Advocacy and development are activities that represent and promote the needs of specific groups in political and social arenas. One such group is women, who can collectively pressure their leaders for legislative reforms to protect and promote women’s rights and concerns. It is the goal of advocacy groups and lobbyists to ensure that both the public and politicians understand and support their cause, so that it gains strength and credibility. Securing rights and gains for women requires coalition-building, funding, civic education, awareness-raising and individuals willing to lead the way.
While the goals of advocacy and development are similar, the processes are distinctly different. Advocacy involves gaining and exercising power to influence a political action. Employing methods such as demonstrations, public campaigns and civic education, advocacy can be the primary mission of international agencies and civil society organizations seeking to influence global and national decision makers. Women worldwide frequently organize themselves for advocacy purposes, drawing on their collective power to affect legislation, official policies and governmental programs. Lobbying, however, refers to influencing the government and its leaders. Development attempt to sway policy makers and legislators to address specific issues, often by introducing or revising legislation and policy. Development activities may include private meetings with decision makers, public campaigns and demonstrations.
The National Institute of Legislative Studies (NILS) has identified the low number of women in Nigerian parliament as the reason for the failure of gender-based bills in the legislature, adding that it is unacceptable that only seven per cent of lawmakers are women.
The Tibetan Women's Association and its global network of regional chapters said they have successfully organized a series of actions during the 33rd Kalachakra initiation offered by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and held in Ladakh from July 03-14, 2014.
When 26-year-old Carol Rossetti started drawing and writing about things that bothered her, she had no idea people on opposite corners of the world would feel the same.
Almost 20 years ago, 189 countries adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a visionary roadmap for women's rights and empowerment.
When Marcelina Bautista Bautista left her indigenous Mixtec community in Nochtixtlan, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, at the age of 14 with only a primary school education and no knowledge of Spanish, she didn’t dream that one day she would end up contributing to the development of an internation
The stories of gang-rape, forced marriage and fathers being forced to rape their own daughters at gunpoint keep her awake at night.