International Training of Facilitators 
​in Human Rights Advocacy

This program responded to need WLDI had detected in the course of its educational work. Many groups requesting assistance from us to build their capacity in women's human rights advocacy generally had some funds available to finance the local costs associated with the capacity building process, but the expense of working with an international trainer in a systematic capacity building program was prohibitive. Our thought was to develop a team of WLDI human rights trainer/facilitators who would be able to provide the WLDI learning experiences closer to home.
​As a response, WLDI developed a facilitator's training program with three objectives.

1. to develop and consolidate an expanded corps of activist facilitators with mastery of the WLDI human rights advocacy training methodology;
2. to translate human rights advocacy theory into practice;
3. to incorporate this group of facilitators, consisting of international activists from the global south, into the WLDI team of facilitators/trainers. 

The project was implemented over two years from 2001 to 2003.  Twenty women participated in a course designed to strengthen their understanding of the key concepts of gender, human rights and advocacy and the WLDI methodology for facilitating the same.  As part of this process, WLDI produced a resource materials with exercises, frameworks and other didactic tools that had been tested and found useful in human rights advocacy practice. The project was designed in such a way that the participants would work on an on-going basis to apply the learnings during the training, in their own work back home and in response to requests for training from women's organizations received by WLDI. ​ One of our guest presenters with broad experience in women's human rights at both national and international levels made a comment about the value of our approach  She said:

• "WLDI and the participants in the Activist Facilitator's program are enormously privileged to be able to implement such a program. Usually we give "one-shot" workshops and hope something sticks. Rarely, if ever, is it possible to do this kind of sustained program, combining conceptual inputs, practice and follow up over a long period of time with the same participants."

Identification and Selection of Participants
Rather than rely on a purely competitive application process, WLDI reached out to our colleagues around the world to nominate candidates for participation in this program. A project advisory committee met in February 2002 to provide suggestions for the program and recommend potential participants. A self-assessment
questionnaire filled out by each nominated candidate enabled us to gather additional relevant information about them. Candidates were asked to sign a letter of commitment to participate in the program for the full two years, to participate in the three Training of Trainers workshops, and to apply WLDI's human rights advocacy methodology in their work. Those selected represented broad geographical diversity, representing Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and North America. Academic backgrounds were also diverse. Over one half were lawyers while the others came from the social sciences.

The Participants

AFRICA

• Jane Magigita, Tanzania
• Angela Dwamena-Aboagye Ghana
• Christina Butegwa, Uganda
• Laurah Harrison Bachnack, Zimbabwe
• Idah Mokereitane, Botswana

​LATIN AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN

• Virginia Feix Brazil
• Tracy Robinson, Barbados
• Valeria Pandjiarjian, Brazil
• Maritza Suyapa Guillen Soto, Honduras
• Gabrielle Henderson, Trinadad & Tobago

ASIA

• Rina Roy, Bangladesh
• Habibun Nessa Bangladesh
• Maheen Sultan, Bangladesh
• Yuli Chu. Taiwan
• Arimbi Heroeputri, Indonesia
• Titik Kartika Hendrastiti, Indonesia
• HeeJin Jeong, Republic of Korea

​
OTHER

• Mangala Sharma, Bhutan (US resident with refugee status)
• Olga (Suhair) Elias Shidadeh El Azzouni, Palestine (based in France)

​

Participants

​
Training Workshop I: Dhaka, Bangladesh, July 26 to August 3, 2002
The initial week-long workshop took place in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The first part of the workshop focused on definitions, human rights instruments and mechanisms and basic adult learning theory and practice. The emphasis was on ensuring that the participants developed a solid understanding of the content of human rights advocacy and essential facilitation skills. The second part of the workshop focused on the application of the learning by the participants who designed and carried out workshops with local groups in Dhaka.
​

​Interim Assignment 1 (August to November)
In the three-month period between the first workshop in Bangladesh (26 July - 3 August) and the second workshop in Brazil, (3-9 November, 2002), participants completed a reading assignment and two activities assignments.
First, in order to consolidate and refine the skills and information brought together for the Dhaka workshop, each participant was required to prepare and present a workshop in her home community. These workshops lasted at least three hours. They were given to a variety of groups, and they covered the content learned and the techniques used to develop their workshops in Dhaka.
Second, in preparation for workshop II participants reviewed Women's Human Rights Step by Step, with particular emphasis on Chapter 4, covering mechanisms at the national level, and Chapter 5, covering Human Rights Advocacy. They also read the new Advocacy Strategy Workbook.
Finally, each participant was required to investigate and analyze a human rights strategy in her country and prepare a descriptive report. This task was in preparation for the advocacy focus of the next workshop. They began by identifying a group that has implemented a human rights strategy, i.e. one that used the human rights framework/system (principles, instruments and mechanisms) to achieve some change. Then, using a suggested outline, participants wrote up a descriptive report on the strategy based on interviews and other sources (newspapers, court documents, complaints, public mobilizations, etc.).

Training Workshop II: Sao Paulo, Brazil, November 3 to November 9, 2002
The project participants reconvened for a second workshop in Sao Paulo Brazil, with a primary focus on advocacy and the use of a systematic framework for designing, implementing, and evaluating advocacy strategies. Since our concept of an "activist facilitator" includes not only the teaching role, but a "consulting" role as well, the workshop focused on developing on the skills facilitator's need to provide groups guidance, analysis and assessment of strategies.
The program of the week was as follows.
 
Using the cases they brought to the workshop, the participants reevaluated their work in the light of the new content presented. They also identified a women's human rights problem/issue and began to plan an advocacy strategy around it. Toward the end of the week, participants met with representatives of several Brazilian women's organizations engaged in some form of advocacy. Practicing the consulting function, their task was to assess the strategy according to the criteria learned and offer feedback and suggestions.​

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​Interim Assignment
In preparation for the third workshop, in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, participants will again design and deliver a workshop on human rights advocacy to local groups in their countries. They will also complete the planning for the strategy they began to develop during the second workshop. This work will be presented and analyzed at the next workshop.

Resource packet: Manual, Facilitator's guide, Workbook and Adult Learning Rights Education Resources.

​Workshop 3: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, February, 2003,
The final training focused on consolidating the participants' mastery of the core knowledge and skills needed to be an effective facilitator. Six training teams composed of 3 or 4 participants will met local groups, assessed its learning needs in relation to human rights advocacy and designed a day long workshop to assist the group develop or refine strategies on issues they are working on.

​Additional Training Opportunities.
In addition to the practice acquired as part of the formal structured program, (that is, through the training workshops and the interim assignments) WLDI had developed a procedure for participants to gain additional training and facilitation experience.  WLDI was approached about providing our training program to a group in Nigeria. We were able to offer them two of our trainers, Jane Magigita of Tanzania and Virginia Feix of Brazil,  to assist in this training and provide technical assistance to them as trainers at the same time. 
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