Advocacy Giving a voice to the most vulnerable

GIVING A VOICE TO THE MOST VULNERABLE

THE PURPOSE OF ADVOCACY is to support the rights of the most vulnerable people to quality education, livelihoods and peace. Our objective is to promote resilient and just societies by achieving changes in policies, attitudes and laws. We work to enable the participation of women, young people, minorities, and religious and traditional actors in decision-making.

In practice, advocacy is about keeping decision-makers accountable, having dialogues with them, building support through media, preparing background analyses, commenting on political documents, and issuing recommendations.

In 2021, our advocacy contributed to solidifying education as one of Finland’s top priorities in development cooperation, reflected in the Government’s development policy report and Africa strategy. We compiled a report on barriers for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the least developed countries in support of livelihoods. One of our peace work’s most significant achievements was launching FCA’s local governance report that focused on state-building in Somalia. We advocated for vaccine equity and a just and inclusive post-Covid recovery with the ACT Alliance.

These are but a few highlights of our advocacy, which works across FCA in Finland, globally and our programme countries. Besides working for education, peace, livelihoods, women’s rights and people with disabilities, we advocated against the shrinking space of civil society, cuts in development and humanitarian funding and human rights violations in our programme countries. STOP

Mawut Chol, 32, is one of the first students to attend classes at the FCA-supported teacher training centre.

PHOTO: ANTTI YRJÖNEN