• 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.

As part of the strategy with the Advocacy Working Group, include activities geared towards FP champions such as community events or orientation meetings. Assist the FP champions in developing their own action plans.

Training AWG members:

• 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.

Training FP champions:

Different groups of champions may require specialized training. For example:

• Community health workers may need training on how to provide family planning to their clients, so they are better prepared to champion family planning in their work and with their communities. TCI East Africa’s five-day training on family planning for community health workers can be a guide.
• Religious, community and political leaders may benefit from an orientation event to better prepare them to talk about family planning at the national, community and individual levels. TCI East Africa developed a 1.5-day facilitators guide for orienting community leaders, religious leaders, champions and gatekeepers on the benefits of family planning. In Francophone West Africa and Nigeria, TCI engages with religious leaders and members of interfaith fora, coaching them in cohorts to support each other to share family planning messages in their religious communities. This can be a key way to recruit additional family planning champions. The orientation can include a range of materials depending on the champions’ needs. Examples include:
  • East Africa’s Myth and Misconceptions Booklet and a presentation on Myths and Misconceptions can be adapted for your setting.
  • The Population Reference Bureau’s ENGAGE presentations offer 1-3 minute introductions on a range of topics, which can be incorporated into the training.
  • Family Planning Advocacy Through Religious Leaders can provide further guidance.
  • Sermon notes can be particularly helpful for religious leaders in reaching out to their congregants with family planning messages.

• 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.

Monitoring advocacy efforts of the AWG:

• 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.

• Put in place cost-effective, sustainable rewards to motivate champions to continue volunteering their time. Depending on your budget, this could include tablets, cameras, flash drives, or other items to help with their work as champions. You could also provide nicely printed information packages with targeted messages and tips on how to deliver those messages to their communities.
• Recognize family planning champions during various forums at the community level such as World AIDS Day, World Contraception Day or International Women’s Day.
• Include active champions in various national and international meetings and trainings. You may invite them to deliver a keynote address or to participate in a discussion forum.