Advocacy at the Sub-National Level

• Referred to by different names – such as an Advocacy Working Group, Advocacy Core Group or District Working Group – this working group includes the individuals identified in Step 1 and will be the community voice for policy change. The working group will be a way to engage with key decision-makers, build consensus and secure funding and support for family planning and AYSRH.
• Within this group, form a budget task team to support and influence budget processes and decisions.

• Meetings should be held monthly, or more often if needed.
• During these meetings, share relevant data with the group including:
  • Unmet need for family planning in the area
  • Family planning commodity needs of the area
  • Evidence related to infrastructure, facilities, equipment and human resources
  • Evidence of impact of strengthening family planning services in nearby areas (if available)
• During these meetings, come to consensus about the important issues in the given area and for what the group will advocate such as additional funding.

• Conduct a Family Planning Effort Index assessment to understand the family planning environment. You can complete the tool with the Advocacy Working Group to understand how to communicate the family planning situation in your area and what to prioritize in the advocacy strategy.
• Conduct key informant interviews to better understand the policy environment for family planning. The Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (NURHI) created a tool, which you can use or adapt, to conduct these interviews. In addition, TCI with support from the Reproductive Health Units of the States’ Ministries of Health has also employed the Policy Environment Score to serve as a baseline on how the policy environment supports effective policies and programs for reproductive health.
• Working with the budget task team, use the TCI budget tracking tool to identify and map out family planning allocations, release and expenditure for various components of a family planning program by financial year.
• Analyze the results from your formative research and determine main challenges to overcome during the design of the advocacy strategy.

• Convene the Advocacy Working Group and design a site-specific advocacy strategy.
• Based on the result of the budget questionnaire, develop specific goals related to family planning funding. For example, the first goal may be to establish a budget line item for family planning at the local level, followed by increased resource allocation. You may also want to include goals that address policy barriers, for example, allowing lower-level providers to deliver injectable contraceptives.
• Implement the specific activities of your advocacy strategy, which can vary widely depending on your strategy. For example:
  • The budget task team members may meet with their Ministry of Finance colleagues to advocate a budget line item and increased funding for family planning.
  • Other members of the Advocacy Working Group may organize sensitization meetings with other leaders (e.g., mayors, governors) to mobilize support and share information about the impact of family planning. One objective may be to include family planning within the integrated five-year plan at the province, village or district level.
  • You and the other Advocacy Working Group members may hold community dialogues to exchange information about family planning services.

• Training Advocacy Working Group members will help sustain the advocacy activities and ensure members can advocate on the behalf of young people, women and couples who desire family planning. The AFP SMART advocacy tools can be used in advocacy training.
• Training members on budgeting and financing, for example, with resources included in the guide Enhancing Contraceptive Security Through Better Financial Tracking, can help them better track resources for family planning commodities. Avenir Health also hosts the helpful SPECTRUM tools, which provide policymakers helpful analytical tools to support their decision-making.

• Prepare appropriate advocacy materials such as fact sheets, briefs and presentations that will meet the decision-makers’ needs, focusing on the latest evidence in your area. Meet the decision-makers where they are, and be creative. Think about using stories, photos, infographics or videos, along with data and facts, to communicate your message. Be specific, direct and succinct; many of these decision-makers may not have a strong technical background in family planning or have little time. Most importantly, concentrate on the “ask” – what do you want the decision-makers to do?
• Using data is a key element of advocacy materials. TCI has found much success in using data effectively for advocacy and decision-making.
• Advocacy materials can be city-specific and used to stimulate community dialogue.
• Think about when, where and how you will deliver the message. What kind of response do you expect from your audience and how will you address their concerns?
• For in-depth guidance on developing advocacy messages, see the box on p. 21 of the AFP guidance on developing a strategy.

• Convene quarterly review meetings to assess achievements – and any setbacks – of the Advocacy Working Groups and the budget task team. Shift activities as necessary.
• Hold annual site-specific implementation review meetings.
• Scale up successful interventions, as they are identified, to other areas.
• Work with Advocacy Working Group members and others (e.g., community organizations, religious organizations) to ensure sustainability of advocacy efforts.
• Track budgets to assess inclusion of family planning/AYSRH as a budget line item.
• Use a budget tracking tool, such as the TCI budget tracking tool, to ensure funding allocated for family planning/AYSRH is being used appropriately.

For additional resources and tools, see AFP Advocacy Portfolio: Capture Results. 

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  Sample Indicators to Track Advocacy Efforts:

  • Inclusion of family planning/AYSRH as a budget line item
  • Increased allocation of funds for family planning/AYSRH
  • Inclusion of family planning/AYSRH in the integrated plan of the given area