Background of the project
People can face exclusion on multiple levels, based on their gender, age, ethnicity, disability, class, orientation etc. However, some people face discrimination for different reasons simultaneously. For example, girls living with disabilities face triple exclusion (age, gender and impairment). Effective advocacy strategies, to address such complex forms of social exclusion, are rooted in an understanding what drives exclusion. For advocacy strategies, to be more inclusive, an intersectional approach provides insight in how to respond to the specific needs of a diversity of identities. It gives the opportunity to design comprehensive advocacy framework that can accommodate to a wide range of diverse identities.
Moreover, an intersectional approach also points towards the importance of cross-issue alliance building. Where multiple identities are associated with interrelated forms of discrimination, it makes sense for advocates to join forces and strengthen their case.
The Liliane Foundation and the Dutch Coalition of Disability and Development aim to bring together marginalised groups from Africa and Asia through peer-to-peer exchanges to look at advocacy from an intersectional perspective. Therefore, they organise the ‘Voices for Inclusion’ project that is funded by Voice.
Setup of the project
The ‘Voices for Inclusion’ project focuses on learning between different types of marginalized groups in 5 countries (Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Nigeria, Indonesia and Philippines) and to discover if collaboration between these groups can lead towards more effective influencing of policy and practices. The learning questions for the project are:
1. What lessons can (organisations in) different marginalised people’s movements learn from each other in terms of lobby & advocacy strategies, mobilising support, overcoming internal differences and promoting inclusion within their movement?
2. What are, with regards to lobby & advocacy, best practices (with the potential to be more widely used) and innovative practices (original and promising approaches) in different marginalised people’s movements?
3. How can advocacy strategies best take into account the diverse identities and experiences of different ‘categories’ of marginalised people?
4. What are the opportunities and constraints for marginalised people’s organisations for new and innovative alliances with groups of other ‘categories’?
To be able to answer these questions, the project consists of 2 phases:
Phase 1: Site visits & learning event at country level
In June and July 2019, 3 selected organisations in each country will visit one another to understand each other’s approach on influencing policy and practices, based on a sound practice. These peer-learning visits will be guided by a national consultant. The insights from these visits will be collected and further discussed during a learning event in a central place in the country. Consequently, all insights will be captured in one learning report per country.
Phase 2: International learning event
In October or November 2019, the representatives of the 15 participating organisations are gathering for a 3-day international learning event in The Netherlands. During the first 2 days, participants will share their sound practices on advocacy and learn about the importance of intersectionality for effective advocacy. The third day will be the participation to a public event.
Awards
During the international learning event, several awards will be handed out. There is an award of €5000,- per country for the most exemplary influencing practice, which has already been, or is currently being, implemented. It’s up to the winning organisation to use the price for further advocacy.
Additionally, there is one larger price to win: The Voices for Inclusion Award, for an innovative project. This is a grant of €25.000 for a project proposal focused on advocacy with an intersectional approach. This project should be a result from the learning during the Voices for Inclusion project, and be submitted by a coalition of organisations, before the start of the international event.
The jury which will select the winners will be composed of role models for inclusion, with diverse representation of all target groups.