On the 7th January 2021, Thursday, Jesuit Conference of India/South Asia, conducted an online training session on Policy Advocacy where participants from all over South Asia that is, from various states of India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan had participated. This training session was in continuation to the previous training which was conducted on Strategic Planning.

The resource person was Mr. John Samuel, who delivered the sessions on various aspects of Policy advocacy like, Policy Advocacy is an effective way to bring about political and social change in society. Its strategies can be used to influence public policy, especially those that are detrimental to the principles of democracy, human rights and social justice. The training session is meant to provide a comprehensive understanding of policy advocacy by looking beyond its normative definitions, identifying key players in the policy making, and providing a step-by-step perspective on how to successfully advocate for making effective impact.

The training session covered various aspects on policy advocacy which are mentioned below:

  • How to make policy advocacy an effective way to bring about political and social change in society.
  • How to use its strategies to influence public policy
  • How to influence those that are detrimental to the principles of democracy, human rights and social justice.
  • The training session provided a comprehensive understanding of policy advocacy by looking beyond its normative definitions.
  • How to identify key players in policy making, providing a step-by-step perspective.
  • And how to successfully advocate for making effective impact.

The purpose of the training was to build the capacities for the Jesuits and collaborators which in the coming days
would help the organisations create better impact in their development engagements.