos, while there will be support for more than 150 individuals from civil society with full access to materials. The number of beneficiaries will be increased geometrically, in the medium, term through synergies.
Amnesty International will design, implement and manage the whole project on the basis of its international experience in both advocacy for human rights education.
Summary of project results
The project was the training program “Demand Change! Training in Advocacy for Human Rights!” (March 2020 to December 2021),in which more than 30 civil society organizations and over 15 individual actors participated. The selection was based on a) thematic diversity criteria (environment, education, LGBTI and feminist rights, migration, health, disability, elderly rights, labour and social rights, children''s rights, transparency, and accountability, etc.), b) geographical dispersion criteria, c) diversity criteria (e.g., NGOs, grassroots, etc.). The project provided 22 months of systematic training in strategic human rights advocacy based on Amnesty International''s methodology, expertise, and experience. The beneficiaries developed skills, techniques and innovative tools related to advocacy, while building common practices and networks. More than 26 training sessions were held, resulting in the design of strategic advocacy campaigns targeting public and private actors, development of new advocacy tools and communication strategies.
Part of this work is reflected in the multi-page advocacy guide, also a project output, which summarizes in a direct and applied way the training work carried out throughout this period, thus providing a valuable tool for advocacy strategy and future actions. Moreover, an important legacy of the project is the very networking of civil society organizations that was formed during the training, and which continues to operate after the end of the project, realizing the need for joint actions and synergies in civil society.The proposal to implement this project was the result of the following assumption: In Greece, in recent years, a multitude of organizations with significant impact and experience has been operating, trying to address and manage social emergencies. Thus, objectively, a deficit arises in the development of advocacy, accountability, and monitoring strategies, since emergency conditions determine priorities. There is therefore a wide scope for empowering NGOs in advocacy. The successful completion of the “Demand Change!” project proves the validity of this assessment, reflecting that the training project has indeed responded to important civil society needs. In this context, its main outcome was precisely the change of organizational culture to focus on advocacy as a tool for social change, as well as the empowerment of organizations to design and implement multiple effective advocacy actions.