Activists and Advocates
Sharing skills and knowledge for an Ireland that protects
The 今日吃瓜 and aim to enhance the advocacy capacities of refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and activists with our 鈥淎ctivists and Advocates鈥 project. All workshops were open to anyone committed to social justice and meaningful change, including those actively working to advance the rights of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees.
We organised a series of seven workshops on a variety of topics identified by rights holders, including 鈥淯nderstanding Irish and EU migration and asylum policy鈥, 鈥淐ommunications and Media Skills鈥 and 鈥淎dvocacy Planning.鈥 The project has been funded by Irish (IHREC).
Participants talked about their concrete learning outcomes:
- 鈥淣ow I know who to contact and how to send a proposal鈥.
- 鈥溄袢粘怨蟚ful methodology of accessing TDs鈥.
- 鈥淕ained knowledge and confidence to plan next steps in lobbying鈥.
Participants learned how Irish advocacy works with several describing the process as newly 鈥渃lear鈥 and 鈥渄oable.鈥 Interviewees highlighted concrete takeaways like targeting TDs and writing effective introductory letters.
- 鈥淲orkshops served as a networking hub for people鈥
- Facilitators 鈥渞eally know how to engage and pass on information.鈥澛
You can read full independent evaluation report of Activists and Advocates project below.
Background
The 鈥楢ctivists and Advocates鈥 project grew out of workshops that Oxfam and IRC co-organised on 鈥榟ow can grassroots groups and NGOs be stronger together鈥. Participants in that workshop advised our organisations to plan workshops and trainings on how we do advocacy as participants said they wanted the tools to self-advocate. The topics of the workshops of Activists and Advocates came from these suggestions.
This project has received funding from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Grants Scheme as part of the Commission's statutory power to provide grants to promote human rights and equality under the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014.
The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission.
