Advocacy and lobbying 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 lobbying 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. Lobbyists attempt to sway policy makers and legislators to address specific issues, often by introducing or revising legislation and policy. Lobbying activities may include private meetings with decision makers, public campaigns and demonstrations.
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has overturned a court ruling sentencing a woman to 10 lashes for breaking a ban on female drivers, reports say.
The 66th General Debate of the UN General Assembly closed this week with evidence of firm commitments to gender equality throughout the speeches of high-level government representatives.
Lebanese women are fighting a silent revolution on the football field through the popular club programme of the Cross Cultures Project Association (CCPA) in Lebanon, which provides educational activities for those in post-conflict countries.
The top and the bottom of the list of countries in Newsweek's recent cover story, "The 2011 Global Women's Progress Report", evoke images of two different worlds.
Afghanistan has been called one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman, and much of that danger lies in the home.
According to the United Nations, more than 87 per cent of all women there suffer from domestic violence.
Norway vies with its Nordic neighbors for the title of most gender-egalitarian country in the world. Yet gender equality still seems to stop at the bedroom door, and even here, women who recounted their experiences declined to be identified, fearful still of retribution.
You can find the future of the world’s women not in Scandinavia or the U.S., but among the entrepreneurs who line the streets of Mumbai, Manila and Sao Paulo.
Thousands of women are refusing to work on farms in north-west Cameroon's Wum district after a spate of rapes and assaults blamed on cattle herders.
Involving women in decision-making and resource management is a basic necessity for any effective plan to address the multi- layered and life-threatening consequences of climate change, says the head of