Skip to main content

Session One | Oct 4

SESSION TITLE

Why are we interested in policy, advocacy and governance?

 

ABOUT THE SESSION

This session is oriented to discuss perspectives of what advocacy, policy, policy advocacy are and why advocacy and policy advocacy around internet issues are important. It also aims to share experiences of engagement in advocacy.

Plan for the session 

What is advocacy?
What is policy advocacy?
Broad approaches to advocacy
What has been our experiences with policy advocacy? (Discussion)
Spaces for advocacy
Why should we engage in advocacy?
Applying approaches to policy advocacy
Stakeholders for advocacy  
What do you need to engage in policy advocacy?

What is Advocacy?
  • “... the active support of an idea or cause expressed through strategies and methods that influence the opinions and decisions of people and organisations.” (Buckley, 2018). Advocacy tries to 'convince', influence (through evidence, arguments, strategies and methods).
  • “... an organized attempt to change policy, practice, and/or attitudes by presenting evidence and arguments for how and why change should happen.” (OSF). It seeks to generate an expected change.
What is our experience in policy advocacy?
  • Encompasses a spectrum of actions and activities oriented to influencing policy and decision making processes.
  • Primary domains or areas of influence include legislation and regulation. 
  • It also includes influencing the different phases of policy development. 
  • It aims to influence decision-makers in the area of internet policies to reinforce the exercise of human rights, strengthen democracy, enable sustainable development, and attain social justice. 
  • Policy advocacy work links with other strategies, including capacity building, relationship building, forming networks and movements, and building knowledge, analysis, and evidence.

Approaches to Advocacy

Human Rights Based Approach
Feminist Approach
Social Justice Approach


Human Rights Based Approach
The human rights based approach is a conceptual framework that seeks to operationalise the obligations of governmental and non-governmental stakeholders to respect, protect and guarantee rights at all levels.
The human rights based approach  to policy, and to policy advocacy, refers to the systematic and deliberate integration of human rights as both means and objective in policy development. It also relates to how this is operationalised.

 

ABOUT THE MENTORS

Valeria Betancourt

Valeria Betancourt has led APC's Communications and Information Policy Programme (CIPP) since 2010. She is a longtime activist in the field of human rights and the internet, with a special focus on the areas of information and communication technologies for development, access to the internet, human rights in the online sphere, and internet governance in the context of developing countries and the global South. In 2013 and 2015, Valeria was awarded a LACNIC Outstanding Achievement Award and a FRIDA Programme Recognition for contributing to development and the internet in Latin America. Her background is in sociology and political science. She has also undertaken Master's degree work in cultural studies and communication. She lives in Ecuador.

Gayatri Khandhadai

Gayatri Khandhadai is a lawyer with a background in international law and human rights, international and regional human rights mechanisms, research, and advocacy. She previously worked with national and regional human rights groups, focusing on freedom of expression. Her current focus is on digital rights and policy in Asia with specific emphasis on freedoms of expression, religion, assembly and association on the internet.

 

 

Back to top