The first training “Introduction to Public Advocacy” was held

On January 28, 2022, the first training titled “Introduction to Public Advocacy” was held in the premises of the Faculty of Law in Lukavica within the project “Contribution of the academic community to the protection of human rights in BiH – CAHR”. The training was attended by representatives of CAHR network members, i.e., representatives of the academic community and civil society organizations.

During the one-day training, participants had the opportunity to acquire new knowledge and skills on the topic of public advocacy. In the first part of the training, participants had a discussion on topics such as: what is advocacy, how to define public advocacy, public advocacy and related concepts (is lobbying advocacy), types of advocacy and principles of advocacy. After the introductory discussion, the participants, through group work, using the problems they face every day in their work and activities, worked on defining the problem using the problem tree method. Through group work, participants learned how to clearly define and set goals and objectives using the SMART method, what are advocacy goals, how to map them and what a power map is, what kind of advocacy tactics exist.

In the second part of the training, participants had the opportunity to create their own advocacy plan, and learn what the advocacy plan consists of, and how to make it. After the participants developed the main parts of the advocacy plan, they created advocacy messages in groups, and in a practical way acquired new knowledge in creating advocacy plan and advocacy messages. At the end of the training, participants discussed the impact of the media on advocacy campaigns, as well as channels of communication with advocacy targets. Furthermore, the importance and strength of coalitions and partnerships of academic institutions and civil society organizations was emphasized, as well as the positive impact on the success of public advocacy if it is implemented within the coalition/network.

The training was organized by the University of Business Engineering and Management and the Association for Democratic Initiatives within the project “Contribution of the academic community to the protection of human rights in BiH – CAHR”, which is supported by the European Union.