This policy advocacy toolkit was developed to assist African civil society organisations to effectively contribute to the development and implementation of public policy for social justice and gender equality or to challenge proposed laws and policies that undermine gender equality and human rights.
This toolkit provides definitions of advocacy and policy advocacy; identifies key players in the production of policy; provides a step-by-step guide on how to successfully advocate, including examples of advocacy strategies that can be used, as well as a detailed case study example; discusses the use of the MenEngage Africa policy report series and policy advocacy work with regional economic communities; and provides a list of resources, including their web addresses.
In addition, this toolkit can be used to support advocacy on a variety of topics. The resources provided within this toolkit specifi cally address issues related to the achievement of gender equality; the prevention of HIV and AIDS and gender-based violence; the promotion of sexual and reproductive health and rights; as well as involved parenting and the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people. All of these areas link to the Millennium Development Goals and more specifi cally to: MDG 3. ‘Promoting gender equality and empowering women’; MDG 4. ‘Reducing child mortality rates’; MDG 5. ‘Improving maternal health’; and MDG 6. ‘Combating HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases’;i as well as to commitments made within the Maputo and Abuja Declarations and the SADC Gender Protocol.
It targets organisations that work with men and boys for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. Furthermore, it is designed for use within an African context but may be amended to suit any country’s social, political and economic conditions. It is hoped that this toolkit will be particularly useful for MenEngage Africa partners who are committed to the task of creating gender equal societies on the continent.
You can download this toolkit for free here.
