INTRAC and the Dutch Consortium for Rehabilitation (DCR) have worked together to strengthen advocacy capacity within DCR programmes and partners in Burundi, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda, Liberia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. DCR Logo

Core to the capacity building approach has been the participation of 40 DCR-funded participants in INTRAC’s Advocacy and Policy Influencing online training course.

INTRAC and DCR worked together on:

  • Training in Supporting Southern Advocacy for members of the Advocacy Working Group in the Netherlands (October 2011).
  • Delivery of Advocacy and Policy Influencing Blended Learning Training Course to 40 country programme staff and partners in 6 cohorts between September 2012 and January 2015. Participants were from Burundi (7 participants), Liberia (5 participants), South Sudan (9 participants), DRC (1 participant), Sudan (7 participants) and Uganda (11 participants). 24 participants were staff of DCR members and 16 were representatives of partner organisations.
  • Support for development of a participatory Advocacy Capacity Assessment Tool based on INTRAC Praxis Paper 25 ‘Capacity Building for Advocacy’ . The tool was used in DCR countries facilitated by members of the Advocacy Working Group based in the Netherlands.
  • Facilitation of DCR Advocacy Workshop July 2014 held in Uganda. The group consisted of members of the advocacy working group and representatives/focal points from each of the DCR countries.
  • Tailored support through webinars and email.

What the participants have done is really impressive given the challenges they face in their contexts. It is important to make sure training, coaching and support is given in a mixed package, over a longer period of time and to a broad group of people, ranging from advocacy staff of INGOs to community based organisations and local leaders, so that they can jointly achieve results. The DCR programme has shown what can be achieved if you get high quality training support to the right people in communities who want to make change happen.

Elske van Gorkum, DCR Advocacy Coordinator