118 students and young professionals from 34 countries and diverse cultural and academic backgrounds have attended the 9th edition of the IFFD International Advocacy Workshop, together with a group of senior observers. It was organized online because of the pandemic and had no cost for participants.
This course intends to critically assess the field of international human rights and development advocacy, its institutions, strategies, and key actors. It explores how domestic, regional, and global policy strategies are set. Also, it promotes discussion on various challenges that family-responsive advocates face together with a range of stakeholders, including academics, international institutions and the private sector.
The topics for this year include two of the four megatrends proposed by the United Nations for the preparations and celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the International Year of the Family in 2024, and the consequences of COVID-19 for families.
PROGRAMME
| Day | Wednesday 1 | Thursday 2 | Friday 3 |
| Theme | Families and New Technologies |
Families and Urbanization |
Families in the Post-pandemic Era |
| Opening Speech |
|
  Nora UrreaVice-President, IFFD |
  Olivier YaoGlobal President, IFFD |
| Lectures |  Families and Technology: International Focus Group Findings Jessica NavarroResearch Assistant, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of North Carolina Greensboro |
 Fighting Loneliness and Promoting Intergenerational Solidarity in our cities Rens MartijnResearcher and International Coordinator, Research Centre Innovations in Care, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences |
 Looking beyond COVID-19: Strengthening Family Support Services across the OECD Olivier ThévenonHead of Child Well-Being Unit, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) WISE Centre |
 Digital Technologies and Parenting Education Susan WalkerAssociate Professor, Department of Family Social Science, University of Minnesota |
 Megatrends and Families: The Impact of Urbanization Bahira TraskChair, Department of Human Development & Family Sciences, University of Delaware |
 Renewing and Reenvisioning the Social Care Sector Mary DalyProfessor, Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford |
|
| Interventions & Good Practices |  The Future of New Technologiesin the Family Guillaume DesveauxDigital sector executive, Hub France IA |
 The Citiesof the Future  Wilson LevyDirector of the Postgraduate Program in Sustainable and Smarts Cities, UNINOVE (Brazil) |
 The Role of Entrepreneurs in aFamily-responsive Society  Adam ZychPresident, Projekt PL (Poland) |
 A Book on how Childrencan Flourish Online Tom HarrisonDirector, Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues, University of Birmingham |
 Families Policiesat a Regional Level  Luciano MalferHead of the Regional Agency for Family, Natality and Youth Policies, Trento (Italy) |
 Family-friendly Initiativesin the Private Sector Michal MichalskiDirector, Institute for Family and Society Studies (Poland) |
|
| Moderators |  Rémy VerlyckFamilles Durables (France) |
 Amanda OliveiraFamily Talks (Brazil) |
 Marcin ChruscielProjekt PL (Poland) |
| Facilitators | Alex Vazquez Project Designer and Operations Manager |
||
| Coen Vermeij Objectives |
 Dianett VegaMessages |
Jose Oliveira Communication Activities |
|
| Mateusz Switaj Resources |
 Charles AigbonaTimeline and Staff |
Chiara Ledda Evaluation |
|
| Outcomes | Draft Advocacy Plan (Day 1) | Draft Advocacy Plan (Day 2) | Draft Advocacy Plan (Day 3) |
OBJECTIVE
The main purpose of the Workshop was the elaboration of an ADVOCACY PLAN for each one of the three topics.
In order to create a complete ADVOCACY PLAN, the following questions were be answered for each topic along the day by Participants:
1.- Establish measurable objectives.
2.- Define key messages.
3.- Determine the communication activities to deliver key messages.
4.- Decide what resources are necessary to complete each activity.
5.- Establish a timeline and responsible party for each activity.
6.- Fix how to evaluate whether you have reached your objectives.
METHOD OF WORK
There were be THREE SESSIONS every day:
– Lectures
– Interventions & Good Practices
– Interactive Discussion
The two FIRST SESSIONS (Lectures and Interventions & Good Practices ) are divided into three parts:
– Interventions of the speakers (Zoom)
– Questions to speakers (Zoom)
– Inputs for the ADVOCACY PLAN (Slido)
The THIRD SESSION (Interactive Discussion) will consist of:
– Presentation of a consolidated draft ADVOCACY PLAN upon ideas gathered from Slido by Facilitators and published in the Google Document for the day.
– Discussion and enrichment of the consolidated draft ADVOCACY PLAN by Participants.
– Elaboration of the outcome document of the topic for the day by the Moderator.
WHAT IS AN ADVOCACY PLAN?
Purpose
Getting powerful individuals or organizations to make big changes that may not be in their short-term interest, working in the public eye and standing for a cause that is worth the fight.
Find out ahead of time where the major difficulties may lie, and to avoid surprises. Clearly define the strategy goals and steps to achieve them. If there is no strategy it can end up in wasting valuable energy, miss some opportunities, perhaps even antagonize people you need to keep on your side.
Format
The ADVOCACY PLAN should not exceed 300 words.
RESOURCES
The starting point of each topic can be found in the following links:
Wed, September 1st: Families and New Technologies (p. 47-50).
Thu, September 2nd: Families and Urbanization (nn. 1-10).
Fri, September 3rd: Families in the Post-pandemic Era: (p. 6-9; 25-26)
EVALUATION & FOLLOW-UP
A Certificate is provided to each participant upon attendance of at least 85% of the sessions. Participants who receive the certificate will have the opportunity to join the International Advocacy Network through the Coordinators of each group.
MODERATORS
The role of the moderators is:
– Start and close every session.
Sessions 1-2:
– Introduce every speaker and thank him when they finish.
– Select 2-3 questions for every speaker and invite those who wrote them in the chatbox to open their cams and make them.
– Remind questions to be replied to in Slido and encourage to make inputs and vote the inputs of others.
Sessions 3:
– Give the floor to each facilitator to read and explain their draft proposal (4-5 mins. x 6 facilitators)
– Give the floor to participants for comments or suggestions to the draft proposal (1 min. each)
– Include the comments or suggestions to produce a final outcome of the day.
FACILITATORS
The role of the facilitators is:
– During Sessions 1-2, each facilitator will create out of the Slido inputs, an answer to 1 of the 6 agreed questions related to the topic of the day.
– During Session 3, to read and explain the answer created collaboratively.
COORDINATORS
The role of the coordinators is:
– Follow-up on the work after the Workshop.
– Explore ways of collaboration to finalize the ADVOCACY PLAN and disseminate it through articles, statements, projects and communication strategies.
